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Sports photographer vs freelance producer

The differences between sports photographers and freelance producers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a sports photographer, becoming a freelance producer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a freelance producer has an average salary of $62,218, which is higher than the $27,958 average annual salary of a sports photographer.

The top three skills for a sports photographer include adobe photoshop, camera equipment and kids. The most important skills for a freelance producer are music videos, news stories, and video content.

Sports photographer vs freelance producer overview

Sports PhotographerFreelance Producer
Yearly salary$27,958$62,218
Hourly rate$13.44$29.91
Growth rate9%8%
Number of jobs6,9179,703
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age3940
Years of experience212

What does a sports photographer do?

Sports photographers are hired to take pictures of different sports events and athletes. They mainly work in print medias such as magazine or newspapers. Their photos must express the skill and emotion of the athletes. Sports photographers carry sophisticated cameras and shoot photos from different angles. Their photos could be mesmerizing to sports enthusiasts.

What does a freelance producer do?

The responsibilities of a freelance producer are so broad that they can be tricky to define. Broadly, a freelance producer is responsible for finding, launching, and completing a project. They primarily handle logistics pertaining to the creation of various pieces of content. This content may include television shows, advertisements, or audio/video presentations. They also manage finances, keep the production within the allocated budget, and hire all key staff, crew members, and post-production teams. They may also have to scout for shoot locations.

Sports photographer vs freelance producer salary

Sports photographers and freelance producers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Sports PhotographerFreelance Producer
Average salary$27,958$62,218
Salary rangeBetween $22,000 And $34,000Between $33,000 And $113,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between sports photographer and freelance producer education

There are a few differences between a sports photographer and a freelance producer in terms of educational background:

Sports PhotographerFreelance Producer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common majorPhotographyPhotography
Most common collegeHarvard UniversityHarvard University

Sports photographer vs freelance producer demographics

Here are the differences between sports photographers' and freelance producers' demographics:

Sports PhotographerFreelance Producer
Average age3940
Gender ratioMale, 62.7% Female, 37.3%Male, 58.7% Female, 41.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 7.1% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%14%

Differences between sports photographer and freelance producer duties and responsibilities

Sports photographer example responsibilities.

  • Coordinate and manage providing and dressing the customers with old western costumes in preparation of taking their photos.
  • Create PowerPoint presentations and publication quality images using digital input devices, photo-editing and graphic arts software.
  • Mount cameras on tripods or stands, and load prescribe types and sizes of film in cameras.
  • Photograph children, families and pets with holiday backgrounds, on Santa's lap, with elves, etc.
  • Provide news/sports reports and play-by-play announcing for football and basketball games
  • Create and execute station's college basketball coverage including play-by-play.
  • Show more

Freelance producer example responsibilities.

  • Drive engagement by managing the brand's YouTube channel, as well as all other social media outlets.
  • Manage production shoots for image campaigns and monthly communications meetings for CNN newsroom and internal in-house creative services department.
  • Manage creative release process working closely with site merchandising, content engineering, release engineering, QA, buyers and marketing.
  • Manage the QA process including test/debug cycles and platform compliance/compatibility testing.
  • Produce for Chubb s website, YouTube, Facebook and on DVD.
  • Help maintain social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.
  • Show more

Sports photographer vs freelance producer skills

Common sports photographer skills
  • Adobe Photoshop, 20%
  • Camera Equipment, 14%
  • Kids, 8%
  • School Administration, 8%
  • Digital Photography, 8%
  • Youth Sports, 6%
Common freelance producer skills
  • Music Videos, 20%
  • News Stories, 6%
  • Video Content, 5%
  • Video Production, 4%
  • Live Events, 4%
  • Photography, 4%

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