Photographer Resume Example

For a photographer, the portfolio shows the craft and the resume shows the professional. Art directors, studio managers and marketing teams hiring photographers want to know what kinds of work you shoot, who you have shot for, how you run a shoot and whether you deliver on time and on brief. A resume that reads like a well-run production gets the portfolio opened.

The Sample resume below is for a commercial photographer with seven years in product, lifestyle and event work, first in-house for a retail brand and then freelance. It gives the scale of the work (images delivered, shoots per month, clients), names the equipment and software, and shows business results, such as faster turnaround or images that improved online sales.

Tailor it to the job. In-house brand roles want consistency, volume and teamwork with designers; studios want lighting and technical depth; editorial roles want storytelling; event work wants speed and people skills. Put your portfolio link at the top. Photographers often work with designers, so the UX designer example shows how another creative role presents process and results. The Studio template gives visual work room while keeping the text readable.

Updated . The person and employers in this Sample resume are fictional.

Photographer sample resume

Mateo Alvarez

Commercial Photographer, Product and Lifestyle

Los Angeles, CAmateo.alvarez@example.com(323) 555-0115

Summary

Commercial photographer with seven years of experience shooting product, lifestyle and event work for retail and consumer brands. Ran the in-house studio for an apparel brand, delivering 2,000 edited product images a month on a 48-hour turnaround. Plans shoots carefully, works well with art directors and models, and delivers files ready for web, print and social.

Experience

Freelance Commercial Photographer, Alvarez Studio

– Present

Los Angeles, CA

  • Shoot product, lifestyle and event work for about 25 clients a year, including cosmetics, food and home goods brands.
  • Produce shoots end to end: shot lists, casting, locations, crew, lighting and post-production.
  • Photographed a spring campaign for a skincare brand used across its website, packaging and paid social.
  • Keep a repeat-client rate high by delivering selects within 24 hours and final edits on schedule.
Staff Photographer, Sunset Thread Apparel

–

Los Angeles, CA

  • Ran the in-house studio, delivering about 2,000 edited product and on-model images a month with a 48-hour turnaround.
  • Standardized lighting and styling guides that kept images consistent across three photographers.
  • Worked with the e-commerce team to add detail and on-model shots, which helped reduce returns for fit questions.

Education

B.F.A. in Photography

Pacific Coast College of Art, Pasadena, CA

Skills

  • Product photography
  • Lifestyle and on-model photography
  • Studio and location lighting
  • Adobe Lightroom
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Capture One
  • Shoot production and planning
  • Color management
  • Retouching
  • Client communication

Start yours from this example

Bring your own resume or start blank, then tailor it to each posting in about two minutes.

Use this example

Templates for the photographer resume

All templates

How the resume changes with experience

The same photographer resume, written at three levels: a summary and three bullets for each.

Entry level

Zero to two years, or a first role in the title

Photography graduate with a strong portfolio of portrait and product work and experience assisting on commercial shoots.

  • Assisted a commercial photographer on twelve shoots with lighting setup and tethering.
  • Shot and edited product photos for three local businesses' online stores.
  • Exhibited a portrait series in the college's graduating show.

Mid level

Three to seven years, owns a process or a workload

Photographer with four years of experience in real estate and architectural photography for agents and builders.

  • Photograph 30 to 40 properties a month for real estate agencies.
  • Deliver edited images within a day of each shoot.
  • Added drone photography and twilight shoots to the services offered.

Senior

Eight years or more, leads people, budgets or programs

Photo director with fourteen years of experience leading photography for brands, managing studios, photographers and production budgets.

  • Lead a team of five photographers and retouchers for a national retailer.
  • Manage the annual photography budget and outside production vendors.
  • Set the visual standards for product and campaign photography.

Skills to put on the photographer resume

Hard skills

Lighting
Control of light is what separates professional work, and studio roles test it.
Editing and retouching
Clients expect finished, consistent files, and speed in post-production matters.
Camera and equipment knowledge
Knowing your gear lets you work efficiently in any setting.
Shoot production
Planning, casting and crew coordination keep shoots on time and on budget.
File delivery and color management
Images must look right on web and print, and clients notice when they do not.

Soft skills

Working with art directors
Commercial work serves a brief, and collaboration gets the right image.
Putting subjects at ease
Relaxed people make better photographs, especially in lifestyle and portrait work.
Reliability
Deadlines drive campaigns, and on-time delivery brings repeat clients.
Business sense
Freelancers who manage clients and budgets well build steady work.

Mistakes that cost photographer interviews

  1. No portfolio link

    Put your portfolio at the top of the resume. For a photographer, it is the first thing anyone will want to see.

  2. Only describing your style

    Style matters, but hiring teams also want to know about volume, turnaround, production and clients.

  3. An image-heavy resume

    Keep photographs in the portfolio and the resume readable. Many applications still pass through systems that read only text.

  4. Listing every camera you own

    Name key equipment and software, but focus on what you produced with them.

  5. Freelance work without structure

    Present freelance work like a business: number of clients, types of work and results.

Questions about the photographer resume

Should a photographer have a resume or just a portfolio?

Both. The portfolio shows your work; the resume shows how you work, who you have worked with and how reliable you are, which matters for in-house and agency roles.

How do I list freelance photography on a resume?

Treat your practice as an employer: give it a name, dates, types of clients and the scale of work, with a few specific projects.

What skills should a photographer list?

Lighting, the genres you shoot, editing software, production and planning, color management and client communication.

Should I name the brands I have shot for?

Only if your contracts allow it. Otherwise describe clients by industry, such as a national skincare brand.

How long should a photographer resume be?

One page, with a clear link to your portfolio.

Related resume examples

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