If you love taking photos and feel you have a knack for it, you may have considered turning your passion into a career. Being a photographer allows you to make money while practicing your art, and it may just be your dream job. With a photography career you can combine significant technical expertise with your artistic sensibilities to capture images that tell stories that are important to you and/or your employer. You have a lot of options as a professional photographer, too. For example, you can focus on landscapes, sporting events, celebrities, conflict zones, fine art, and so much more. Whatever your interests, there are many ways to build a career with enough skill and persistence.
Professional photography requires two major skill sets: taking photos and editing photos. Whether you are an aerial photographer, portrait photographer, university photographer, or any other type of photographer, you need to be well rounded and capable of handling both skills to make it as a pro.
Types of Photographers
You know you want to be a professional photographer. Now you have to decide what type of photography you want to specialize in. Do you go the more traditional and controlled route with family and individual portraits, or do you try something more niche like wildlife photography? As you weigh your options, you should also consider what markets are most accessible to you. For example, many passionate photographers make a good living doing wedding photography because there are lots of jobs available in their area. Keep in mind that even if the most accessible type of photography is not your primary interest, you can still practice your preferred photography on your own time.
If you aren’t quite sure which type of photography interests you most, here is a basic overview to give you an idea of what’s available:
Wedding Photography
Wedding photography offers an exciting combination of portraiture and live event photography. It’s also a solid way to make a living as a photographer because virtually every wedding hires a photographer. Even if someone has never hired a professional photographer, chances are they will hire one for their wedding.
As a wedding photographer, you need to be flexible as you will be expected to shoot both indoors and outdoors, and will often be confronted with unexpected scenarios. You also need to have a passion for this type of photography if you want to be successful long-term.
Portrait Photography
Portrait photography is another reliable option because most people are likely to need portraits for family photographs, school photographs, professional headshots, or something similar. However, it is important to note that portrait photography can range significantly in skill and pay. For example, taking school photos for kids is a great entry into the field but will pay less than if you are an experienced professional and are taking portraits of heads of state or celebrities. If you have a passion for portraits, know that you can really go far as long as you have strong photography skills and some people skills to help you communicate with your subjects and attract clients.
Travel Photography
This type of photography is obviously exciting; who doesn’t want to travel as part of their job? But professional travel photography is about a lot more than just living on vacation. It’s also hard work. You might focus on landscape photography during one trip and portrait photography on another, or do both on a single outing. Street photography, photojournalism, panoramic photography—there are so many types of photography you may need to learn as a travel photographer. You need to have the skills and adaptability to capture the images you think are most important, regardless of the setting.
There is also a lot of competition in this niche. And you have to be disciplined enough to do your job in spite of numerous potential distractions. If you can handle all of these challenges, you may have what it takes to succeed as a travel photographer.
Sports Photography
If you are a sports lover, sports photography may be an obvious career choice because you’ll get to spend your time covering sports while sharpening your photography skills. It takes a responsive shutter finger and rapid decision-making to keep up with what’s happening on the field, but you probably already have a fine-tuned sense for the games you love. Combining that sense with long lenses and fast cameras will allow you to capture the kind of images that sports fans are dying to see.
Your work as a sports photographer could be used in sports magazines, websites, publicity materials, marketing campaigns, advertising, and more.
Stock Photography
If you are a jack-of-all-trades in photography, you may be suited to work in stock photography. The photos in stock collections can cover just about every topic including pets, kids, sports, corporate meetings, geography, landscapes, street photography, science, and more. Whatever the industry, there is likely a need for stock photographs to help tell stories, give instructions, market products, and appeal to potential customers and clients.
A single stock photograph is not going to make you a lot of money but if you develop a large catalog of images and are paid each time one is used, it can eventually add up to significant passive income down the line.
Fashion Photography
Fashion photography is a competitive industry. Many photographers want to take photos of the runways in the most coveted fashion shows in the world, but few are chosen to do so. But just because reaching the top of an industry is tough doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Besides, you don’t have to be the absolute best to do the work you love. You can begin your career by learning portraiture, lighting, and how to work with subjects to achieve a specific image. Successful fashion photographers need help to do their work too, which means you can often get your foot in the door by working for other professionals you admire.
If you love fashion and you love taking photos that make subjects look amazing, fashion photography may be the perfect fit for you.
Product Photography
Industries such as advertising and marketing constantly utilize product photographers to produce attractive images of things they are trying to sell. If you think about it, there are photos of nearly every product for sale right now. It’s extremely unusual to find a product that does not have an accompanying photo. If you can learn to take great product photos, you could pursue a promising career in these industries.
Even among product photographers, there are niches you can specialize in, like food photography or automobile photography. If you love a particular type of product, learning to take really great photos within that niche could set you up for a promising career in the industry of your choosing.
15 Photography Genres You Can Pursue as a Professional Photographer
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Ten Interesting Careers In Photography (That Don’t Require You to Start a Business)
Qualities of a Successful Photographer
You have your camera settings down. You know how to plan your shots so that they turn out how you expect them to. You may even have some of the best camera equipment out there. But the truth is, even those with top technical skills and high-end equipment are not necessarily cut out to be professional photographers. You also need certain inherent qualities along with the right skills to make it as a pro. If you can find beauty and points of interest in any situation and are capable of sharing what you see through photos, you are on the right path to a successful career in the photography industry.
While the required skills and competencies for a professional photographer can vary depending on the type of photography, there are some essentials that every pro should have.
Key Skills & Competencies
Some key skills and competencies you should develop include:
Camera Operation
Professionals know how to use their tools, and for photographers, that means learning camera operation. You don’t necessarily have to know everything but you should definitely know how to operate your digital camera in manual mode.
Digital Editing
Photoshop and similar programs are where good photos become great. You need to understand how to use those programs to edit your work and produce professional-quality images.
Communication
The people buying your photos, whether it’s a company or an individual, will communicate their needs and desires. In turn, you need to communicate your requirements, limitations, and desires to successfully get the job done.
Composition, Color, Etc.
Creating high-quality visual art requires an understanding of the various facets of creating an image including composition, color, high contrast, and low contrast. Your ability to turn theory into concrete work is what separates you from the point-and-click photographers throughout the world.
Marketing
If you plan to run your own freelance photography business or sell your work outside of a regular job, you need to have marketing skills and social media savvy. Don’t worry if you don’t already have marketing experience, but keep in mind that you will need to learn more as you develop in your profession.
Essential Traits of a Photographer
Creativity
Art runs on creativity, and photography is no exception. You need imagination and the ability to translate your ideas into photos that will draw eyes and tell stories. A lot of the subjects that professional photographers are asked to photograph would seem ordinary to the average person. But your photographer mindset should be able to see them from unique angles. You can learn the basics of composition and other artistic concepts, but you also need creativity to apply your artistic understanding to whatever you are photographing.
Patience
Ask any professional photographer how they got as good as they are, and they will all say the same thing: practice. You will have to try, try, and try again to achieve the outcomes you want with your camera. To reach the level of the professional, you have to have patience. You will often have to wait for indeterminable amounts of time to capture the moment that matters to you. It takes patience to make countless attempts to reach your goal. If you don’t have much patience now, you will need to develop it.
People Skills
Being a professional photographer will put you in contact with people with many different personalities and backgrounds, especially if you specialize in portraiture or documentary photography. Even if your job does not require photographing people, you will still interact with those buying your photos and helping to support your work. Being able to communicate, understand, and practice flexibility with others are all important skills in photography.
Eye for Detail
To convey emotions and tell stories through your photos, you need to be capable of seeing what others cannot. You also need to be able to identify the fine details that go into your images so you can adjust your equipment, lighting, and composition accordingly.
Passion
As with any career, you will run into obstacles along the way. But if you have enough passion, you will always be able to push through. Your love for what you do will come through in your work and will keep you going when you run into setbacks.
Pros and Cons of Becoming a Photographer
Every career has pros and cons, even when you choose your passion as your job. Hopefully, you will find that the pros of being a professional photographer outweigh the cons to create a stable and fulfilling career path.
Pros of Becoming a Photographer
You get to pursue your passion.
For many artists, being able to get paid while they pursue their passion is ideal. The same is true for most professional photographers. No matter how frustrating the work gets or how difficult it may be to get started, you still get to take photos for a living.
You may get to travel for work.
Even if you aren’t a travel photographer by trade, your work could very easily take you to many different places. If you take product photos, you could travel to different cities to work with companies. If you take wedding photos, you could travel to different destinations for weddings. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how you could incorporate travel into your work.
Your job gives you a lot of freedom.
Most photographers enjoy considerable freedom in their work. You’re probably not clocking in for a 9 to 5 shift when you are taking professional photos. You are typically given a specific task and deadline but, beyond that, you have a lot of freedom in your workday.
You will probably experience significant job satisfaction.
If you choose a type of photography that you are really interested in, your job will feel less like work and more like play. You already enjoy taking photos and now you are getting paid for it. That doesn’t mean you won’t ever have to do something you don’t like, but you will probably spend more time feeling satisfied than dissatisfied.
Cons of Becoming a Photographer
You may work inconsistent hours.
Depending on your work, you could find yourself working unpredictable hours, and possibly long shifts, to get the job done. For example, if you work in news photography you could expect to be called whenever something worthwhile breaks, which could be at any time of day or night. Or if you do night photography, you will be expected to keep late hours.
Your income may vary drastically from month to month.
Freelance work is inherently unpredictable. Sometimes you will have boom months while other times you will have no work at all. Of course, if you stick with it and build a reputation, the lags in work may become less frequent and possibly nonexistent. But if you are a beginner freelancer (even if you have a great online portfolio), prepare for shifting income from one month to the next.
You may work in difficult conditions.
Everyone is impressed with National Geographic photographers and thinks, “wow, imagine how much fun it must be to do that job”. But the truth is, many of those photographers go through significant discomfort and potential danger to do their jobs. While you may not be tackling projects quite that challenging, you could very well find that your work will regularly put you in tough positions.
You may not earn a substantial income.
Working in the arts requires a great deal of passion, in part because the pay is often not what you would hope, particularly when you are just getting started. Until you become more advanced in your career or land a great gig, you may not make a lot of money as a photographer.
Top Degrees and Certifications for Photographers
Photography has a wide range of potential salaries depending on the industry, your professional experience, and the region where you work. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for a photographer is $34,000. But those who work at the top 10 percent earn $68,930 a year so the top end of the industry can be quite financially rewarding.
Learning the skills needed to become a professional photographer requires a lot of practice but you can get there faster with the right degree or certificate program. While you could certainly try to learn it all on your own, it will be a slow process and you may never make it to your goal. With a high-quality degree or certificate program, you will get targeted instruction designed to give you a solid foundation in photography.
You can earn degrees and certificates in multiple ways including at community colleges, universities, and online. Choose a program that fits with your lifestyle and your budget. If you have the time and few family or work obligations, in-person degrees at brick-and-mortar institutions can be great. But if you have a limited amount of time or if you just want the most convenient education available, online degrees in photography can also help you achieve your career goals. Just make sure the online program you choose includes hands-on experience as part of the program.
Photography Degrees
Associate Degree in Photography
An associate degree in photography is typically a two-year program where you can earn an Associate of Arts in photography or possibly an Associate of Science in photographic technology. Fields related to photography or photographic technology are inherently technical so you will take many courses that teach you how photography and photographic tech function, how to control these technologies, and so on. Your technical education will be balanced by artistic courses focused on helping you discover your inner artist and connect your technical knowledge with your artistic instincts.
Having an associate degree will prepare you for the job market, particularly for entry-level positions. Your degree will make it easier to gain employment and will provide you with the confidence to pursue your career.
Bachelor’s Degree in Photography
A bachelor’s degree in photography usually takes four years to obtain. Your first two years in a bachelor’s program will be much like an associate’s program. As your education progresses, you will learn more in-depth information about photography and you will also have opportunities to dig deeper into particular types of photography that really excite you.
With your bachelor’s degree, you will be very well equipped to enter the job market in the photography industry. You may still have to start with entry-level positions but you will advance faster and will have the education credentials to qualify for more significant roles in various organizations and businesses.
Master’s Degree in Photography
If you want a more advanced degree, a Master of Fine Arts in photography is an option. It usually takes an additional two years of education beyond a bachelor’s degree and will involve an even deeper focus on core areas of photography based on your particular interests or career goals. The extra time you spend on your education will also give you a more developed portfolio for your future career and will allow you to further refine your skills and knowledge to pursue your career goals.
Professional Certifications
Photography degree programs are not for everyone. You may not have the time or the interest to pursue a degree but still want to develop your career. A professional certification can help you refine your craft and bolster your resumé to appeal to more prospective clients and employers. Some certifications can also be useful even if you already have a degree.
A few potential certification options include:
Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Credential
A CPP credential can serve as a valuable tool for your professional photography career. Potential clients are more likely to hire a photographer with professional credentials and you can more easily justify higher rates if you are credentialed. Your CPP credential can also help you feel more confident when interacting with other professional photographers, especially since you have to recertify every year through ongoing education and review by Professional Photographers of America.
Certified Drone Photographer
Professional Photographers of America also offers a Certified Drone Photographer program. If you have been developing your drone photography skills and want a way to demonstrate your capabilities to potential clients, a certification can help. It shows that you have educated yourself and have been reviewed by one of the most well-known professional photography organizations in the world.
Additional Resources for Photographers
Association of Photographers
American Photographers Association
Photographic Society of America
American Society of Media Photographers
Oregon Professional Photographers Association
American Photographic Artists
The Photographers Guild
Professional Photographers Guild of Houston
Blind Photographers Guild
The Royal Photographic Society
Ophthalmic Photographers’ Society
Australian Photographic Society
Related Careers in Photography
Consider these related careers in Photography.
Advertising Photographer
Aerial Photographer
Nature Photographer
Photojournalist
Underwater Photographer
Wedding Photographer
Wildlife Photographer