Example Career: Photographers

Career Description

Photograph people, landscapes, merchandise, or other subjects. May use lighting equipment to enhance a subject's appearance. May use editing software to produce finished images and prints. Includes commercial and industrial photographers, scientific photographers, and photojournalists.

What Job Titles Photographers Might Have

• Commercial Photographer
• Photographer
• Photojournalist
• Portrait Photographer

What Photographers Do

• Adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed.
• Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors.
• Determine desired images and picture composition, selecting and adjusting subjects, equipment, and lighting to achieve desired effects.
• Transfer photographs to computers for editing, archiving, and electronic transmission.
• Use traditional or digital cameras, along with a variety of equipment, such as tripods, filters, and flash attachments.
• Manipulate and enhance scanned or digital images to create desired effects, using computers and specialized software.
• Take pictures of individuals, families, and small groups, either in studio or on location.
• Enhance, retouch, and resize photographs and negatives, using airbrushing and other techniques.
• Test equipment prior to use to ensure that it is in good working order.
• Estimate or measure light levels, distances, and numbers of exposures needed, using measuring devices and formulas.
• Perform general office duties, such as scheduling appointments, keeping books, and ordering supplies.
• Review sets of photographs to select the best work.
• Set up, mount, or install photographic equipment and cameras.
• Determine project goals, locations, and equipment needs by studying assignments and consulting with clients or advertising staff.
• Perform maintenance tasks necessary to keep equipment working properly.
• Select and assemble equipment and required background properties, according to subjects, materials, and conditions.
• Direct activities of workers setting up photographic equipment.
• Engage in research to develop new photographic procedures and materials.
• Mount, frame, laminate, or lacquer finished photographs.
• Send film to photofinishing laboratories for processing.
• Develop visual aids and charts for use in lectures or to present evidence in court.
• Load and unload film.

What Photographers Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Photographers Should Be Interested In

• Artistic - Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

What Photographers Need to Learn

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.