Employment Outlook
Photographer
Average wage for
Employment Levels
Around 13,000 people are currently employed as Photographers in Australia. This is set to increase slightly to 14,200 people by 2019, according to the Department of Employment.
Employment by State
34.5% of all Photographers are employed in VIC. The area with the lowest number of Photographers is ACT, with only 0.8%.
Gender Split
This is a very female dominated industry with 40.1% of Photographers being male and 59.9% female.
Age Brackets
The most popular age for people working as Photographers is 35-44 years old, with 30%. A small percentage (5.4%) of people get into this career path older, aged 55-59. There is also a number of people who enjoy a career as Photographers, with 9.1% aged 20-24.
Hours Worked
Photographers work an average of 43.9 hours a week which is 3 hours higher than the average for all occupations.
Education Level
The majority of Photographers have a Bachelor Degree qualification (41.4%) or are at a Year 12 level (17.1%). 82.8% of people have a Cert III or higher, whilst 17.2% have a qualification which is Year 12 or lower.
Photographer Duties & Tasks
- Talk with clients to narrow down the goals of photographic assignments.
- Study photo requirements and select best camera, film, filter and lighting.
- Work from a studio or transport and set up equipment on location.
- Measure light levels and determine necessary exposure.
- Adjust camera angles/settings and subjects for best aesthetic outcome.
- Use lighting and filters to manipulate highlights and colours.
- Develop prints by using photographic chemicals or processing film.
- Adjust images using digital imaging and creative darkroom techniques.
*The information provided on this page is from the Department of Employment’s Job Outlook website. All salary ranges are from Payscale. Where jobs are not exact matches, job areas have been used. This information is to be used as a guide only.
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