A photographer is a professional who works with a camera and takes pictures for payment. Photographers commonly work on a freelance basis, getting hired by private individuals and companies to shoot specific events, or taking high quality pictures and selling them as stock photos to people or organizations that may need them. Photographers may also work in studios, where they team up to provide better services. Typically, a photographer will also provide editing services for the photos they take, using various tools to enhance the quality or achieve a particular effect.
There are educational courses for photography at most universities and colleges, though becoming a freelancer doesn’t require candidates to have such a degree in most cases – experience and creativity are the most important factors when judging a photographer’s quality of work. Good photographers are usually highly sought after and have tight schedules, working for high-ranking clients on a constant basis. It’s not unusual for the job to be highly rewarding, though it’s not easy to reach that level either.
A photographer’s average salary isn’t very easy to determine due to the specific nature of the job and the infrequent payment freelance photographers typically get. In most cases, the annual salary for a photographer would range between $31,000 – $60,000, though those with a bit more creativity and success may be able to secure higher salaries on average. The most common problem is the overly saturated market which can make it very difficult to become known.