Photographers
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.
- Median pay
- $44,660
- Doing it now
- 145,000
- By 2035
- Down 0.7%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
10,700 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Take pictures of individuals, families, and small groups, either in studio or on location.
- Adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed.
- Use traditional or digital cameras, along with a variety of equipment, such as tripods, filters, and flash attachments.
- Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors.
- Determine desired images and picture composition, selecting and adjusting subjects, equipment, and lighting to achieve desired effects.
- Test equipment prior to use to ensure that it is in good working order.
- Review sets of photographs to select the best work.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Fine and Studio ArtsSee 1,083 colleges that teach it
- Design and Applied ArtsSee 679 colleges that teach it
- Film/Video and Photographic ArtsSee 425 colleges that teach it
- JournalismSee 409 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Creative and expressive
Organised and precise
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $44,660 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.