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.
- • Take pictures of individuals, families, and small groups, either in studio or on location.
- • 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.
- • Use traditional or digital cameras, along with a variety of equipment, such as tripods, filters, and flash attachments.
- • Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors.
- • Determine desired images and picture composition, selecting and adjusting subjects, equipment, and lighting to achieve desired effects.
- • Test equipment prior to use to ensure that it is in good working order.
- • Review sets of photographs to select the best work.
- • Estimate or measure light levels, distances, and numbers of exposures needed, using measuring devices and formulas.
- • Manipulate and enhance scanned or digital images to create desired effects, using computers and specialized software.
- • Perform maintenance tasks necessary to keep equipment working properly.
- • Perform general office duties, such as scheduling appointments, keeping books, and ordering supplies.
- • Determine project goals, locations, and equipment needs by studying assignments and consulting with clients or advertising staff.
- • Select and assemble equipment and required background properties, according to subjects, materials, and conditions.
- • Enhance, retouch, and resize photographs and negatives, using airbrushing and other techniques.
- • Set up, mount, or install photographic equipment and cameras.
- • Produce computer-readable, digital images from film, using flatbed scanners and photofinishing laboratories.
- • Direct activities of workers setting up photographic equipment.
- • Employ a variety of specialized photographic materials and techniques, including infrared and ultraviolet films, macro photography, photogrammetry and sensitometry.
- • Engage in research to develop new photographic procedures and materials.
- • Set up photographic exhibitions for the purpose of displaying and selling work.
- • Load and unload film.
- • Develop visual aids and charts for use in lectures or to present evidence in court.
- • License the use of photographs through stock photo agencies.
- • Mount, frame, laminate, or lacquer finished photographs.
- • Transfer photographs to computers for editing, archiving, and electronic transmission.
- • Develop and print exposed film, using chemicals, touch-up tools, and developing and printing equipment.
- • Write photograph captions.
- • Send film to photofinishing laboratories for processing.
Related specializations
Interview options
Interview options
Interviewee gender
Interviewee accent
Interview time
Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
Learn more
Sources & Standards:
This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
