Photographers
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Overview
Photograph people, landscapes, merchandise, or other subjects. May use lighting equipment to enhance a subject's appearance. May use editing software to produce finished images and prints. Includes commercial and industrial photographers, scientific photographers, and photojournalists.
Highlights
Undergraduate program resulting in the highest median salary ($61K): Political Science and Government
Largest undergraduate program (16.3% of workers): Film Video and Photographic Arts
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
PhotographerPhotoNewspaperPhotojournalistAdvertisingAerialApprenticeBiologicalBiomedicalCameramanCommercialCrimeSceneDigitalFashionFinishFoodForensicFreelanceIndustrialMarineMedicalNatureNewbornNewsOphthalmicOwnerEditorJournalistOpticsTechnicianPhotographicSpecialistPortraitRealEstateSchoolScientificSportsStillStreetStudioUnderwaterWeddingWildLifeWildlife
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Responsibilities and activities

Photographers typically do the following:

  • Market or advertise services to attract clients
  • Analyze and plan the composition of photographs
  • Use various photographic techniques and lighting equipment
  • Capture subjects in professional-quality photographs
  • Enhance the subject’s appearance with natural or artificial light
  • Use photo-enhancing software
  • Maintain a digital portfolio to demonstrate their work
  • Archive and manage imagery

Nowadays, most photographers use digital cameras instead of traditional film cameras, although some photographers use both. Digital cameras capture images electronically, so the photographer can edit the image on a computer. Images can be stored on portable memory devices, such as flash drives. Once the raw image has been transferred to a computer, photographers can use image processing software to crop or modify the image and enhance it through color correction and other specialized effects. Photographers who edit their own pictures use computers, editing software, and high-quality printers.

Some photographers use unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, to capture shots. The drones are equipped with an integrated camera to capture 360-degree imagery of buildings, landscapes, scenery, or events.

Photographers who work for commercial clients often present photographs in a digital format to the client. Wedding and portrait photographers, who serve primarily noncommercial clients, also may provide framing services and present the photographs they capture in albums.

Many photographers are self-employed. Photographers who own and operate their own business have additional responsibilities. They must advertise, schedule appointments, set up and adjust equipment, buy supplies, keep records, charge customers, pay bills, and—if they have employees—hire, train, and direct their workers.

In addition, some photographers teach photography classes or conduct workshops in schools or in their own studios.

The following are examples of types of photographers:

Aerial photographers travel in planes or helicopters to capture overhead photographs of buildings and landscapes. They often use cameras with gyrostabilizers to counteract the movement of the aircraft and ensure high-quality images.

Commercial and industrial photographers take pictures of subjects such as buildings, models, merchandise, artifacts, and landscapes. They usually go on location to take pictures for magazine covers, engineering projects, or other purposes.

Drone photographers operate unmanned aerial vehicles with an integrated camera to capture 360-degree imagery of buildings, landscapes, scenery, or events. 

Fine arts photographers sell their photographs as artwork. In addition to their knowledge of techniques such as lighting and the use of lenses, fine arts photographers need to have creativity and artistic talent.

News photographers, also called photojournalists, photograph people, places, and events for newspapers, journals, magazines, or television. In addition to taking still photos, photojournalists often work with digital video.

Portrait photographers take pictures of individuals or groups of people and may work in studios. Photographers who specialize in weddings, religious ceremonies, or school photographs usually work on location.

Scientific photographers capture scientific or medical data or phenomena. Because they focus on accurately representing subjects visually, these photographers limit the use of software to clarify an image. Scientific photographers who take pictures of objects too small to be seen with the naked eye use microscopes to photograph their subjects.

Salary
Median salary: $41,280 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $28,530 and $62,440.
$41K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for photographers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$32K$41K$47K$39K$42K$46K$43K$21K$46K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K$120K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
05K10K15K20K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Photographers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of photographers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Time Pressure (80%)
SOURCES:
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Photographers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Artistic ability
Photographers capture their subjects in images, and they must evaluate the artistic quality of a photograph. Photographers need a "good eye": the ability to use colors, shadows, shades, light, and distance to compose aesthetically pleasing photographs.
Business skills
Photographers must plan marketing or advertising strategies, reach out to prospective clients, and anticipate seasonal employment.
Computer skills
Most photographers do their own postproduction work and must be adept at using photo-editing software. They also use computers to maintain a digital portfolio.
Customer-service skills
Photographers must understand the types of shots their clients want and agree on suitable alternatives for ideas that may be unworkable.
Detail oriented
Photographers must focus on details, especially in postproduction. In addition, photographers accumulate many photographs and must maintain them in an orderly fashion.
Interpersonal skills
Photographers often take pictures of people. They must communicate and be flexible when working with clients in order to achieve the desired composition in a photograph.
Injury and Illness
About 48 photographers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 67% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Soreness and pain
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by photographers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), photographers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as photographers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for photographers

Postsecondary education is not required for most photographers. However, many photographers take classes or earn a bachelor’s degree to improve their skills and employment prospects.

Many universities, community colleges, vocational–technical institutes, and private trade and technical schools offer classes in photography. Basic photography courses cover equipment, processes, and techniques. Art school training in photographic design and composition also may be useful.

Entry-level positions in photojournalism or in industrial or scientific photography generally require a college degree in photography or in a field related to the industry in which the photographer seeks employment. For example, classes in biology, medicine, or chemistry may be important for scientific photographers.

Business, marketing, and accounting classes may be helpful for self-employed photographers.

Details: Licensing and certification recommended for photographers

Photographers who commercially operate drones, commonly known as unmanned aerial vehicles, must obtain certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). They must fulfill the following criteria:

  • Be at least 16 years old
  • Be able to read, speak, write, and understand English (exceptions may be made if the person is unable to meet one of these requirements for a medical reason, such as a hearing impairment)
  • Be in good physical and mental condition to operate a small drone safely
  • Pass the initial aeronautical knowledge exam at an FAA-approved knowledge testing center

For specific guidelines and information, visit the FAA website’s section on unmanned aircraft systems.

Education level of Photographers
About 51% of photographers have at least a bachelor's degree.
Education attained by photographers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Top college degrees
Here are the top college degrees held by the 51% of people in this job who have at least a bachelor's degree. Some of degrees may link to multiple programs due to the way Census classifies college majors. Click on a program to learn more about career opportunities for people who major in that field.
  1. Film Video and Photographic Arts
  2. Visual and Performing Arts
  3. Communications
  4. Journalism
  5. Mass Media
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College majors held by photographers
This table shows the college majors held by people working as photographers. If you see "**" before the name of a degree/program, that means this field is one that the Department of Education believes is preparatory for this career. However, you can see from this list that those recommendations are far from your only path to this job!
Salary comparison for bachelor's only
Higher
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Career salary (tail) versus Career/Major salary (dot)
Does the bachelor's-only salary rise or fall with this major?
$34K$51K
Salary for bachelor's-only
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Salary for all workers
For people with this career and major
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Education for Career and Major
Bachelor's
Master's
Professional
Doctorate
Workers with this career/major
Percentage in this career with this major
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Not so much?
The link between degrees and this career
With the following sankey diagram, you can follow the top ten bachelor's degrees held by people working as photographers, and then, in turn, you can see the 10 occupations that hire the most of each degree's graduates. We hope this provides ideas for similar jobs and similar fields of study.
Expand degrees
Film Video and Photo...Fine ArtsCommunicationsJournalismMass MediaCommercial Art and G...PsychologyBusiness Management ...English Language and...General BusinessAll other degreesThis jobTop 10 majors
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Photographers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most photographers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as photographers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where photographers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for photographers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for photographers.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which photographers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Photographers (ACS)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
40% of Photographers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 40% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 90% of careers.
40%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of photographers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$38K$33K$45K$37K$53K$48K$45K$0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000$100,000$120,000Self-employed not incorporatedSelf-employed incorporatedFederal governmentState governmentPrivate not-for-profitPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Photographers and gender
With 38% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 50% of careers.
Gender of Photographers
Men (62%)
Women (38%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$32K$42K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
38%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%, and the difference for photographers tops that, with the median salary for men 33% higher than the median salary for women.
33%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Photographers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Photographers.
Race/origin of photographers
White (83% )
Black (6% )
Asian (4% )
Multiracial (3% )
Other (3% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$33K$36K$37K$38K$38K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100KOtherMultiracialBlackWhiteAsian
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.