10,000 dollars is a lot of money. That could be used for a lot of nice gear which you will have to end up buying if you become a photographer. One story that I have goes like this; I went to AutoCad school years ago where I spent 4,000 dollars to take the class everyday for a few months. Once I got out I knew the program but the only jobs that I could land paid 10 dollars an hour. To say the least it did not work out where my 4 grand was a total write off . Wish I would have bought a nice camera body with that money. I guess what I'm trying to say is nothing will guarantee you business except hard work and the need for professional photographers in your area. The bad thing about photography is the market is flooded with photographers, especially portrait and wedding, where everybody can now get their hands on decent gear at a realistic price. The thing that sets the gifted people apart for the wanabe's is your abilty to produce and do it on time every time. I learned the basics from reading a few good books where the rest came from practice and more practice. I say if you want to become a great photographer get a job at a busy newspaper because you will learn to shoot in the most difficult of situations plus you have to be a producer and not a talker.


One extra side note: the additional qualifications/school endorsement or what ever you call it could always be helpful where it would be one more thing that could help set you apart from the others. Just seems like a lot of money to spend on an endorsement where you may not see any benefits unless they help you land a great full time photography job of your dreams.


Good Luck....