The majority of professionals spend under $1,500 a year on gear – and were youngsters bitten by the photography bug, who managed to carve a career out of it
(Image credit: Aftershoot)
According to findings from the 2024 Photography Industry Trends Report, the majority of working wedding, portrait and event photographers started as hobbyists in their teenage or childhood years, managing to evolve their passion into their profession.
What's more, most were self-taught, learning their craft through YouTube videos and the like, rather than attending college or other forms of higher education to study the discipline.
The report was generated from a survey carried out by Aftershoot, the company behind the AI-powered image-culling software of the same name. Aftershoot approached more than 500 professional photographers, working all across the globe, in an attemptto understand the trends shaping the photography industry as it stands today.
The company sums up the results of its research in the below infographic:
(Image credit: Aftershoot)
The findings also show that while almost half of photographers shoot between 1,000 and 3,000 images per session, not even 15% manage to deliver final images to their clients within the week.
No doubt they could significantly speed up their turnaround using Afterhoot to automatically sort the wheat from the chaff by sifting through all the images from a shoot, automatically deleting the duds while keeping only the, er, keepers.
Other interesting tidbits show that most photographers are keen to keep costs low, with 54.5% spending less than AU$1,500 annually on gear and the tools of their trade, while only 6.3% shell out in excess of AU$7,500.
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And the vast majority rely on social media to promote their services, with 86.6% posting on various social channels. This is closely followed by good old-fashioned word of mouth, at 85.9%. Conversely, only 5.2% use print advertising as a means to find new business.
Prior to joining digitalcameraworld.com as News Editor, Adam was the editor of N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine for seven years, and as such is one of Digital Camera World's leading experts when it comes to all things Nikon-related.
Whether it’s reviews and hands-on tests of the latest Nikon cameras and lenses, sharing his skills using filters, tripods, lighting, L brackets and other photography equipment, or trading tips and techniques on shooting landscapes, wildlife and almost any genre of photography, Adam is always on hand to provide his insights.
Prior to his tenure on N-Photo, Adam was also a veteran of publications such as PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, so his wealth of photographic knowledge isn’t solely limited to the Big N.
