Photographer
Photographer
Career Overview
Photographers create images for people, products, news, advertising, fashion, events, art, science, and many other purposes. They combine visual creativity, technical skills, lighting, composition, and digital editing to tell a story or communicate an idea.
Education
A specific degree is not always required. Photographers can enter the field through specialized photography training, a certificate or diploma, a degree in photography or visual arts, or substantial hands-on experience. A strong portfolio is one of the most important ways to demonstrate your skills.
Work Environment
Photographers may work in studios, on location, outdoors, or from home. They can be employed by companies and media organizations or work independently, and assignments may involve travel, evenings, weekends, and carrying equipment.
Future Outlook
Photography is changing rapidly as smartphones, stock-image services, AI image generation, and AI-powered editing become more advanced. Some routine photography and editing work may decline, but opportunities remain in areas where clients need original images, creative direction, specialized knowledge, real-world access, or an authentic human perspective. Photographers who combine strong visual skills with digital editing, video, branding, and AI tools can adapt to the changing industry.
Recommended High School Courses
- Business
- Entrepreneurship
- Computer Studies
- Photography / Digital Media
- Visual Arts
- Media Arts
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Far Vision - The ability to see details at a distance.
- Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Visual Color Discrimination - The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Operate still or video cameras or related equipment.
- Determine technical requirements of productions or projects.
- Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
- Create computer-generated graphics or animation.
- Convert data among multiple digital or analog formats.
- Confer with clients to determine needs.
- Review art or design materials.
- Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
- Maintain records, documents, or other files.
- Select materials or props.
- Coordinate activities of production personnel.
- Maintain recording or broadcasting equipment.
- Apply finishes to artwork, crafts, or displays.
- Research new technologies.
- Write informational material.
- Construct distinctive physical objects for artistic, functional, or commercial purposes.
- Arrange artwork, products, or props.
- Obtain copyrights or other legal permissions.
Schools
Academy Of Art University
Albright College
American International Co...
American River College
American University
Anna Maria College
Appalachian State Univers...
Arcadia University
Artcenter College Of Desi...
Asbury University
Atlanta Technical College
Austin Community College...
Bakersfield College- Pano...
Bard College
Barry University
Bennington College
Bluefield College
Bowling Green State Unive...
Bradley University
California Institute Of T...
California State Universi...
Cerritos College
College Of Dupage
College Of Saint Scholast...
Colorado Mesa University
Columbus State Community...
Cooper Union
Dakota County Technical C...
Dominican University
East Stroudsburg Universi...
El Centro College- Dallas...
Elon University
Emerson College
Evangel University
Fashion Institute Of Tech...
Hamilton College
Hampden-sydney College
Hampshire College
Hanover College
Haverford College
Henderson State Universit...
Iowa Central Community Co...
Ithaca College
Lesley University
Manchester Community Coll...
Marlboro College
Maryland Institute Colleg...
Marymount Manhattan Colle...
Mcpherson College
Minneapolis College Of Ar...
Morehouse College
New York University
Northeast Wisconsin Techn...
Northeast Wisconsin Techn...
Northern Virginia Communi...
Notre Dame University Of...
Oakland Community College
Oglethorpe University
Ohio University
Olivet Nazarene Universit...
Parsons School Of Design
Pitzer College
Pratt Institute
Prescott College
Rhode Island School Of De...
Rhodes College
Ringling College Of Art A...
Rochester Institute Of Te...
Rogers State University
San Antonio College
Savannah College Of Art A...
Southern Adventist Univer...
Spelman College
St. Lawrence University
Sterling College
Suny At New Paltz
Suny At Purchase
Suny Dutchess Community C...
Suny Mohawk Valley Commun...
Suny Nassau Community Col...
Suny Onondaga Community C...
Suny Rockland Community C...
Suny Tompkins Cortland Co...
The New School- Nyc Campu...
The University Of The Sou...
Thomas Nelson Community C...
Union University
University Of Alabama- Hu...
University Of California-...
University Of Hartford
University Of Louisiana-...
University Of Maryland- E...
University Of Mount Olive
University Of New Haven
University Of Sioux Falls
University Of South Dakot...
University Of The Arts
University Of Valley Forg...
Valley City State Univers...
Virginia Wesleyan Univers...
Waubonsee Community Colle...
Webster University
Wellesley College
Whitman College
William Woods University
Academy Canada- St. Jo...
Alberta College Of Art...
Centre For Arts And Te...
Durham College- Oshawa...
Fanshawe College- Lond...
Fleming College- Halib...
Lakehead University- O...
Lasalle College- Laval...
Lasalle College- Montr...
Lasalle College- Vanco...
New Brunswick College...
North Island College-...
Nscad University- Acad...
Ocad University
Red River College- Exc...
Redeemer University Co...
Seneca College- Seneca...
Trinity Western Univer...
University Of Windsor-...
Approx Salary Expectation
Low End:
$31,000.00 /yr
Avg/Med:
$45,000.00 /yr
High End:
$92,000.00 /yr
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.