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Portrait photographer skills for your resume and career
Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Quoted experts
Peter Glendinning,
Susan McSpadden
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical portrait photographer skills. We ranked the top skills for portrait photographers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 17.5% of portrait photographer resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a portrait photographer needs to be successful in the workplace.
15 portrait photographer skills for your resume and career
1. Customer Service
Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.
Here's how portrait photographers use customer service:
- Developed loyal customer base through quality photography and delivery of excellent customer service.
- Handled customer calls providing excellent customer service.
2. Adobe Photoshop
Here's how portrait photographers use adobe photoshop:
- Developed experience with Adobe Photoshop.
- Used latest Adobe Photoshop & plug-in tools to edit and enhance clients portraits.
3. Kids
Here's how portrait photographers use kids:
- Posed and photographed kids aging from Preschool to high school using a green screen
- Worked with kids and teachers in school posing and maintaining alpha cards.
4. Portrait Photography
Here's how portrait photographers use portrait photography:
- Provide personalized in home portrait photography.
- Operated wedding and portrait photography company.
5. Camera Equipment
Here's how portrait photographers use camera equipment:
- Set up and operated lighting and camera equipment in studio and on location.
- Photographed customers; Maintained camera equipment; Performed end of sale transactions; Maintained store database and computer software
6. Photography Studio
Here's how portrait photographers use photography studio:
- Owned and operated a full service portrait and wedding photography studio.
- Managed daily responsibilities for a high-volume photography studio including photo assisting assignments on studio and location shoots and digital photo retouching.
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Here's how portrait photographers use adobe lightroom:
- Shoot in raw digital format, process raw images, adjusting color and retouch images using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
- Post process all photographs in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
8. Digital Photography
Here's how portrait photographers use digital photography:
- Utilized skills-based knowledge of photographic best practices while making successful transition to digital photography.
- Present digital photography workshops and product presentations at international trade shows.
9. Photo Shoots
A photoshoot is a series of photographs that a photographer takes of someone, usually of a model or a famous person, to be used in a newspaper or a magazine. The goal of a photoshoot is to achieve a predetermined visual objective. Later, these images can be used for editing or post-production..
Here's how portrait photographers use photo shoots:
- Photographed and supervised photo shoots at several graduations.
- Handle necessary equipment for particular photo shoots.
10. Photographic Equipment
Photographic equipment is meant to make a photographer's job easier in capturing outstanding photos. These include using walkaround lenses, different types of lens filters, cleaning kits, external flash, reflectors, and tripods.
Here's how portrait photographers use photographic equipment:
- Retain an extensive knowledge of photographic equipment in order to prevent or resolve any technical problems during the job.
- Photographed clients, including infants, children, families, pets, also maintained photographic equipment and inventory.
11. Group Photos
Here's how portrait photographers use group photos:
- Gathered necessary details and scheduled wedding portrait and group photos.
- Manage bridal party for group photos before and after ceremony.
12. Scheduling Appointments
Scheduling appointments is the practice of finding a free slot with the person(s) you want to meet. The process of scheduling appointments involves finding mutually free time, negotiating follow-ups, sending reminders, and creating new appointments. Scheduling appointments is important to ensure that the timings of consecutive meetings do not clash with each other.
Here's how portrait photographers use scheduling appointments:
- Managed the day-to-day books for scheduling appointments.
- Trained photographer in portrait and group photography, interaction with infants/toddlers, sales representative, customer service and scheduling appointments proficiently.
13. Portfolio
Here's how portrait photographers use portfolio:
- Featured in the company photography portfolio *Exceeded guest expectations and created opportunities to build product options and sell portrait packages.
- Job duties included taking multiple portraits of children and families in the studio and creating a portfolio of poses.
14. Edit Photos
Here's how portrait photographers use edit photos:
- Edit photos with the studio special boarders for holidays or any other special events.
- Edit photos and upload them to social media sites, as well as personal website: www.mollyparkphotography.com
15. Event Photography
Here's how portrait photographers use event photography:
- Shoot various indoor and outdoor weddings, family portrait sessions, high school seniors and event photography around metro Nashville area.
- Secure Cash Management Travel across North America for special event photography
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What skills help Portrait Photographers find jobs?
Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.
What portrait photographer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Peter Glendinning
W.J. Beal Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University
In my experience, people like being a photographer for reasons that often have to do with what they like doing in life, what their personality is, what their passions outside of photography are. The "people person," the "quiet poet," the "analytical type," and more, all can find a field in photography that suits them well, whether fashion photography, landscape photography, architectural photography or other. Someone who is lazy, disorganized, feels they already know everything, undisciplined, lacking in courage, will probably not like this field.
What type of skills will young portrait photographers need?
Susan McSpadden
Marketing Photographer, Johnson County Community College
Graduates in the field of photography would benefit significantly from some business knowledge. Take some business classes, if you can, even if it's a weekend continuing education session. There are freelance opportunities out there, if you are self-motivated and seek them out. Knowing about self-employment tax and how to budget your earnings as a freelancer would help until you are able to land a full-time position with a company or institution. Just like with any profession, being a go-getter, a self-starter, a hard worker, a go-the-extra-miler will help.
What soft skills should all portrait photographers possess?
Pamela Venz
Professor, Birmingham-Southern College
Observation: all artists have highly developed skills of observation, attention to detail and applying their skills of observation to whatever task is at hand.
Creative Problem Solving: it's title clearly connects this skill with artist of all disciplines. Successful creative problem solving involves the ability to be flexible, to be open to many different interpretations of everything, to seek resolutions from seemingly unrelated sources and apply those resolutions in innovative ways.
Communication: One cannot succeed if one cannot communicate. Communication skills include not only verbal communication but written communication and for photographers and other artists visual communication as well. The ability to articulate one's ideas to a varied audience is crucial for success in any field.
Individual initiative: No one's path after graduation will be easy regardless of the field of the degree attained. The desire to achieve and the discipline to work towards that achievement cannot be understated.
Teamwork: We all must be able to work alone and to have the discipline to work alone towards a goal. But we are social beings and the ability to work as a member of a team is also crucial for success regardless of the field. Teamwork requires one to compromise, to communicate one's ideas in a diplomatic manner, to accept roles one may not want to do and to delegate roles to a group that reflect each individual's strengths and weaknesses.
Creative Problem Solving: it's title clearly connects this skill with artist of all disciplines. Successful creative problem solving involves the ability to be flexible, to be open to many different interpretations of everything, to seek resolutions from seemingly unrelated sources and apply those resolutions in innovative ways.
Communication: One cannot succeed if one cannot communicate. Communication skills include not only verbal communication but written communication and for photographers and other artists visual communication as well. The ability to articulate one's ideas to a varied audience is crucial for success in any field.
Individual initiative: No one's path after graduation will be easy regardless of the field of the degree attained. The desire to achieve and the discipline to work towards that achievement cannot be understated.
Teamwork: We all must be able to work alone and to have the discipline to work alone towards a goal. But we are social beings and the ability to work as a member of a team is also crucial for success regardless of the field. Teamwork requires one to compromise, to communicate one's ideas in a diplomatic manner, to accept roles one may not want to do and to delegate roles to a group that reflect each individual's strengths and weaknesses.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about portrait photographerList of portrait photographer skills to add to your resume
The most important skills for a portrait photographer resume and required skills for a portrait photographer to have include:
- Customer Service
- Adobe Photoshop
- Kids
- Portrait Photography
- Camera Equipment
- Photography Studio
- Adobe Lightroom
- Digital Photography
- Photo Shoots
- Photographic Equipment
- Group Photos
- Scheduling Appointments
- Portfolio
- Edit Photos
- Event Photography
- Prom
- Studio Equipment
- School Administration
- Nikon
- Customer Satisfaction
- Post Processing
- Indesign
- K-12
- Real Estate
- IDS
- Tripods
- Head Shots
- NYC
- Photo Sessions
- Digital Images
- Photography Services
- Digital Cameras
- Customer Complaints
- Quality Photographs
- Photo Packages
Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025