Macro Photography Careers:
great photography jobs for close-up shooters

It's tough to make a living as a photographer, and photography careers are hard to come by. That goes for everyone, whether they are freelance or hired, fine-art or commercial, photojournalist or wedding photographer. Digital photography has lowered the bar for entry into the ranks of professional photography. It's now easier than ever to make good photographs, and the result is more competition for the few photography jobs out there.

Determined photographers who do their homework, learn their craft, and study the marketplace can find photography jobs with decent pay and good work environments. The world is hungry for images, and the cream rises to the top.

It is rare to build a photography career on macro photography alone. This section discusses five areas of professional photography that can be expected to require macro photography and close-up photography skills, among many others.

Are you interested in a health care job, one where you can put your photography skills to work helping doctors help their patients? Check out Medical Photography.
The coolest of all photography jobs? If you ask me, I'll answer Ophthalmic Photography. Check it out and you'll agree!
If you watch CSI shows on television, you've seen Forensic Photography in action (PS: The real world is not as glamorous!).
I'll introduce you to the fascinating world of revealing things the unaided eye can't see on the Scientific Photography page.
Imaging that helps a company or other institution describe what it does, and to sell it's products: That's Industrial Photography, and this page tells you more about it.

Many of the skills required for these macro photography careers overlap. For example, medical photographers can be asked to make photographs to be used in criminal cases, much as a forensic photographer does. Likewise, a scientific photographer will often photograph advanced instrumentation in the same manner as an industrial photographer.

Photography careers: getting started

It is not necessary to have an academic photography degree to break in to the photography business. Many excellent, successful photographers are self-taught. However, there is no substitute for formal training of some kind, and at some point you will need the advice and critiques of experienced mentors to guide you along. The better your training, the better your odds of breaking in to the business.

There are many four-year college degree programs, too many for me to attempt to list. Many two-year and community colleges offer photography training as well. Photography workshops of varying length are available, too; I'm a big fan of the week-long workshop: short enough to fit in to a busy schedule, and long enough to jump-start the brain, body, and spirit. A good week-long workshop can change your life!

A good photography education will include courses in Fine Art, Art History, Digital Imaging, and Business....in addition, of course, to Photography Theory and Practical Photography. Formal, academic photography training should be very challenging. Look for programs that offer career guidance and internships possibilities, and whose graduates leave with a polished, professional-grade portfolio of their work. Check their alumni support network, too. School connections make a big difference when exploring photography jobs and niche markets.

Young (and not-so-young) beginning photographers will need to look for work and training opportunities anywhere they can. If your niche is macro photography, build a high-quality portfolio of macro photography subjects before you start shopping yourself around. Your portfolio is your calling card (I have sections on this website in the works that cover Macro Photography Subjects and Photo Presentation...stay tuned)!

Learning photography is a never-ending process. The field changes so fast that it is easy to fall behind. Choosing one of the many photography careers means committing to life-long learning!

What is the mark of a successful professional photographer?

Photographers are unusual creatures. Photography is both art-form and handcraft, requiring a balance of technical and aesthetic sensibilities. Good photographers combine an artist's expressive talents with constant attention to the science of making an image.

Add to that the realities of the marketplace: Lots of people can make decent photos, and there are more photographers around than ever before. Successful professional photography demands a bulldog's determination to get the shot, get the job, to make your ideas prevail, and (this is huge) to get paid fairly and on time.

Let's boil it down: A successful professional photographer is a technically expert artist who understands and delivers what the client/employer needs, shows up on time, is respectful and fun to work with, yet is tenacious in defending his/her vision and economic needs.

How many macro photography careers are there?

I'll defer to the experts on this one. The United States Department of Labor Statistics reports on photography jobs here. That's only one part of the world economy, albeit a large one. They discuss photography careers in general, whereas this section is about macro photography careers, a smaller slice of the market.

On the other hand, there are many jobs that require photography skills that don't have "Photographer" in the title, and therefore didn't make the list. For example, research scientists typically do their own photography, and forensic photographers are often police officers / crime-scene investigators first, and photographers second.

My own career path may be instructive to anyone pursuing a photography career. I got in to photography with a shifting set of aspirations: a globe-trotting photojournalist, an architectural photographer, a fine-art portrait photographer, stock photographer, and industrial photographer shooting bridges, dams, and power plants. Indeed, I've done each of those things, including my fair share of weddings!

I found ophthalmic photography by accident (some might say divine intervention), and it has been a great fit for me. I knew that photography was the career for me, it just took me years of hard work to find my niche.

If you know, in your gut, that photography is where you want to make your living, do as I and many others have done: Stay determined, know yourself, keep high standards for yourself and for your work. You will eventually land where you need to be.

Once again, here are the pages in this Macro Photography Careers section: