Questions for the Professional Photographers on this Forum

G

GeneralSQL

Senior Member
I hope this is the right section to post this.

The Seniors in my daughters High School have a Senior Project of learning about careers. My daughter has chosen photography for her project. She needs to be able to get a set of questions answered for part of her project. If any of the professional photographers on this forum could help out it would be greatly appreciated. I have been quite impressed with the professionalism from the group on this site, so when she has not been able to get with any local photographers I thought of this site.

The questions are:

1. What are the working conditions
2. What are the responsibilities
3. What is the salary
4. What education is required
5. What is the job outlook

Again, I appreciate any help that I could get here.
 
J

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
David - perhaps your daughter should pick a more specific type of photographer since the answers to those questions vary greatly depending on the type of work they do. For example, a sports photographer and fashion photographer have completely different work environments.
 
E

Essence of Imagery

New member
GeneralSQL said:
The questions are:

1. What are the working conditions
2. What are the responsibilities
3. What is the salary
4. What education is required
5. What is the job outlook
Click to expand...

As a wedding photographer, I'll answer from that perspective.

1. The working conditions vary. They can be brutal (bridezilla/uncooperative wedding people) or they can be completely relaxed and fun to work with. I've worked with both. One client was really laid back, but the wedding coordinator at the church refused to tell me, until 5 minutes prior to the ceremony, the rules they had in that church regarding wedding photography. I've had weddings where I've shot images of the bride and groom, and KNEW for a FACT that the marriage was doomed. The hours are long, the work can be difficult, and it's not all simply pick up the camera and shoot. Upwards of 90% of a photographers' time is spent marketing, networking, meeting clients, editing, creating deliverables, getting reviews, and other non-photography related work.
2. As a self-employed photographer, see the last sentence of the above statement. Add in bookkeeping/accounting, keeping current on licenses and permits, and you'll find that it tends to eat up your time. You have to have a passion for this type of work.
3. The salary? It depends on how effective you are in your marketing, how many weddings you book, your price structure, your costs of doing business. Remember, as an independent contractor and self-employed person, your business gets paid first, and you get whatever is left over. Think overhead - business license, gear insurance, indemnity/liability insurance, taxes, studio fees/rental(or rent if you have a full-time studio), health insurance, the cost of upgrading/updating gear, new gear acquisition, and include the work you farm out (second shooters, assistants, etc.) and you get the idea. If you're booking 20 high-end weddings per year ($5k+) and hustling other business (commercial/portraits/etc.) you'll do okay...
4. Education is what you make of it. I've found that people don't care if you have a MFA in Photography, they care about what's in your portfolio of work...what you've produced for other happy clients. I'd highly suggest classes in business, psychology, and marketing strategies which will help you find your clients.
5. Job Outlook - That would completely depend on your market. If you have 50 well-established and networked wedding photographers in your town, then it might be a bit more difficult to establish yourself than if you're the only person in town shooting photography. Again, this is part of the business and marketing classes that I recommend, so you learn how to find your niche and focus (pun intended) on establishing your client base. Word of mouth is absolute GOLD when marketing, so remember that. I'm sure you're asking yourself about the "psychology" classes. Those are helpful in reading the potential client, being able to cater your presentation to their needs, and understanding what they really NEED.

Hope this helps a little.
 
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