Is Photography a Good Career?

Talking about photography as a career, me as a photographer, I feel like talking about “love” in different ways!

Photography is a type of art in itself, which was discovered many years ago, and it is still standing on its feet strongly enough to gather people around it and it brings out some amazing professionals!

Worldwide are different well-known photographers, and if you are thinking of becoming one of them, but still, cannot decide if it is a good career, welcome to CameraGurus, it seems like you are at the right place!

In this article/blog you will find some information if photography is a good career.

In my opinion, it is! But still, it depends a lot on your preferences too. Now, without wasting your time furthermore, let’s get straight to the topic!

Is Photography a Good Career?

Photography is definitely a good career, and in my opinion, it is one of the best ones!

Even though it has some ups and downs, many photographers seem to think that they are the greatest ups and downs that you can ever encounter in your life.

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.

Some Most Common Types of Photography that You Can Choose From

You must know that there are more than 50 types of photography in general, but still, there are some most commonly known ones.

What deserves to be mentioned in this part is that there are many options on photography types and some can sound good while some can make you doubt whether you should do it or not.

Those types of photography include:

Portrait Photography

Portrait photography is one of the most famous types of photography that you can ever hear. If you want to be a portrait photographer, you should know that these types of photographers are always needed!

A portrait photographer takes pictures of one person only or a group of people. Besides doing that, he/she also should be able to capture people’s emotions and personalities somehow. If you are able to do so, and you think that you can bring the best out of people, it is time to try!

In the USA, the salary of a portrait photographer, annually, is about $10,209, because who doesn’t want a professional picture of themselves? Obviously everybody!

Wedding Photography

Having the perfect wedding for some people is a dream, and having their dream captured in photographs is a thing that everybody loves! It is in a way related to portrait photography, but in this one the emotions of people, in this case, the couple that is getting married, go way deeper!

I’ve been a wedding photographer for most of my life. I would gladly say that being present in a couple’s emotions is one of the greatest things that comes from wedding photography only.

The salary of a wedding photographer, according to some wedding photographers, in the USA is $44,042, and that’s annual.

Nature/Landscape Photography

Nature or Landscape photography means that you are bringing the best out of a creation! In my opinion, it is the best feeling ever! Especially if you find yourself in an amazing and perfect place! That means that you will be traveling to lots of places and finding the best of it. Who doesn’t love traveling, right?

If you want to become a nature/landscape photographer, you should definitely know the salary! In the USA, this type of photography brings to you $39,273 per year.

Sports Photography

If you want to become a sports photographer, you should know that sports photography is one of those types of photographs that can be considered an action one! Why is that? Well, if you are at a football game, you cannot say to anyone to run the same way that he or she did 2 minutes ago, right? You should be able to capture pictures the moment that something is happening!

While being at a sports field, you may have noticed a particular place in which stay photographers. Basically, they have a “VIP” place in which they are seated. If you want to become one of them, take a seat in that amazing place, you should know that it requires some hard work.

As for the salary, a sports photographer can earn $10,008 annually.

Journalism Photography

This type of photography is also called Photojournalism. Just as its name suggests, a photographer of this field is a journalist in their own way! 

The pictures that you take while being a journalist photographer include any event that may happen in a particular place. For example, you can find yourself taking pictures in different events of political parties (just as in the picture above), and also you can be a photographer of a magazine, it is also considered a journalism type of photography.

Differing from the other types of photography that I mentioned above when wanting to become a photojournalist, you should definitely be hired as one. You cannot take place if you are doing it alone.

The salary of a photojournalist in the USA is about $39,571 for a year. 

Crime Scene Photography

Here goes the tough part of a type of photography. Crime Scene photography is in a way related to photojournalism, but still, it has its own methods. 

I said that it is a tough one because you never know what you will encounter in a particular place. There are different scenes, and some may bother you a lot.

Just as in photojournalism, crime scene photography cannot be taken voluntarily, but you have to have permission in order to do so, or as mentioned, you should be hired. While researching through the world wide web I’ve noticed that these photographers are mostly hired by the police and the FBI. Especially in the USA, so you should have in mind that it may be a bit hard. 

Anyways, the earnings of a crime scene photographer are about $34,070 per year.

Final Words

As we came at the end of this article, I would like to mention a quote, which is said, by a well-known French photographer.

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”

– Henri Cartier-Bresson

Explaining this quote, means don’t be afraid of failure! Just as everything at the beginning may sound hard, photography has some difficulties or hard roads that you will encounter. 

In the end, or after all, photography becomes a part of your life!