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A well-written CV is a great place to start if you want a photographer job. Not sure where to begin? Don’t worry! Our guide to creating a professional CV for a photographer job will help you make the most of your artistic and creative skills, as well as your ability to solve problems and make decisions quickly.
Start by editing this professional photographer CV example or browse our library of CV templates to find the best one for you.
Photographer CV example (text version)
Judy Harrison
San Francisco, CA 94132
555-555-5555
example@example.com
Summary Statement
Confident and dedicated photographer with experience in both professional and freelance photography. Holds nearly 10 years of working experience with great variety in order to tackle any photography job quickly and effectively. Intimately familiar with taking high-quality digital photographs, including framing, selecting and setting up lighting and determining advanced shutter and lens options. Prioritizes communication on the job to avoid errors. A candidate that combines a long professional career with dedicated freelance photography ideals and loyalty.
Education
- June 2018
University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
Master of Science Marketing Intelligence - June 2012January 2013
University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
Bachelor of Arts Digital Photography
Work Experience
January 2016 – Current
Spotlight Media Group – San Francisco, CA
Photographer
- Capture images as directed, taking all aspects into consideration, including outside lighting, shadows and lens requirements.
- Edit and pre-edit images to ensure they are high quality and properly color-corrected.
- Communicate effectively with clients or producers at all times to guarantee satisfaction, increasing 75% of client retention.
- Direct photographer’s assistants to complete administrative duties and provide assistance while fostering their photography skills.
- Surpassed outside client satisfaction average rates by 15 % within the first year.
January 2013 – January 2016
SGK – San Francisco, CA
Photographer’s Assistant
- Provided assistance to the photographer in all aspects, such as administration, communicating with clients, organizing equipment and readily supplying needed tools in more than 40 projects.
- Set up camera equipment quickly and correctly.
- Performed minor editing and touching-up duties without supervision.
- Answered client inquiries in person, by phone and by email quelling concerns, providing information, giving directions and relaying requests to the photographer.
January 2010 – January 2013
CoStar Group – San Francisco, CA
Freelance Photographer
- Established a recognized freelance photography business and a portfolio of 60 faithful customers.
- Set up personal photography equipment and created the best environment for aesthetically pleasing shots.
- Received recognition from multiple local newspapers and magazines for outstanding work.
- Mastered photography basics over five years of consistent work.
Exhibitions
- “Through the Street Lens”, featuring photographer – (2021)
- “Photography New Stories”, curator – (2019)
- “From your Phone to the Camera”, invited photographer – (2018)
- “Photography Voices”, photographer – (2017)
Honors and Awards
- San Francisco Bay International Photography Awards, finalist – (2021)
- Smithsonian Photo Contest, contestant – (2019)
- International Street Photography Awards, winner – (2018)
Core Qualifications
- Digital enhancements
- dobe Creative Cloud
- Nikon DSLRs
- Canon EOS 6 Mark II
- Traditional and digital printing
- Advertising and marketing
- ighting expert
- Organization
Professional Affiliations and Memberships
- Professional Photographers of California (PPC) – (2022)
- Bay Area Photographers Collective – (2021)
- American Photographic Artist- APA San Francisco-(2021)
- Photographic Society of America (PSA) – (2019)
Certifications and Licenses
Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) -(2019)
Training
- Business Basics for Photographers, Professional Photographers of California – (2022)
- Cameras, Exposure and Photography, Coursera – (2022)
- Seeing Through Photographs – (2022)
- CPP Camp, Professional Photographers of California – (2021)
Profession Relevant Skills
- Experienced in all different kinds of photography and strong aesthetic sense.
- Technical knowledge of multiple camera technologies and editing programs.
- Extensive communication, cooperation and service skills.
- Critical thinking, analysis and strong attention to small details.
Languages
- English
Native or Bilingual - French
Limited Working
5 essentials of a professional photographer CV
Contact details
Create a section at the top of your CV for your contact information. Without it, a potential employer can not reach you to schedule an interview. Include your full name, city, state and ZIP code, followed by your phone number and professional email address. If you have a LinkedIn profile and professional website, add those last. Use our CV sample for a photographer job to see how to format it correctly.
Personal statement
A personal statement, also called a professional summary, is where you introduce yourself to the hiring manager and pitch your best skills and related work experience. Your CV should include job-relevant skills, the number of years you have been in the industry and one or two of your most notable professional accomplishments. Your personal statement must be compelling and no longer than five short sentences to grab the hiring manager’s attention.
Skills
Every hiring manager wants to know what skills you bring to the table. Create a separate section for your job-relevant skills and display them in bullet points to make them easy to read. Include a blend of hard and soft skills that range from your ability to work well under pressure to your ken eye for composition, as our photographer CV example shows. If you are applying for your first job, include transferable skills. Use our sample CV for a photographer job for inspiration.
Work history
Whether or not you have work experience as a photographer, your CV must have a detailed employment history section. List current and previous employers in reverse-chronological order and provide company names, locations and the dates you worked for each. Add three bullet points of measurable achievements for every job you list. If you don’t have work experience in the field or if this is your first job application, mention extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, community service and professional and personal projects — anything that shows you have relevant work experience. Look at CV examples for photographer jobs for guidance on writing your work history section.
Education
Hiring managers want to see your education credentials, so a photographer CV must include an education section. Add all the schools you’ve attended after high school if any. Use bullet pointsto include the name of the school and the year you graduated (omit the year if you graduated more than 10 years ago). List your high school information and any post-high school classes taken if you did not attend college.
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Action words for a stand-out photographer CV
Action words convey confidence and strengthen CVs because they tell the hiring manager exactly what you did. They pack a punch when combined with numbers.
Here’s a short list of perfect action words for a photographer CV:
- Lead
- Train
- Manage
- Photograph
- Direct
- Perform
- Conduct
- Evaluate
- Supervise
- Create
- Plan
- Process
- Capture
- Edit
Need the perfect CV for a photographer job now? Our CV maker has all the tools you need to craft a professional CV in minutes! Just pick a photographer CV template, and we’ll do all the work for you! You can make edits on the fly, download your finished CV and save it as a PDF, .doc or plain text. Yes, it’s that easy!
Top skills for a photographer CV
Review the job description carefully and match the required skills to your abilities and traits.
These might include:
- Camera operation
- Exposure techniques
- Compositional Skills
- Digital enhancements
- Photography and graphic design software
- Image manipulation
- Digital design
- Visual design
- Photo editing
- Communication
- Creativity
- Lighting
- Patience
- Focus
- Professionalism
Certifications for a photographer CV
You aren’t required to be certified for a job as a photographer, but having one or more certifications can set you apart from the competition.
A certification from a respected organization demonstrates a level of commitment and proficiency in photography that non-certified job seekers don’t have.
There are a few options for photographers, including:
- Certified Professional Photographer
- Digital Photographer Certificate of Achievement
Pair your CV with a matching cover letter
Photographer CV FAQ
What does a photographer do?
As the name implies, photographers are tasked with taking pictures, although the job includes every aspect of preparing and framing a photograph as well. This type of job has artistic and creative abilities at its core, as well as technical skills. As you saw in our photographer CV example, these are the aspects your CV should focus on.
Certain photographers work in studios creating art. Technical photographers may seek out and capture specific images needed for technical documents or manuals. Other photographers take pictures of clients for personal or business reasons. Of course, some photography positions may incorporate several or all of these different types of photography, so it is important to have a firm understanding of the responsibilities of the job when writing your CV. With different necessary skills, it is possible to specialize your photographer CV to suit the employers’ expectations.
What to include in a CV for a photographer job?
A photographer CV must always include five primary sections:
- Contact information
- Personal profile
- Skills
- Job history
- Education
After that, your CV can include any number of sections, including:
- Professional memberships or associations
- Presentations
- Publications
- Certifications and licenses
- Volunteer experience
- Related hobbies and interests
The easiest way to determine what sections to add to your CV and how to fill them out is by reviewing the job description. You must match the job requirements to your qualifications and add them to your CV. If you’re unsure where to start, use the photographer CV sample on this page for guidance.
What does a good photographer CV look like?
One of the most important things you need to know about creating a good curriculum vitae is how it differs from a resume. Rather than tailoring a compact resume to a specific page length, you will go into detail about most of your life’s achievements. As your work experience grows, so will the length of your CV.
A good photographer CV format will depend on your experience and goals. Don’t limit yourself to one page in this case; depending on your experiences, your document may be longer. Check out a variety of CV examples for photographers to learn more about the differences between resumes and the curriculum vitae.
What are some tips for creating a great CV for a photographer job?
Here are our top tips for crafting a perfect photographer CV:
- Customize your CV for every photographer job you apply to.
- Use a professional photographer CV template to ensure your CV is formatted appropriately. We have several photographer CV templates free to download.
- Use keywords from the job description that match your qualifications to ensure your resume is applicant tracking system (ATS)-friendly.
- Do not combine your portfolio and CV. When applying for a photography position, it is common for a portfolio to be required, but your CV is completely different. Do not mention or include examples from your portfolio in your CV.
- Do manage the length of your photographer CV. It is best if yours is one full page without going over. A CV that is shorter than this makes you appear inexperienced. If you have more than 10 years of working experience, using a second page for your CV is acceptable.
- If possible, include actual metrics or real numbers from your working experiences. These add credibility and give readers a good idea of how effective you will be if hired.
- The experience section is the most important section and, as such, should include the most information. When listing jobs, start with the most recent and go backward. All bullet points should begin with a strong action verb.
Do’s and don’ts for building a photographer CV
- Use measurable achievements to describe your photography skills and experience.
- Use action words to make an impact on your photographer CV.
- Tailor your CV to your target photographer job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your photographer CV.
- Format your photographer CV so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your photography experience and skills.
- Boast about your “incomparable” photography abilities.
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience not pertaining to photography.
- Forget to proofread. A photographer CV with errors is unprofessional.
Top 4 tips for acing a photographer interview
Learn about the organization first.
Before the interview, take the time to learn about the company’s history, goals, values and people. Being able to show that you have in-depth knowledge about your potential employer shows genuine interest, dedication and commitment, which hiring managers love to see.
Practice makes perfect!
To practice for your interview, start by reviewing some of the most common interview questions, such as:
- Describe a time when you needed to cope with a stressful scenario.
- Why did you choose this career?
- When given an important assignment, how do you approach it?
Write down possible answers as you review potential questions, and have a friend or relative practice your interview with you. This way, you can get comfortable with the questions and imprint the answers in your mind. Ask your interview partner to review your answers. You’ll feel confident and ready when it’s time for the real thing.
Have questions ready.
Your interviewer will likely ask if you have any questions at the end of your session. And even if they don’t, it’s best to arrive equipped with questions about the job. Job candidates who ask questions are more likely to get hired than candidates who do not because it shows genuine interest and enthusiasm.
Some questions you might ask for a photographer job are:
- What are the biggest opportunities available to someone in this position?
- What are the biggest challenges someone in this position might expect?
- How do you evaluate success in this role?
Gather references.
You’ll need professional references quickly if the hiring manager is interested in hiring you. Prepare a list of two former colleagues and a former manager willing to speak to your abilities and will give you a stellar review.
If you are applying for your first full-time job, then ask a former instructor, volunteer coordinator, classmate or community leader who can vouch for your character and skills.
Resume examples for the next step in your photography career
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Photographer CV Example
Kellie is a Certified Professional Resume Writer with extensive experience in digital media. She is passionate about helping job seekers navigate their careers. She earned a B.A. in English and writing from Temple University.
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