Photography Careers Options

Source: CreativeCareerSchools.com

Do you find yourself viewing life through a camera lens? Then a career as a photographer may be for you. There are many options for those people that enjoy finding new ways to view our world:

Photojournalists, News Photographers, Press Photographers, Editorial Photographers

Photojournalists work for local and national news organizations. Their work appears in newspapers and online web sites. Newspapers and magazines have full-time staff photographers and also employ freelance photographers on a regular basis or for each assignment. Photographers specializing in photojournalism need to work well with deadlines and need to be prepared to work in difficult situations. If you like to tell stories with your photographs, then a career as a news photographer may be of interest to you.

Advertising Photographers

Work in the exciting advertising industry! As an advertising photographer, you will work at an advertising agency, photo studio, or work as a freelance photographer. See your photos in magazines, newspapers, catalogs, direct mail pieces, web sites and other advertising media. Advertising photographers work with people, places and products. Photography in advertising can be realistic, or it can be highly creative including photo image manipulation. The advertising industry is highly competitive so photographic training and/or education is essential.

Commercial Photographers, Industrial Photographers

Work with companies as an employee or freelance photographer taking images of products, industrial settings, buildings, machinery and other subjects. Commercial/industrial photography offers experience with a variety of subjects, settings and lighting—indoors and outdoors. As a commercial or industrial photographer, your photos will be seen in advertising brochures, annual reports, magazines, sales kits, presentations, web sites and other media.

Fashion Photographers

Work as a freelance or full-time fashion photographer, photographing models and fashion indoors and outdoors. Fashion houses, advertising agencies and studios provide excellent opportunities and pay for excellent fashion photographers.

Portrait, Family and Wedding Photographers

If you enjoy working with people, working as a portrait, family and wedding photographer can be fun and financially rewarding. You can own a portrait studio or work for a studio. You will enjoy the variety that portrait photography offers. Take photos of families, children, students, pets, homes, and functions such as weddings, holidays, family reunions, sports and other functions/events.

Nature, Wildlife, Travel and Environmental Photographers

Do you like the outdoors? Do you love to travel? Are you self sufficient and ambitious? A career as a nature, wildlife, travel or environmental photographer can be very rewarding for you. There are many photographic opportunities and these photographers typically specialize in a certain type of animal or location (e.g., birds or Pacific islands). See your photos in magazines, newspapers, government reports and guides, calendars, books, web sites and many more locations. Travel photography can be fun and varied because of the exciting travel destinations, and most travel photographers shoot images of the vacation facilities as well as the surrounding area/attractions. You can even become as specialized as an underwater photographer and/or videographer! In addition to mastering photographic equipment, you will need to be a highly experienced scuba diver.

Forensic Photographers

Forensic photographers work in local, state and federal government positions photographing crime scenes and related subjects. Forensic photographers will work in law enforcement, police departments, private investigation agencies, and law firms.

Fine Arts Photographers

May photographers work as professional photographers in many of the specialized photographic jobs described above. However, most photographers have a desire to explore their creative abilities further. Nature, people, and many more subjects can be well suited to be shown and sold in fine art galleries and neighborhood art shows. Fine arts photographers can also find their images in museums. Fine art photographs are also commissioned by individuals and organizations. A new fine arts area of digital-photo art combines photography and digital manipulation using imaging software to create an entirely new artistic image.

Freelance Photographers

Many photographers are self-employed as freelance photographers. Freelance photographers specialize in all types of photography including advertising, commercial/industrial, news/photojournalism, wedding, portrait, nature, travel and others. By specializing in a certain subject or type of image, a freelance photographer will enhance his or her reputation and earnings. An important way many freelance photographers earn a living is by submitting hundreds or thousands of images to stock photography agencies. Most stock photo agencies receive a commission for all images sold to advertising agencies, companies, publishers and other organizations.

Photography Training

Your first step to becoming a photographer is to learn more about the creative and technical aspects of photography. You can learn by taking photos, reading books, belonging to local photography clubs, and talking with professional photographers in the type of photography you are interested in. Another way to train is formal photographic education. Many colleges and universities offer degrees in film and photography. Look for schools that have art programs that offer photography curricula, or you can locate schools that offer bachelor and master degrees in photography. Photographic training or education will provide essential skills to becoming a photographer such as knowledge of and experience with: Adobe Photoshop software, traditional cameras, digital cameras, image manipulation, composition, photographic lighting, and other computer and photography equipment and software.