Hagley Community College
Photographer Kaitango Whakaahua
Photographers take photographs of people, places, products or events.
Photographers may do some or all of the following:
- use digital camera and lighting equipment
- work out ideas for photo shoots
- arrange cameras, lights, locations, props and models
- digitally process and edit photos for print or web
- manage and market their own businesses
- plan, produce and edit video footage.
Useful Experience
Useful experience for photographers includes:
- amateur photography, including darkroom experience
- art experience
- experience with photography editing software.
Personal Qualities
Photographers need to be:
- good communicators and able to make people feel relaxed and at ease
- patient and organised
- able to work well under pressure
- accurate, with an eye for detail
- confident and motivated
- creative and artistic
- practical and technically skilled
- good at solving problems
- good at networking to establish a customer base.
Skills
Photographers need to have knowledge of:
- cameras, flashes, lenses and computers
- how to control light and achieve different photographic effects
- how to process digital images and use software such as Photoshop and Lightroom
- latest photographic methods, equipment and trends.
Self-employed photographers also need small business and marketing skills, and an understanding of relevant legislation.
Conditions
Photographers:
- usually work regular business hours, and may work long, irregular hours, including evenings and weekends
- work in studios, offices and outdoors in various locations
- travel locally, nationally or internationally to photograph locations.
Subject Recommendations
There are no specific secondary education requirements to become a photographer, but useful subjects include visual arts, art history, digital technologies and design and visual communication..
Photographers can earn around $23-$35 per hour.
Pay for photographers varies depending on experience, how often they work and the type of photography.
- Photographers in training can expect to earn minimum wage.
- Photographers with two to three years' experience usually earn between $25 and $30 an hour.
- Self-employed photographers can earn $50 to $250 an hour.
Many photographers are self-employed and their income depends on the success of their business.
Source: Woolf Photography, 2020.
Photographers may progress to set up their own photography business, or move between different areas of photography with further training.
Photographers may specialise in a particular area of photography, such as:
- advertising, food, fashion and editorial
- artistic – producing photographic artworks
- corporate and commercial
- press, sports photography and photojournalism
- medical photography
- social, including weddings and portraits
- stills photography in the film industry
- photographic styling
- photographic retouching.
Years Of Training
There are no specific entry requirements to become a photographer as you gain skills on the job. However, a relevant tertiary qualification such as a Bachelor of Fine Arts may be useful.
Some employers prefer to train new photographers themselves. They may also support them to work towards a photography qualification.
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