I've been getting a lot of questions from people wondering if they can turn photography into a full-time income earning career. The short answer is, YES. I do it, a number of my friends do it, and I'm sure you know a few people who do as well.
Full-time photographers can typically make anywhere between $30,000 and $75,000 per year, and some make even more than that. Many photographers prefer to transition into photography part-time so they can get an idea of if it will be financially sustainable as a career.
The Highest Paying Jobs for Photographers
- Stylist. A stylist creates outfits and makeup for models and sometimes plans photography composition. ...
- Commercial Photography. ...
- Fashion Photography. ...
- Photo Editor. ...
- Wedding Photography. ...
- Photojournalist. ...
- Photographer's Assistant. ...
- Portrait Photography.
This niche has the potential to make you a lot of money as a photographer. And for a good reason. The stress, planning, and amount of work you need to do are immense. Not only are the financial benefits high, but it is also a very rewarding job.
It's extremely unlikely that you're ever going to become rich doing photography. In fact, if this is your only income and you have a family, it's a hard income to live off of and you're going to have to make sacrifices. That doesn't mean you can't do it or that it's not worth it.
Richard Prince, who takes photographs of photographs, is the richest photographer in the world.
So, as an overall answer regarding the question “Is Photography a Good Career?” Yes, it is! As long as the earnings of a photographer, in general, are concerned, a photographer in the USA can earn about $30-40k per year.
Being a professional photographer is not just happily snapping some photos, collecting money, and then spending all of that money on anything you'd like. There are expenses, lots and lots of expenses. There are boring, repetitive tasks. There are hours spent doing behind the scenes stuff.
In the field of photography, degree holders are often considered for jobs as commercial photographers, photojournalists, digital photo editors, videographers, and even educators. Here are descriptions of the most common photography careers.
While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $150,000 and as low as $12,500, the majority of Celebrity Photographer salaries currently range between $28,000 (25th percentile) to $73,000 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $104,000 annually across the United States.
“Photography is one of the most competitive businesses out there,” Farren says. “You need to be a very good business person to make a decent living. You'll get there much more quickly if you start out right.” Creating a business plan may seem like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be if you have the right tools.
Earning money by selling stock photos is still possible, despite high competition. By regularly uploading high-quality stock images (and videos), you can gradually build an impressive portfolio that will earn you up to hundreds of dollars per month.
Shutterstock pays you 25 to 38 cents every time one of your images is downloaded, based on your earnings tier. The on demand plan lets customers purchase an image pack under the standard or enhanced license.
Under US copyright law, photographers own every image that they take. They have the choice to sign over full rights to the client, or to license them for specific uses. The more uses that the images have, and the more eyes that will see them, the higher the cost of licensing because they have more value.
Top Professional: $200-$500+ per hour / $250-$1,500 per image. In any industry, there will always be an elite, highly competitive group of in-demand pros. In the case of photographers, some of the top professionals in today's industry charge over $10,000 per day, or $1,500 per image.
Entry-level photographers: Those who are just getting started in the world of professional photography after taking some formal education typically charge $50-$150 per hour or $25-$125 per image.
A photographer's education can last from a single semester (a certificate of some kind) to roughly six years of college studies. You can complete photographer training under an associate's degree, or you can complete six years of schooling for photography by enrolling in a master's program.
Freelancing and running your own business isn't easy. Getting started can be tough. As a freelance photographer, you'll definitely start out working long hours. You'll realize how lonely it is to not have anyone to have lunch with, and miss the stability of a weekly/monthly check.