Photography has always been tough to make a living at, when I was studying photography, about 15 years ago, the lecturer told the class the chances of any of us making a living at it was nearly nil, there simply isn't much work out there, you do it because you want to, not for the money.
As you say, digital has lowered the barrier to entry to nearly nothing, I know people who wouldn't even call themselves hobbyists, but they've got a half-decent DSLR, and can actually churn out nice portraits, with AF and a portrait scene mode, it's almost zero-skill to make an acceptable image. He isn't going to employ a guy to take photos of his kids when he can do a great job himself for free.
More importantly, the public only demand acceptable. Outstanding, stunning, simply isn't necessary. There are some *amazing* photographers on this site, I'm looking at you Margus, when you are this brilliant, I think money can be made, if you are just *good*, you are going to struggle.
So you are left with a very small jobs market, with a very low barrier to entry, and, at the lower end of the market, the salary is very poor.... Not a great place to be.
It seems to me that there are a lot of people who have this dream that by being a photographer they will lead this fantastic glamorous life. Good luck with that.
Photography is nearly dead. The future isn't looking good at all if you want to make a living at it. If you do, be prepared to be really talented and have a ton of cash. Reality time. I have known quite a few photographers that were semi-supported by their wife (who had a good job) while starting out. They "married well". Many of the famous photographers were already independently wealthy before they started photography, so they didn't need the income. There are very few people who started with nothing and got rich. The money days are over. A lot of the photographers that you hear about these days started out being super well connected. I could give you a list of them. Digital photography has taken away the craft (i.e. skill) of photography and made it so anyone can take a clean image. That eliminated many a competent photographer. If you want to make money, that leaves only the high end of it. It is very expensive to get into high end photography. I know a guy who spends over $60,000 a year just on promotion. If you are starting out, can you lay out that kind of money to compete with him? I doubt it, unless you are already wealthy.
Even being an assistant sucks these days. The pay hasn't changed since the 80's and you will need to know far more than the average guy in the 80's. If you think a photo degree is going to help you, you are sorely mistaken. A lot of debt, very sporadic work with little pay. Doesn't sound like a great business plan.
If you love photography you should keep doing it, just keep it as a hobby. Get a real career that will support you. You won't regret it.
