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Si j'avais étudié l'art, je serais photographe aujourd'hui.

Si j'avais étudié l'art, je serais photographe aujourd'hui.
If I had studied art, I would be a photographer today.
From Lesson 294:Mixed conditionals: past to present·French

Breakdown of Si j'avais étudié l'art, je serais photographe aujourd'hui.

je
I
être
to be
avoir
to have
étudier
to study
aujourd'hui
today
si
if
l'art
the art (m)
le photographe
the photographer

Questions & Answers about Si j'avais étudié l'art, je serais photographe aujourd'hui.

Why does the sentence use the past tense in the first half but the present conditional in the second half?
This is a mixed conditional. The first part uses the plus-que-parfait (avais étudié) to describe a past condition that never happened. The second part uses the present conditional (serais) because the hypothetical result is happening right now, which is emphasized by the word aujourd'hui.
Why is there no article like un or une before photographe?
When stating an unmodified profession after the verb être, French drops the article, treating the job title almost like an adjective. You only add the article back if you modify the noun with an adjective, such as in je serais un excellent photographe.
Why do we say étudié l'art instead of just étudié art?
In French, abstract concepts, general categories, and fields of study always require a definite article (le, la, les, or l'). English leaves the article out when talking about studying art in general, but French requires it.
Why isn't the vowel in Si dropped before j'avais?
The word si only ever drops its vowel and takes an apostrophe before il or ils (forming s'il or s'ils). Before the pronoun je, si remains completely intact, and it is the je that elides with the following vowel to form j'avais.

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