Atlanta Business Daily

Is a photographer a good career? Approximately how much do you make if you photograph weddings?

I love taking pictures. I am also good with software and computers. I will graduate high school in two years and I am thinking about being a photographer. Is a photographer a good career? About how much do you make if you photograph weddings? Is it a fun job [ and I am talking about every photographer job, not just weddings]. Thank you! Ps. I plan on going to college four to five years if I choose to be a photographer.

Public Comments

1. Yeah! You can make ALOT photographing about anything! If you get a job in a good magizine like National Geographic, Readers Digest ,etc. you can make good money! Great career choice!
2. That sounds like a great career for you. You can make up to $6000 per job, and you can also work at bar mitzvahs and major (like 50th or 80th) Birthdays. xoxo
3. If you like it just do it..!!Don't think so much about money and how much do you make..!! Choose sth that you really like and don't consider issues like money...!! I didn't choose what i wanted from the start because i thought that i wouldn't make enough money from it and now i regret it..!! So just follow your dream!!;) Being a photographer is a great job in my opinion!!
4. After owning my own photography studio for just over a year, I opted to return to freelance photography. I loved taking pictures, but I did not enjoy the overhead involved with owning my own business. As a freelance, the "going rate" in a depressed economic area is around $250 per wedding. This is an 'average' not a direct quote....but you have to deduct expenses for camera batteries and printing of the pictures. I continue to love to take pictures, but photography lost some of its zest for me when I had my studio and I don't take near as many as I used to; especially of people. I got the point I only want to photograph nature instead of people, with the exceptions of my family. Photography can be a very profitable career. A local photographer makes more than enough money to travel when and where he wants without batting an eye. He's won several photographic awards and the prices he charges reflect it.
5. i think being a photographer is very fun. if you love taking pictures it might be a great job for you. when your photographing weddings we usually make over a 1000 dollars each wedding. it all depends on who your working for. and the same with all the other photography pictures we do. if you want to get some ideas of things you can do look here:
6. It's a great job, can be lot's of fun if you choose the right niche for you. Photography school is a very good idea if you choose to do photography. As for how much money you can make, that varies alot. Sure, if you get a job shooting for NatGeo you'll make quite a bit, but how many people can they hire? There are many good photographers, and many bad ones, all of them need work. Also with digital, everyone seems to think they're a photographer. People will say the same thing happened with 35mm but I think it's many more people now. If you want to do phtography, do it. Don't have unreasonable expectations about money, but you should also know that if you're good and you're willing to work, jobs and money will come your way.
7. You can make a lot of money... if you're good! Wedding photographers charge a lot. They usually charge between $2000 to $5000 for a wedding. I have a photo instructor who charges $2000 for just three hours of work. If you are a creative person and love photography, then of course it's a fun job!
8. It can be a good career and it can be a terrible career. It seems like the answers others gave you showed the sunny side of the street. Would you like to see the shady? You can get a degree in photography, get all the equipment, start a business, and find out that you can't take the brides and their parents and in-laws and they are driving you closer and closer every day to the funny farm. Or you do a wedding and the bride hates the photos and she tells all her friends what a bad job you did and suddenly you business drops 50% (or more) in a couple of months. Or you find out that you are interested in another field of photography and you have to start your business from scratch again. Or a new photographer moves into your area and offers the same services and quality for 1/2 the price. If I could make a suggestion. Try to get a position with a photographer you admire and work with them and see what is like on a practical level. I am not trying to discourage you, but their are more than one side to any career.