You can find a plethora of photography professions and your choice can be as individual as you are. In photography school, you will be able to explore these options and decide what fits you. If you don’t attend a school, you might be able to find a photographer to work for as an assistant or intern, so you can find your photography niche.
Here are some photography professions to consider, along with a short description of each:
- Portrait photographers often work in their own studios, but also on location, and they take photographs of individuals or groups. They may specialize in weddings, family groups, religious ceremonies, or sports groups. School photographers also fit this classification.
- News photographers can work for print media or television. This job is also called photojournalist. They have to be on the spot for news happenings, so they travel to locations to photograph newsmakers, sports events, or breaking news stories.
- Commercial photographers might work for a company or as a contractor. They often take pictures for books, catalogs, magazines, or advertisements. Their photographs can be of all kinds of objects for sale or of people or landscapes to illustrate books and magazines.
- Industrial photographers usually take pictures of equipment, machinery, employees, factories, and products. Their photos are used for publicity, reports, and company records.
- Scientific photographers often have a background in science and their photos are used to document scientific or medical procedures.
- Freelance photographers often work on assignment, selling their photos to magazines, websites, and newspapers.
- Fine art or art history photographers sell their photos as fine art. They use techniques developed by artists to compose and produce their photos.
- Glamour and fashion photographers take the pictures that you see on the cover of fashion magazines or on fashion designer websites.
- Travel photographers handle assignments for travel magazines. Many work on a freelance basis, selling their photos to magazines.
- Sports photographers specialize in photographing athletes, either at the high school level or all the way up to professional teams.
- Videographers ply their craft with video photography. They may work for advertising firms, as news journalists, or as wedding photographers.
- Graphic designers, or graphic artists, may incorporate photography in their work. They design magazine and book layouts, advertisements, websites, and promotional materials.
Whichever photography specialty you choose, you need to have a good foundation of study and work to start your career. You may not know what specialty you prefer until you have had some exposure to the areas in photography school. Try them all out and find your niche.