A Career in Photography

Grace Kuechler

Mr. Alburger

English III

22 February 2018
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Grace Kuechler

Mr. Alburger

English III

22 February 2018

A Career in Photography

Some might choose photography as a career because they seek to capture special

memoirs or have a good eye for detail. Photographers have the freedom to express themselves

and tell stories through their photographs. The goal of a photographer consists of making people

feel different emotions when looking at their photos. Popular fields in photography include

fashion, war, school, advertising, news, paparazzi, aerial, baby, travel, equine, and wedding

photography. The career of photography holds importance because of the stories a photographer

can tell through a picture, the ability to communicate through photos, and the history

photography brings.

Photography matters because photos appear everywhere. For example all college

websites have virtual tours full of pictures of the campus on their websites. Students and parents

use these photos to determine if they have any interest in the college. If photos did not exist then

the college would seem boring; having photos on a college website rarely strikes as a negative

aspect. Photographers capture photos seen on billboards, pamphlets, websites, magazines,

yearbooks, museums, scrapbooks, books, photo galleries, waiting rooms, etc. One can make

money by simply taking a good picture and selling it to a company. When all of the people from

this generation have passed away, no one will know what people or things looked like. With

pictures, the future generations can visualize how the past times worked.
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The types of pictures someone takes tells a fair amount about their personality.

Photography can help people too, if someone wanted to help a cause they believe in, they could

take pictures of it and spread the word. Photographer Jeannie DeSena says “Sometimes people

cry because they love their portraits so much. Also, to get deep, I like that I can show people how

beautiful they are. Everyone is beautiful; it's my job to find that beauty and show it through my

imagery” (DeSena). Photographers try their best to show the beauty in people through their

photographs.

Photography exists as one of the most unique careers in the world. A photographer,

regardless of the field they pursue, has a great amount of freedom. Companies do not want their

photographers to have similar photos to other photographers, they want their photographers to

have their own unique style. A famous photographer by the name of John Ingledew said, “The

brilliant thing about photography is that anyone can take pictures and every photographer has the

chance to create images in his or her own unique way” (Ingledew). If someone wanted to

succeed in the photography business, then they would have to have a distinctive vibe to their

photos.

People use photography everywhere; they use apps everyday that use include

photography. For example, the most popular apps today such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram,

and Pinterest all use photography. Fascinatingly, 61% of the American population own a phone

and they all have instantaneous access to cameras (Croatto). Anyone who owns a phone, tablet,

camera, or anything that captures pictures can inhabit traits of a photographer.

Photographers do not have a boss because they work in the freelance industry. They do

not constantly have someone breathing down their neck making sure they do the work correctly;
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they have their own freedoms. Photographers have the ability to make their own decisions, and

control what they want to do and how much. To pursue a photography career, a photographer

must use both their artistic and technical side. A photographer must have the creativity to capture

an interesting photo. When photographers first start their business, they probably will not have

the greatest photography skills, but as they spend more and more time with the camera, their

skills will flourish. For photographers, having the ability to use their talents to give back to

society demonstrates another great characteristic of photography. For example professional

photographer Jeannie DeSena volunteers to take pictures for a nonprofit organization called ​I

Lay Me Down to Sleep​ (DeSena). Volunteer workers make up a huge amount of the photography

world, not all workers work for the money.

Most, if not all photographers, love their jobs, but some things they would rather work

without. For example photographers do not have huge franchises, therefore they find it difficult

to advertise, network, and attract new clients. Acting as a perfectionist during a photoshoot can

bring difficulties because one can not spend too much time on a project. At times, finding new

ways to make more money can bring challenges. Photographer Jeannie DeSena says that at times

she finds it hard to grasp “how to get a certain look to my lighting or composing a background

and props that will work together beautifully” (DeSena). For photographers, getting the right

style and personality of a picture for a customer can bring challenges. Whether if that means how

they want their portraits taken, or how they want their photos for their website captured, clients

will always bring different requests.

In order to pursue a career in photography one must have fine skills in multitasking.

During a photoshoot, a photographer must manage the camera, position the subjects, and make
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sure the photo turns out perfect for the clients. Photographer Jeannie DeSena deals with

multitasking by creating to-do lists and prefers doing one thing at a time to make her life and job

easier (DeSena). Knowing how to multitask and manage time will help one do well in this career.

Many photographers have the same schedule in terms of a normal day. A photographer

spends their day sending and replying to emails from customers. Photographers then have to use

photography lab software to upload pictures. They edit photos that they have taken for clients

and have them prepared to print. They also have to spend time doing taxes for their business. To

follow the career of photography one must have a great amount of knowledge on how to work a

computer and its software. A photographer spends more time behind the computer than the

actual camera (DeSena). These include the business and relationship side of this job.

To become a photographer the requirements do not include an extraneous amount of

education. To run a business one does not necessarily need to attend college. Some people

become photographers after attending high school photography classes, some go to photography

school, and some train under the supervision of a professional photographer. Photographer

Jeannie DeSena went to school to become a journalist and worked for a newspaper, but then

decided she wanted to pursue a job in photography. Jeannie says, “However, I recommend that

anyone who plans to be an entrepreneur have some business education. I didn't take accounting

or business fundamentals, and I wish I had” (DeSena). If one went to college in order to pursue

photography, a visual arts major would not classify as the only major available, some people

become photographers by majoring in journalism or business. Many options exist for college

students going into the career of photography.

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Fashion photography differs from all of the other types of photographies. Potential

photographers need to have a good eye for detail, in order to envision a design or scene. A

photographer does not have time to wait for something to happen, they have to use what they

have at the time to make a great, selling photo. Knowing how to use light to introduce balance,

texture, and create a mood prevails as a key part of fashion photography. Technical skills like

knowing how to use various filters, lenses, and most importantly cameras, hold the highest

importance for this career. Potential photographers need to know how to communicate with the

models. If a photographer does not know how to appropriately communicate with the model, the

model will most likely not put work nor effort into their poses. To work in the fashion

photography world one needs to know how to use a computer for the graphic software when

editing photos. Attending photography classes would also increase the development of

photography skills (Freese). To expand artistic skills, submitting photos to photo contests, or

newspapers would only increase one’s photography skills.

A war photographer has one of the most dangerous careers in photography. Potential war

photographers has to have the will to photograph people who risk their lives everyday. A

photographer by the name of Lucian Read who photographed the civil war in Fallujah, Iraq said,

“Typically I'd see those injuries in a firefight, on the street, at night, the guys still in their

fatigues. Under the lights, on the operating table, they became terrifyingly real” (Spong). In the

combat zone, photographers put their lives on the line to capture riveting photos.

A school photographer takes photos of students and staff at schools. These photographers

have a career in taking class photos, and student portraits for the yearbook. Usually if someone
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has the job of a school photographer then they make up apart of a company, or in other words a

studio. They take the pictures at the school and then touch up the photos of students and staff.

In order to pursue an advertising photography career, a photographer would have to know

how to take a picture that will sell a client’s work. If someone went to work in this industry they

would still have freedom to take their own style of pictures but guidelines would take place, the

client will want a say in how they want their photos. A photographer states that, “Advertising

photography can be demanding. The studio-based advertising photographer has to turn over a

greater amount of work to pay for the rent of an expensive property, especially in cities”

(Ingledew). Clients depend on photographers to take photos that will help sell a product.

News photographers probably have one of the most critical jobs in photography. They

capture photos that help inform people of current events around the world. News photography

ranks as one of the most competitive careers in photography. A photographer competes with

people all across the world to get a photo published in the top headlines. If one would like to

work for a newspaper their photographs would need to meet high standards. A photographer

expressed that, “News pictures have to communicate ‘who, what, where, when and why’ - that's

is, who the participants are, what they are doing, where they are, when the event took place and

what its significance is” (Ingledew). To thrive in this career information and photos need have

completely accurate information, considering thousands of people watch the news.

The career of paparazzi groups as one of the most criticized careers in photography. The

paparazzi use their careers to exploit celebrities, they sell their photographs to tabloids and

magazines, often invading celebrities privacy. Often times people who pursue a career in

paparazzi take their jobs too far for example, “Actor Nicole Kidman says photographers pursuing
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her for pictures have gone too far, and have made her feel like she can't leave home without

fearing for her safety” (“Fed”). Paparazzi, like news photography, relate because they both share

news about current events.

Many different forms of aerial photography exist today, for example clients pay

photographers to take aerial photos from hot-air balloons, satellites, spacecrafts, rockets,

airplanes, the top of buildings, and anywhere high that captures a large portion of the ground

from an elevated point of view (“Aerial”). They also pay photographers to photograph property

for real estate companies to put on websites for people searching for homes and estates. The

newest type of aerial photography includes drone technology. Previous years, photographers

rented planes to take overhead photos of estates, current times only require the use of a drone.

Aerial photography has dramatically changed the way that photographers capture a vast amount

of land.

Baby photography classifies as one of the most difficult careers in photography. In order

to fulfill this career one needs to know how to create a beautiful picture, work with a baby, and

deal with protective parents. To do this job one must know how to take proper care of a baby, for

example, having knowledge on how a baby should lay could help the outcome of the photos and

the baby would stay safe. Stillborn photography categorizes as a another type of baby

photography. This type of photography represents a way of remembrance for grieving couples

that have experienced the birth of a stillborn baby. Photographer Jeannie DeSena found her

inspiration to start a business in this photography after she had a miscarriage. She says that when

she first started photographing babies that, “The babies were bruised or had skin damage, and it

was hard to react positively. I wanted to give people images of their babies that they would be
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proud to show off and that wouldn't repel anyone,” (DeSena). Now Jeannie volunteers at a

nonprofit organization called ​I Lay Me Down to Sleep, t​ hat photographs stillborn babies

(DeSena). Baby photography creates special memories for the baby and family.

Travel photography provides a great way to get to travel the world. People hired by

photojournalist companies go and take pictures of extravagant places, they document culture,

people, landscape and history. While traveling the world to take pictures, one can also learn

about the culture, people, landscape and history. A photographer stated that travel photography

“gives photographers the opportunity to learn about First Nation culture while also travelling and

photographing Australia's amazing Red Centre” (“Sven’s”). Having the opportunity to travel the

world and capture it through photography would probably rank as the most lavish career of

photography.

The career of equine photography classifies as an unusual career, considering equine

photographers only photograph horses. Usually photographers capture multiple subjects at a

time, however, equine photography captures only one subject. To pursue a career in equine

photography a photographer must have a patient personality. The photographer has to understand

the risk of a horse jumping or kicking them. The photographs taken by equine photographers

exist for equestrian sports, every horse needs photo identification in order to compete in a

competition. Equine photos used for equestrian sports, require equanimity, and exists to

photograph horses.

Having the job of a wedding photographer takes a large amount of planning. Most

photographers do their research before the wedding. For instance they usually go to the

destination of the wedding to scope out the area, meet the pastor to make sure they know where
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to stand, and lastly, to learn the style of the couple, all before the wedding takes place. A

photographer stated that, “When they give so much attention to details, the next most important

thing to do is to make sure that all these elements are captured visually, so as to be remembered

and shared with future generations” (Ingledew). A wedding ranks as the most important day of a

couples life, thus a photographer must capture it perfectly.

Photography exists everywhere and holds great significance in the world, in modern

times because people use photos to help understand things. Many different types of careers exist

in the field of photography that potential photographers can pursue. Some of the most popular

fields in photography include fashion, war, school, advertising, news, paparazzi, aerial, baby,

travel, equine, and wedding photography. Photographers have a special job because they have

opportunity for career freedom. The art of photography has a sufficient amount of history,

stories, and languages that photographers can continue to improve and advance.
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Works Cited

"Aerial and Satellite Photography." ["Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition"].

Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition​, Mar. 2017, p. 1. EBSCO​host,​

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5861&db=khh&AN=39042124&site=ehost-live&scope=site>.

Croatto, Pete. "The Art of Photography: In a World Full of Smartphones, Everyone's a

Photographer, and Publishers Are Bringing out Books to Help Them Take Better

Pictures." ​Publishers Weekly​, no. 15, 2014, p. 20. EBSCO​host​,

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"Fed: Kidman Says Paparazzi Have Gone Too Far." ​AAP Australian National News Wire​, n.d.

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Freese, Susan M. Fashion. Abdo Publishing, 2011. Inside the Industry. EBSCOhost,

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Spong, John. "Photographing a War." ​Texas Monthly,​ vol. 35, no. 4, Apr. 2007, p. 34.

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DeSena, Jeannie. Personal Interview. 11 February 2018