7 career paths you can explore with a Master’s in Photography

From exotic locales to magazine covers to newspapers, a photography career will allow you to unleash your creativity 

Ever thought of becoming a professional photographer? The pop of the flash, the click of the shutter, creating a memorable moment for a lifetime! If taking photographs is your passion, you can turn it into a lucrative career option. Many industries require professional photographers these days. Photographers’ servicers are sought for commercial shoots, sports, fashion, news, wildlife, wedding and many more occasions. If you have an artistic bent of mind, coupled with imagination and an eye for the unusual, you can make a mark in films, television, fashion and a whole lot of other sectors.

From exotic locales to magazine covers to newspapers, a photography profession will allow you to unleash your creativity. Listed below are some of the career options for photography aspirants.

Press photojournalists: Photojournalists provide pictures to the national and global press. This career role demands the ability to take photographs of people, places, sports, political, and events related to a particular story for newspapers, journals, magazines, television or any other media channel. Apart from photography skills, photojournalists must also possess a journalistic sense to shoot a great news picture.

Feature photographers: Feature photography essentially involves describing a story through pictures and hence requires thorough knowledge of the subject. Many photographers specialise in the photography of wildlife, sports travel, environment, etc.

Advertising photographers: Advertising photography involves taking pictures of products or services. These photographs should be both distinctive and appealing to the human eye. They should not only attract consumers to go through an advertisement, but should also lure them in a way that they would want to buy the product or service.

Commercial (industrial) photographers: Commercial photographers specialise in taking photographs of buildings, products, materials, personnel and landscapes. Their work frequently appears in books, advertising, reports, industrial materials and other commercial media products. For instance, they can take photographs for engineers to use in instructional manuals, for advertising firms to use in print or televisions advertisements or branding photos for organisations. 

Fashion photographers:  Right from taking photographs of aspiring models who want to make their portfolio to working for established designers who need pictures for displaying their designs, fashion photographers are hugely in demand for their skills. They also guide the models on how to pose so that the costume is displayed properly, and these pictures are used by fashion magazines or advertising agencies.

Scientific photographers: These photographers must possess additional knowledge in areas such as engineering, medicine, biology, or chemistry which assist them in photographing a wide range of objects or scientific phenomena. Scientific photographers can either work with news reporters or work as freelancers on independent assignments on the environment, wildlife and other allied fields.

Portrait photographers: Portrait photographers take photographs of individuals or groups of people. Some portrait photographers may specialise in events, such as weddings, functions, social clubs, sports activities or religious ceremonies, while  others work in studios to take professional portraits.