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Researched by Cory C.
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Introduction
Photographers are people who take pictures of people, animals, things, places, and events. A photographer’s "writing" utensils are not pens or pencils but the wide range of camera and photographic equipment with which they make pictures. There are several different types of photographers.
What They Do
Portrait photographers take pictures of people. Many portrait photographers work in their own studios, although they often go to schools, homes, stores, or events, such as weddings, and parties to take pictures.
Commercial photographers take pictures of products or machinery. They work either indoors or outside and they use many different kinds of equipment and props.
Companies hire industrial photographers to photograph their working environment including such things as large machinery, assembly lines, office design, and architecture. These photographers take pictures of workers or products, which are used in advertisements.
Many photographers work a 35-to-40 hour work week, but freelancers and news photographers often put in long, irregular hours.
Education and Training
In general, a college education is not needed to become a photographer, however, college level courses in photography will ensure that students enter the job market with the most current technical training.
High school classes in photography, chemistry and art will help prepare you for further studies. You should take photographs and learn about photographic equipment if you want to be a photographer. Art can help you by sketching shapes, two dimensional figures, etc.
Earnings and Outlook for the US
In the 1990’s, people who did routine photo work earned an average of
about $24,800 a year. Photographers who do harder or more challenging work
earn about $37,200 a year. The employment of photographers will increase
about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2006.
About 90,000 photographers were employed in the 1990’s. Approximately half
were salaried photographers and the rest were self-employed. There are
about 3,200 employers in Washington. Most of them are in western Washington.
History of Photography
The word "photograph" means, "to write with light." Even though the art of photography goes back only about 150 years, the two Greek words that were combined to refer to this skill quite accurately describe what it does.
The discoveries that led eventually to photography began early in the 18th century when a German scientist, Dr. Johann H. Schultze, experimented with the action of light on certain chemicals. He found that when these chemicals were covered by dark paper they did not change color, but when they were exposed to sunlight, they darkened. A French painter named Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) became the first photographer in 1839, when he perfected the process of using silver-iodide-coated plates inside a tiny box. He then developed the plates by means of mercury vapor. The daguerreotype, as these early photographs came to be known, took minutes to expose and the developing process was directly to the plate. There were no prints made.
Although the daguerreotype was the sensation of its day, it was not
until George Eastman (1854-1932) invented a simple camera and flexible
roll film that photography began to come into widespread use in the late
1800’s. With exposure to the negative, light-sensitive paper was
used to make positive multiple copies of the image.
Advancement
Because photography is such a diversified field, there is no usual way
in which to get ahead. Those who begin by working for somebody else may
advance to owning their own businesses. Commercial photographers may gain
prestige as more of their pictures are placed in well-known trade journals
or popular magazines. Press photographers might advance in salary and the
kinds of important news stories assigned to them.
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