Footwear Photographer Career Profile, Salary & Job Outlook
What does a Footwear Photographer do?
Footwear Photographers focus on studio photography, upholding brand photo standards, and style product shots and brand imagery projects. They are content creators with an exceptional range of creative, technical, documentary, and styling standards for footwear, model, and lifestyle photography while maintaining the brand voice across all photography work.. In addition, Footwear Photographers collaborate with the Marketing team on creating photography solutions consistent with the marketing strategy, seasonal direction, and brand guidelines.
How much does a Footwear Photographer make?
According to Glassdoor, Footwear Photographers make a national average of $70,000 or $33.65 an hour. In general, entry-level footwear photographers make around $39,500 annually, with senior-level photographers making $88,876 a year.
What impact does this career have towards the sneaker industry?
Footwear Photographers are responsible for maintaining a consistent brand story, imagery and color, and for producing exciting, engaging content that elevates the brand across channels. They also produce final images to showcase a sneaker for release and launch across media and retail.
What is the job outlook for a Footwear Photographer?
The footwear market is expected to grow annually by 3.25% through 2028. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), job growth in the fashion design industry (including Footwear Photographers) is projected to grow one percent by 2028.
How to kick-off your career:
- Learn Photoshop by taking a class or researching YouTube videos.
- Intern for a sneaker media publication or company.
- Study blogs or sneaker company sneaker product or editorial shots.
- Download our Ultimate Sneaker Career Guide to understand the pathway into this career.
- Explore our Sneaker Essentials online course to understand Brand Strategy & Marketing.
Learn from:
Jon Tang
Sneaker Essentials contributor, Fronteer
Experiences: Founder & Creative Director, Fronteer
Senior Designer, Collaborations & Special Projects, K-Swiss
