How To Become A Photographic Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a photographic specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Paul Runyon Sr.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a photographic specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.67 an hour? That's $51,304 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 11,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a photographic specialist?

Paul Runyon Sr.

Associate Professor, Program Director, Website

The field of photography has seen massive changes in the past decade and there will be many more changes that dictate that anyone entering the field continue to hone their skills in as many different areas as possible. The role of photographers has expanded far beyond the capture of still images and having a good working knowledge of the ever-expanding technology will help starting photographers to capture as much work as possible.

Digital Editing and Post-Processing:
Video and Motion Production:
Animation
Drone Photography
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR):
Data Analytics and SEO
Remote Collaboration and Communication
Business and Marketing Skills:

ScorePhotographic SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,304

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.5

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.20%

Asian 5.81%

Black or African American 7.32%

Hispanic or Latino 14.01%

Unknown 5.29%

White 67.37%

Gender

female 34.65%

male 65.35%

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 photographic specialist

Explore photographic specialist education requirements

Most common photographic specialist degrees

Bachelor's

46.4 %

Associate

31.0 %

High School Diploma

16.7 %

Start to develop specific photographic specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Photographic Equipment	49.73%
Adobe Photoshop	40.13%
Public Affairs	5.61%
Color Correction	4.53%

Complete relevant photographic specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New photographic specialists 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 photographic specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real photographic specialist resumes.

Research photographic specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage agency media engagements, including tracking queries on SharePoint.
Maintain the FCC requirements and ensure compliance with FCC rules and regulations.
Assess creative content for compliance with ABC network policy, applicable laws, and regulations.
Advance advertiser s creative interests while enforcing ABC s business and legal guidelines by finding appropriate solutions to creative issues.

Prepare your photographic specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your photographic specialist 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 photographic specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable photographic specialist resume templates

Build a professional photographic specialist 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 photographic specialist resume.