Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between photography interns and freelance photographers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a photography internship and a freelance photographer. Additionally, a photography internship has an average salary of $67,376, which is higher than the $42,949 average annual salary of a freelance photographer.
The top three skills for a photography internship include adobe photoshop, photo shoots and photography intern. The most important skills for a freelance photographer are adobe photoshop, aperture, and adobe lightroom.
| Photography Internship | Freelance Photographer | |
| Yearly salary | $67,376 | $42,949 |
| Hourly rate | $32.39 | $20.65 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 52,675 | 1,766 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Photography internship is an advantage to interns who assist photographers while studying since it can develop creativity, strong networking, technical, and practical skills as they learn both lighting and photography business in a real photography studio. These interns are tasked to perform research, update social media platforms, and create images for social media posts. Such valuable hands-on experience serves as an entry-level to boost confidence, increase motivation, gain references, and qualify them for a permanent job offer.
A freelance photographer produces photos while under a specific short-term contract. They are primarily responsible for coordinating with the client to learn any requests or preferences, bringing necessary devices and lighting equipment, securing the best location and setting, handling any obstruction during the photoshoot, and delivering high-quality results in a short amount of time. Moreover, a photographer must maintain a healthy working environment with clients or models by building rapport, which will also help establish a client base.
Photography interns and freelance photographers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Photography Internship | Freelance Photographer | |
| Average salary | $67,376 | $42,949 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $229,000 | Between $29,000 And $61,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | - |
| Highest paying state | - | - |
| Best paying company | - | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a photography internship and a freelance photographer in terms of educational background:
| Photography Internship | Freelance Photographer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Photography | Photography |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between photography interns' and freelance photographers' demographics:
| Photography Internship | Freelance Photographer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.1% Female, 69.9% | Male, 51.2% Female, 48.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 7.0% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |