Photography Degrees
If you carry your camera everywhere you go and love snapping pictures to preserve memories, you should consider earning a photography degree. Photographers make good money working at weddings, retirements, and graduations. Here’s how you can turn your passion for pictures into a lucrative career with some basic training.
Capturing the Moment
Photographers provide services in a variety of settings. Combining technical expertise and creativity, photographers take and develop photos that preserve moments and tell stories. Using advanced techniques and equipment, photography professionals work with subjects to capture then in their best light. Most photography equipment has gone digital, with contemporary lenses, flashes, and tripods to make the job easier and more fun. As a photography professional, you have the option of working with an established company or in a freelance capacity. Autonomy is definitely an attraction of this creative field.
The Photography Degree
While there is no set training or certification program that photographers must follow, most employers prefer to hire photographers with some formal experience. Colleges, universities, and vocational training schools all offer degrees in photography. On the job experience also helps to improve the credentials of the aspiring photographer. Also, an electronic portfolio of work is a powerful statement of the proficiency and creativity of the photography professional. And a web site is also a powerful tool to bring in unsolicited business for the freelance photographer.
Salary Potential
The salaries that professional photographers command vary greatly by assignment and work setting. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual earnings of salaried photographers were $26,080 in May 2004, with the middle 50% earning between $18,380 and $37,370. Freelance photographers reported higher earnings as they are able to set their own fees and working hours. However, they also must pay for equipment and maintenance fees out of their own pocket.
Source
Photographers
What can you do with a degree in Photography?
3D Renderer-Designer
Acquisition Specialist
Animator
Antique Dealer
Architectural Color Designer
Art Agent
Art Appraiser
Art Dealer
Art Instructor
Art Restorer
Art Specialist
Art Therapist
Artist
Artist and Repertoire Representative
Audiovisual Specialist
Billboard Artist
Book Designer
Book Jacket Designer
Bookbinder
CAD Designer
Case Manager
CD Cover Designer
City Hall Reporter
Concept Artist
Consultant
Corporate Designer
Costume Designer
Creative Director
Custom Decorator
Elementary Art Teacher
Elementary School Teacher
Fashion Buyer
Fashion Designer
Gallery Manager/Owner
Greeting Card Artist
High School Teacher
Jeweler
Jewelry Designer
Letterer
Magazine Designer
Multimedia Designer
Museum Curator
News Editor
Parade Float Maker
Photographer
Photostylist
Picture Framer
Press Operator
Printing Craftsman
Production Artist
Production Coordinator
Production Manager
Professor of Art/Art History
Proprietor
Set Designer
Sign Maker
Sports Photographer
Stock Footage Specialist
Technician
Timing Director
Visual Merchandiser
Website Designer
