How to Make Career as a Wildlife Photographer?

Wildlife photographers are highly-skilled professionals in capturing pictures and navigating the animals in the wild. These wildlife photographers must need a knowledge of the animals they encounter, as well as the habitat in which they work. It is no surprise that everyone is keen to make money and build a career in wildlife photography. This blog is about those who want to give it a shot and are eager to build a career behind the camera.

 

What does a Wildlife Photographer do?

Wildlife photographers shoot photographs of animals in their natural surroundings. Some wildlife photographers are said to be opportunists, they click any animals that cross their path. Others, however, are more particular about their species and choose certain types of animals to photograph.

Depending on where they live some get to click photographs from their backyards or close to them. However, In wildlife photography, you have to travel according to the subject you want to shoot. For instance, if you want to shoot Polar Bears, you need to travel to the Arctic Circle.

As wildlife photographers travel to the farthest corners of the globe, they should be well versed in the ways of every region of the world. Wildlife photographers should enjoy and understand the native culture and language which helps them to shoot better pictures since locals know more than us.

 

Wildlife Photographer Education & Training Requirements

As for any type of career you need to start with a good education from a photography school. A 2 or 4-year degree in photography will give you good knowledge as an aspiring wildlife photographer to learn basic and advanced photography techniques.

A degree in zoology and a minor in photography will get you a sound knowledge of animals, their habitats, and photography techniques.

You can even go for Photography workshops which are held by so many renowned photographers for a week or more, there you can get a practical knowledge of fieldwork and photography.

 

Learn the Basics of Photography 

Great photos that we see online, in magazines, or on TV aren\’t just snapped by random people on their smartphones but rather the result of skilled individuals who have trained years in wildlife photography. 

A professional photographer and a successful one have a natural way of composition and command of the camera. But turning those skills into beautiful shots requires a level of mastery. One needs to understand the concept involved and maintain an impressive portfolio, and make time to learn new technologies and camera concepts.

 

Wildlife Photographers Salary and Jobs

The majority of wildlife photographers work as freelancers, the average salary of these individuals is somewhat difficult to assume. For instance, the amount of money you make depends on your talent, knowledge, and skills as well as on the ability to get decent-paying work.

As a freelancer, you can earn money by selling photos at craft fairs and markets which is a great way to start making sales. 

You need to spend money on product stock so that you actually have something to sell which might put you off. As it is always a risk for someone new into this field but if you believe that you are not here to hold back and you have what it takes then you can make a good amount of money out of it.

If you are someone who has experience in this field or has the ability to teach the basics of photography to people then you can even run your own photography workshops and make money out of it. With more people taking up wildlife photography as a hobby, people are there who are looking for tuition or basic workshop courses. 

 

Connect with People

You can look for people through Facebook groups and other city clubs who are looking for people to entertain their members on an evening. You can put up a presentation on Wildlife Photography with your pictures and make sure you have a good entertaining story to tell behind the pictures.

One more thing you can do is to get an audience who are interested through social media platforms and take short webinars about photography basics or even workshops.

To get an audience for your pictures you can sell your pictures to the daily newspapers where you can get some pay from it and it will help in reaching more people.

 

Related Careers in Photography 

If you think traveling is not something which you can do for a long time, below are some other photography options you can consider which can help in a successful career.

Advertising Photographer 

Aerial Photographer 

Photojournalist

Wedding Photographer 

Underwater Photographer

So, don’t limit yourself, see the extreme corner of the world, and open the world of opportunities for your camera and yourself.