Photographer resume example

What recruiters look for

• A specialty: food, product, architecture, fashion, portraits, events. Art buyers search by specialty.
• Clients and placements: the kinds of brands and publications you have shot for, covers, campaigns.
• Production skills: budgets, crews, permits, location scouting, shot lists. Commercial shoots are small projects.
• Post-production: retouching, color management, tethered capture and delivery to spec.
• Business basics: estimates, usage and licensing, contracts, repeat clients. This is what separates professionals from hobbyists.

Writing the summary

Name your specialty, years and the kinds of clients you shoot for, then one line on how you work. If you are applying for a staff job, say you want one; otherwise employers may assume you will leave for freelance work.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Shot 2,400 product images a year for an online retailer at 120 products a day, all matched to a strict color and crop spec.
• Planned and shot a 3-day campaign on a $45,000 production budget, delivering 80 final images 4 days early.
• Grew repeat clients from 12 to 40 in three years, with 70% of annual revenue from returning business.
• Licensed a single campaign image for $8,500 in extended usage across print and out-of-home.
• Built a headshot program for a 900-person company, photographing 300 employees in 5 days with consistent lighting across 3 offices.
• Reduced client turnaround from 10 days to 4 by moving to tethered capture and same-day selects.
• Shot 6 magazine covers and 40 feature stories for regional and national titles.
• Captured aerial images of 25 properties for an architecture firm as a licensed Part 107 drone pilot.
• Taught 3 sold-out lighting workshops for 45 photographers at a community arts center.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate: required in the US to fly a drone commercially; list it if you offer aerial work.
• Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), Professional Photographers of America: recognized by portrait and event clients more than by agencies.
• No certificate replaces a portfolio for commercial and editorial work.

Length and format

One page. If you run your own business, list it as a job with a start date and results, not as “self-employed” with no detail. A short list of selected clients or publications is fine if you have permission to name them.

Common mistakes

• Gear lists that take up half the page. Name your system briefly; clients care about results.
• Hiding freelance years as a gap. Your own studio is a job; describe it like one.
• Naming clients without permission, or claiming agency campaigns where you were a second shooter.
• No mention of licensing or usage, which tells commercial buyers you may not know how it works.
• A portfolio with every genre mixed together. Lead with the one you want to be hired for.