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

What is a photographic technician 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 photographic technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.96 an hour? That's $49,830 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 11,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePhotographic TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,830

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 7.06%

Black or African American 6.36%

Hispanic or Latino 15.32%

Unknown 5.71%

White 65.31%

Gender

female 33.59%

male 66.41%

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 technician

Explore photographic technician education requirements

Most common photographic technician degrees

Bachelor's

58.8 %

Associate

23.5 %

High School Diploma

8.8 %

Start to develop specific photographic technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Digital Photography	37.42%
Adobe Photoshop	27.91%
Lightroom	15.57%
Video Cameras	9.83%
Photographic Equipment	3.73%

Complete relevant photographic technician training and internships

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

Research photographic technician duties and responsibilities

Work with Sony sales reps to achieve goals and account management.
Cash register operation and general POS usage.
Train to refuel helicopters in a combat situation.
Acquire imagery in control, uncontrol, and combat environments.

Prepare your photographic technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your photographic technician 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 technician 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 technician resume templates

Build a professional photographic technician 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 technician resume.