How To Become A Fashion Photographer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a fashion photographer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a fashion photographer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $49.69 an hour? That's $103,354 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 11,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFashion PhotographerUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $103,354

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.5

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 7.10%

Black or African American 6.42%

Hispanic or Latino 15.52%

Unknown 5.68%

White 65.05%

Gender

female 51.13%

male 48.87%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

4.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.9

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a fashion photographer

Explore fashion photographer education requirements

Most common fashion photographer degrees

Bachelor's

67.5 %

Associate

18.4 %

Master's

5.7 %

Start to develop specific fashion photographer skills

Skills	Percentages
Adobe Photoshop	27.84%
Fashion Photography	17.93%
Photo Shoots	10.67%
Graphic Design	10.53%
Adobe Lightroom	6.09%

Complete relevant fashion photographer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New fashion photographers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a fashion photographer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real fashion photographer resumes.

Research fashion photographer duties and responsibilities

Coordinate and manage providing and dressing the customers with old western costumes in preparation of taking their photos.
Establish a more professional-style look through photos of the blogger's outfits by using a DSLR camera.
Compile portfolios for multiple photography competitions/certifications.
Compile portfolios for multiple photography competitions/certifications.

Prepare your fashion photographer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your fashion photographer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a fashion photographer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable fashion photographer resume templates

Build a professional fashion photographer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your fashion photographer resume.