Photography Industry Trends 2024: What’s Shaping the Future?

Welcome to the 2024 Photography Industry Trends Report.

What are the most popular genres of professional photography? How much do professional photographers charge per shoot? How many images do they deliver to each client, and how long do they take to deliver them?

If you want answers to these questions and more, then you’ll want to dive into this 2024 photography industry report.

The photography industry continues to evolve rapidly, driven by technological advancements, changing client expectations, and shifting market dynamics. This comprehensive report, based on a survey of hundreds of professional photographers, offers deep insights into the current state of the industry, emerging trends, and opportunities for growth and innovation.

Quick disclaimer, before we begin...

This survey primarily reflects the perspectives of established photographers who have developed their careers and are earning substantial income from photography. The data is particularly relevant to wedding, portrait, and event photography, which emerged as the top three specialties among respondents.

Readers should interpret these results as representative of experienced, working photographers, especially those in the wedding, portrait, and event niches. While providing valuable insights into these areas, the report may not fully capture the experiences of emerging photographers or those specializing in other genres of photography.

Summary

We surveyed over 500 professional photographers from different industries and found:

• 50.6% started as a hobby during childhood or early teens
• 46.9% capture 1,000 - 3,000 images per shoot
• Only 13.4% deliver in less than a week
• Only 6.3% spend more than $5,000 on photography equipment

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Follow along as we delve deeper into the insights we gathered from our survey.

Photography Industry Trends Report by Aftershoot

The photography industry trends report is brought to you by Aftershoot, a leading AI culling and editing tool that helps photographers streamline their post-production workflow. Our tool has empowered thousands of photographers to do more with their time. 

Aftershoot was started by the drive to make the lives of photographers easier through technology. Our users are the primary driving force behind Aftershoot. We wouldn't be where we are if it wasn’t for the continuous feedback and support we received from the creative community, and we're committed to giving back.