Who is a photographer? This is an artist with a camera, using a blend of technical skills and an artistic eye to take pictures of people, places, landscapes, food, drinks, etc.
Below are the Top 20 Photographer Interview Questions And Answers.
1. Why Are You Interested In This Role?
When your interviewer asks you this question, they expect you to tell them why you want to work for them. Consider talking about practicing your skills and learning from them as well.
Sample Answer
“To start with, I am a big fan of your photography. It’s what I love doing. I see good performance in terms of the photo quality that you have pinned on the walls. This must be great work done by you. I must say that I want to be part of the team that produces these quality photos. After having good photography skills, I will be honored to put them into work in your company. I am a person who likes learning from others and being ready to gain more skills through learning. I would also like to get a job and earn an income out of my talent. This would be a great achievement for me. I am pretty sure that I am going to do a great job in your newspaper company.
2. What Are The Roles Of A Photographer?
The interviewer wants to learn whether you are well informed on your duties and responsibilities as a photographer. Mention the key duties and responsibilities of a photographer.
Sample Answer
“To my knowledge, a photographer manages a lot of aspects in the photography process. They are responsible for creative photo direction, securing intellectual property rights, managing and organizing logistics for photoshoot sessions, overseeing post-production tasks like photo animation and editing, setting the budget, organizing deadlines, and communicating with their team for guidelines when doing photography. I believe that those are the key roles that you would expect me to perform in your media company. I would be happy to perform them in your institution.”
3. What Are The Qualities That A Photographer Needs To Be Successful?
Your interviewer is asking you about the qualities you should have as a photographer that would make you succeed in your career. Tell them the qualities that you think might help you succeed in this role.
Sample Answer
“As a photographer, I must say that this comes with a lot of qualities for a nice job. To start with, as a photographer, I should be very creative. I should also have an eye for detail since you need to see things that few people see in nature. To add on, a photographer should have a passion for this job. This will make them love the job and appreciate whatever they are doing. Patience and flexibility is also a quality that one needs to be a photographer. I will need to move from place to place making photoshoot sessions. Those qualities would make a good and professional photographer.”
4. What Major Challenges Did You Have In Your Previous Role, And How Did You Manage Them?
The interviewer wants to know the problems you have faced in your previous role and how you managed them. Talk about the main challenges you encountered and how you solved them.
Sample Answer
“As a photographer, there are a lot of challenges that we face that cannot be avoided. This is all about nature. Especially when doing outdoor shoots, the weather might not be as friendly as you thought. Maybe that day you needed sunlight for your photoshoot session but boom! Here comes the rain. You will have to reschedule your session for another day. This will affect your schedule. As a smart photographer, you will consider the weather expectations and learn about weather forecasting. Otherwise, disappointments will be your daily routines. This is a major challenge that we face day by day as photographers.”
5. Describe Your Daily Routine As A Photographer?
Your interviewer wants to learn about your daily schedule as a photographer. Give them an organized program from the first task of the day until the last activity you would perform that day.
Sample Answer
“As a photographer, I would start my day in the office by checking emails and responding to any queries from clients. Then, I would do any schedules for any fieldwork like photoshoots. If they are projects that I am currently working on like photo editing, this would be the best time to do it. This would involve editing photos for my clients and handing them over to them through the channel that they prefer most. This is where the major job comes in. If there are any appointments, I would also attend them. If I had scheduled a photoshoot session for that day, I would prepare my team and go for it. That would be a busy day at work.”
6. Describe Briefly About Your Experience
The interviewer wants you to tell them about your previous work experience. Talk about where you have worked, the experience you got, and for how long you have worked.
Sample Answer
“After gaining an advanced diploma in photography, I was recruited as an intern in a photography company where we would do photoshoot sessions for websites and blog posts. After working as an intern for a year, I went back to school and earned a degree in photography. I was permanently employed in a media house company where I would take photos of events. Here, I was able to interact with a lot of professional photographers who were very willing to take me to the other level in this career. They taught me a lot in this field. I worked in that company for five years before my contract expired.”
7. What Kind Of Strategies And Mindset Are Required For This Role?
The interviewer wants to know what strategies and attitudes a photographer should have to be successful in this role. Talk about the key focus you would focus on.
Sample Answer
“A photographer should mainly focus on giving quality photos to their clients. Photo quality is what many clients are looking for in photography companies. Focusing on quality photography entails using high-tech production equipment like the cameras and other software while editing them. Clients will look for quality, creativity, confidence, professional portfolio, and timeliness when choosing a photographer. Also, a photographer should focus detail on their photos to see what mistakes they might have made during editing. This will ensure professional work without any questionable content in the photo.”
8. What Is The Biggest Challenge That You Foresee In This Role?
As a photographer, you must have seen a big challenge that will greatly affect this industry largely in the future. That is what your interviewer is looking for. Talk about the challenge and suggest ways to solve it if possible.
Sample Answer
“As a photographer, I must admit that there is a lot of competition in this industry. There are many creative photographers who do a great job in this industry. So, the skills that one needs should be very high to win yourself a good job. This is a challenge that is affecting photographers in the present day and is likely to affect this industry in the future. The only way to curb this is sharpening and having unique qualities that will produce nice results and win you a nice role like this one. All you need is to be creative in your own way.”
9. How Do You Stay Motivated In Your Work?
Your interviewer wants to know what keeps your morale while working. Consider talking about achievements in your career as your motivators.
Sample Answer
“Nothing motivates me more than seeing my quality photos receiving many likes on media platforms. As a result, I am always motivated to keep working on quality photography for better results again and again. In addition, seeing quality work from other photographers motivates me to produce better photos than theirs. I might even decide to take a nature walk in the middle of a very scary forest just to take photos of nature and post them. This is a creative way of getting unique photos.”
10. Describe A Time When You Failed In This Role And The Lessons You Learned
The interviewer knows that at a time, you must have ever made a mistake. Talk about an event you made a mistake in your career, and you were able to learn a lesson from it.
Sample Answer
“In my previous role when I was in my entry-level position, a client came to me and requested me to do a photoshoot session for him. The client did not specify the photo format that he needed. I realized that the client wanted to upload the photos on a platform that did not support my produced photo format. I had to re-do the work to make the right format for the photos that I edited. This needed extra efforts and resources. I learned that it is good to ask for all the requirements that a client needs and what they will be using the photo for.”
11. Why Do You Feel You Are Most Suited For This Role?
The interviewer wants to know why they should choose you over the other candidates. Talk about the unique qualities that can make you be the best photographer they are looking for.
Sample Answer
“Having worked in this industry for six years, I believe that I have the right experience needed for this post. Since I already know what is expected of me, I strongly believe that I will start the work immediately. There will be no kind of training required for me. In addition, this is a job that I work out of passion and interest. This means that I love what I do and I have all it takes to be a nice photographer.”
12. Share With Us Your Greatest Achievements
Your interviewer wants to know what goal you achieved in this industry. Talk about what goals, awards, and promotions you have achieved in your career.
Sample Answer
“Being a photographer who focuses on quality work, I was chosen to be the photographer of the late governor of the county in the year 2014. To work in such a post as a photographer, one needs to have professional quality work. I felt that this was a great honor and achievement that I have ever achieved in my career.”
13. Which Are The Three Main Phases Of Photography That You Know Of?
The interviewer is testing your knowledge on the stages that one has to go through to come up with nice photography. Talk about the three main ones and explain.
Sample Answer
“To come up with a final product, there are phases that one has to undergo. These stages are;
a) Planning – In this phase, the photographer comes up with the best ideas on how they can do a great job. This mostly involves doing research.
b) Thinking – Now you have to brainstorm about the ideas you have come with to know whether they are the best or you need to do some editing
c) Execution – This is the last phase where you now put the strategies and plan into work.”
I believe that these are the main phases a photo goes through to outstand.”
14. As A Photographer, Why Is The Photography Process Necessary?
Your interviewer wants to know why you would need a process to produce quality photos. Of course, there is a reason behind that. Tell them the importance of following the procedure.
Sample Answer
“It is vital for me as a photographer to have a process that I will follow when producing quality photos. A production process will help you;
a) Predict timeline
b) Come up with accurate pricing
c) Have few revisions after you complete the project
d) Make zero errors when editing photos.”
15. Mention A Few Equipment That A Photographer Needs For Quality Work.
Here, the interviewer tests your knowledge on whether you know the equipment and tools you should use for quality results. Mention the main equipment you would use.
Sample Answer
“To ensure quality as a photographer, I should have several types of equipment, among them, a high tech camera, a tripod to keep my photos look steady and professional. I would also need a camera light, three-point lighting kit, light reflector, cleaning kits, memory card reader, camera lenses, external hard drive, among others. With these types of equipment, I believe that I can do a great job as a photographer.”
16. Mention To Us Seven Legal Considerations In Photography
The interviewer wants to know whether you are conversant with the law side of photography. Mention the legal considerations.
Sample Answer
“There are several legal considerations that a photographer should take when producing photos. Seven of them are;
a) False statements
b) Photo and photo licensing
c) Talent release forms
d) Location release forms
e) Ownership of photos
f) Location release forms
These are the essential photo law considerations.”
17. Tell Us Several Photo Types You Have Worked On.
The interviewer wants to know what types of photos are taken in this field. Mention the main phototypes.
Sample Answer
“The following are the main types of photos in photography.
a) Wedding photography
b) Event photography
c) Portrait photography
d) Fashion photography
e) Travel photography.”
18. Why Did You Quit Your Previous Role In The Company That You Were Working For?
Your interviewer wants to know what made you quit your job to come and work for them. Talk about where you had to leave your job.
Sample Answer
“As a photographer, I loved working for my previous employer, but they had employed me on a five-year contract. After the contract, I felt that it was not good for me to renew the contract. I just thought of working in a different environment. I hope that I will get a chance to work in your new environment.”
19. Tell Us Your Biggest Strength
The interviewer wants to know what it is that you are best at. Talk about the strongholds in your career.
Sample Answer
“As a photographer, I like working in teams. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships. As a photographer, you may have spent the whole day editing photos, and still, other duties are awaiting you at the same time. It is good to have a team that can help you manage all your projects. Having a team of smart people leads to quality work. I would say that I work best in teams.”
20. What Is Your Biggest Fear In Your Career?
Your interviewer wants to know what it is that you would not like it to happen in your career.
Sample Answer
“My biggest fear in my career would be giving poor results to my clients. I am always focused on giving my clients the best photos ever. I would love to give my clients the best.”
Conclusion
Photography is an exciting career that will make you have an adventure. Answer questions with confidence and you will secure the position. All the best.
