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Photographers, Audio-visual and Broadcasting Equipment Operators

Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators operate and assist with still, cine and television cameras, operate other equipment to record, manipulate and project sound and vision for entertainment, cultural, commercial and industrial purposes and operate drones to provide aerial video and photographs.

Wages

New workers
AVERAGE
Experienced
£13,677
£26,293
£49,371

New workers start around £13,677. Normal pay is £26,293 per year.
Highly experienced workers can earn up to £49,371.

Available jobs

In the past year there were 41,550 vacancies for this type of job

6.75%

Projected job growth over the next 8 years

Related courses

People work towards these careers by taking these courses at college and uni.

What they do most days?

  • Maintains, repairs, programs and operates unmanned aircraft to provide aerial photographs and video.

  • Operates sound mixing and dubbing equipment to obtain desired mix, level and balance of sound.

  • Manages health and safety issues.

  • Operates equipment to record, edit and play back films and television programmes.

  • Checks operation and positioning of projectors, vision and sound recording equipment, and mixing and dubbing equipment.

  • Controls transmission, broadcasting and satellite systems for television and radio programmes, identifies and solves related technical problems.

  • Takes, records and manipulates digital images and digital video footage.

  • Photographs subject or follows action by moving camera.

  • Operates scanning equipment to transfer image to computer and manipulates image to achieve the desired effect.

  • Inserts lenses and adjusts aperture and speed settings as necessary.

  • Arranges subject, lighting, camera equipment and any microphones.

  • Selects subject and conceives composition of picture or discusses composition with colleagues.

Hard Skills

Hard skills are specific, learnable, measurable, often industry or occupation-specific abilities related to a position.

Skills are ranked based on the number of job adverts that list them as required skills.

  • Photography

  • Adobe Photoshop

  • Adobe Premiere Pro

  • Marketing

  • Image Editing

  • Digital Single-Lens Reflex Cameras

  • Zoom (Video Conferencing Tool)

  • Adobe Flash

  • Broadband

  • Videography

Soft Skills

Soft skills can be self-taught and usually do not necessitate a certain completed level of education.

Skills are ranked based on the number of job adverts that list them as required skills.

  • Editing

  • Communication

  • Sales

  • Detail Oriented

  • Organizational Skills

  • Time Management

  • Innovation

  • Planning

  • Self-Motivation

  • Creativity

How do I get a job like this?

People in these types of job started their career paths after studying courses like the ones below.

Routes to this career

See all

Film Production

Belfast Metropolitan College

FD · 2 Years · Full-time · Belfast · 08/09/2025

Tariff points: 80/80

Design for Performance

Rose Bruford College

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Sidcup · 09/2025

Tariff points: 64/64

Film and Television Production

Teesside University

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Middlesbrough · 15/09/2025

Tariff points: 96/112

Media, Communication, Cultures

Leeds Beckett University

BA (Hons) · 6 Years · Part-time · Leeds · 15/09/2025

Tariff points: 112/112

Film Production

Arts University Bournemouth

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Poole · 29/09/2025

Tariff points: 112/120

Film and Media Studies

University of Winchester

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Winchester · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: 96/112

Sports Journalism

University of Brighton

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Brighton · 09/2025

Tariff points: 104/120

Musical Theatre

University Centre at Salford City College

HNC · 1 Year · Full-time · Salford · 15/09/2025

Tariff points: 80/80

Music Production with Foundation Year

Canterbury Christ Church University

BA (Hons) · 4 Years · Full-time including foundation year · Canterbury · 09/2025

Tariff points: 64/64

Photography

The Northern School of Art

BA (Hons) · 3 Years · Full-time · Hartlepool · 22/09/2025

Tariff points: 96/112

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