Photographer Job Duties

The day of a photographer may seem at first glance, a pretty amazing and easy job-but there is a lot that goes into the day to day duties of a photographer-regardless of what type of photographer he is and what industry he has chosen to work for. If you are considering becoming a professional photographer, one of the most important things you should know is what the general duties are of a photographer, so you can best gauge if this is the right career path and field for you. Below, we offer a review of the most general duties of a professional photographer for your convenience.
Though it may seem from TV and books, photographers just point and shoot, and collect the paycheck; a lot more goes into the art and technical function of taking photos. While every industry that employs a photographer for their needs varies in their daily duties and included tasks and responsibilities, there are a basic set of general duties that a professional and successful photographer must do.
The first thing that any one should understand in connection to the duties and responsibilities of a photographer is that adequate training and education is required. It is not enough to just enjoy and have an eye for taking photos; you must have professional training with the camera and methodology. Once the correct training has been completed, the following tasks and duties can be expected of a professional photographer-on a general basis:

• Camera gear maintenance
• Camera gear updating as technology requires to stay competitive
• Lighting setup
• Product/model preparation and placement
• Negotiating with art directors, stylists, and other professionals involved
• Maintaining project and ongoing budgets
• Model selection
• Keeping updated on newest technology and method in the industry
• Knowledge of all types of photography equipment
• Location selection and setup
• Acquiring and positioning props for shoots
• Planning and implementation of background/backdrop
• Maintaining all administrative aspects-billing and accounting
• Supervision of assistants
• Negotiation with clients and customer service
• Advertising and promoting for new client work
• Editing and developing photos online or in a dark room
• Renting space for photo shoots
• Hiring models and assistants

Of course, all of these responsibilities are general and certainly do not include everything that a photographer may be responsible for on a daily basis. Depending on the industry that a photographer is in, they may very well be responsible for traveling to various locations for shoots, getting more industry specific technology, and lots of research.