The Average Earnings of a Portrait Photographer
People go to portrait studios or hire portrait photographers to have pictures taken of themselves or their families, or both. The average earnings of a portrait photographer is around $29,000 per year. Some photographers, however, can earn as much as $60,000 and as low as $16,000 per year. The different salary ranges are dependent on a photographer's training and experience, whether they work for a studio or on their own and their level of skill.
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Department Store Portrait Studios
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Many large chain department stores have areas set aside within the store to take portraits. Many photographers working in a department studio start out as novice photographers, who are trained by the studio managers. Since many of the photographers hired by a department store studio have little to no experience with portrait photography, they often fall on the lower end of the median salary range.
High End Portrait Studios
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High-end portrait studios provide many of the same services as a department store studio but often employ photographers with more experience and a higher skill level. They may also offer more specialized services such as outdoor portraits, glamor portraits and fashion or modeling head shots. A photographer may earn more working with a high-end portrait studio, often working on commission with pressure to sell as many sessions and portraits as possible.
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Specialty Portrait Studios
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Instead of providing a range of portrait photography, some portrait studios specialize in one or two areas of portraiture. School portrait studios contract with school districts and send photographers to the schools to take individual pictures of the students. Some hospitals contract with studios that specialize in taking pictures of newborn babies. The salary of a photographer working with a specialty studio depends on the skill level and experience required and how much work each session requires.
Wedding Photography
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One of the highest grossing areas of photography, wedding photography, requires highly trained and skilled photographers to photograph wedding ceremonies, receptions and special portraits of the bride, groom, wedding party and family. A wedding photographer must ensure that every picture taken looks good and that every moment of the wedding is covered. Salaries for wedding photographers are on the higher end of the average portrait photographer earnings, but some can earn as much as six figures per year.
Self Employed Photographers
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A self-employed portrait photographer is not affiliated with any studio or company, choosing independence and creative freedom. A self-employed portrait photographer's salary fluctuates depending on the amount of work he or she can find, the cost of maintaining equipment and other incidentals such as insurance, travel costs and printing supplies. A studio photographer may only be paid a fraction of what a session may cost the consumer, while the self-employed photographer gets 100 percent of the session fee.
The Portrait Photography Industry
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Portrait photography can be a lucrative and profitable area of photography that allows photographers to earn money doing something they enjoy. However, it is an industry that fluctuates significantly depending on the economy and demand for portraiture. Salary ranges also vary depending on the skill of the photographer as well as the location of the studio and amount of revenue generated.
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References
- Photo Credit portrait 3 image by Gaelle Levrey from Fotolia.com
