Photography Specialties
There are quite a few Americans who believe that photography is just about taking pictures; however, there are so many specialties one can get into if they go to photography school. First of all, there are numerous schools for those who want to focus on just one type of photography. For example, a photographer may specialize in taking pictures of older adults. Below is a short list of some of the different types of photography and what kind of jobs you can have in each field:
1. Wedding/special event photography can be a very rewarding career. Many professionals in the field delight in having the ability to capture their clients’ happy memories on camera. Most photographers in this specialty start out in a small studio, then move on to open their own studio. Owning your own studio can be a lot of work, so some people prefer to team up with another colleague to share the costs and responsibilities of owning a studio.
2. Graduation photos, which may or may not be separate from weddings and special events. Some photography studios are only dedicated to taking graduation photos throughout the year. Taking pictures of high school seniors has become increasingly popular. Many studios offer personalized service for their clients. For example, they will take a variety of images, either indoors or outdoors, for each outfit the client brings to the studio. A high school student can wear jeans and a top for an outdoor photo and wear a dressy outfit for an indoor shoot.
3. Nature photography can also be a very rewarding career. The first career option that comes to mind is shooting for National Geographic, which would be so much fun to do all the time. It takes a lot of travel to take nature photography for any kind of magazine or periodical. Nature can include living animals in their natural habitat and non-living things in their natural habitat. With this lead, you would normally be working for a magazine and traveling with a journalist to whatever location you chose for the article.
4. Finally, another popular direction for photographers is shooting models for magazines and/or fashion shows. This is a very difficult field to get into because it looks like the most glamorous. Many people would love to participate in photo shoots with models and celebrities for one of the most popular magazines, but there are a limited number of jobs in that type of industry.
Contrary to popular belief, there are so many directions one can take their photography careers once they are done with all the education. What you decide will depend on how you want to spend the rest of your career. If you want to settle down, stay in one place and have a family, then maybe starting your own studio is in your best interest and doing special events could be good for you. If you want to travel a lot and maybe not settle in any particular place, then perhaps the nature photography track is the best one, as photography for any type of nature magazine usually requires a lot of travel.