Photographers are increasingly feeling the pressure of a shrinking market as amateur photographers up their games and compete for a decreasing number of photographic jobs, a survey of 1698 photographers has found.

Organised for the second year in a row by the British Photographic Council, the survey aimed at gathering photographers' views on copyright, their income and the threats to their businesses, and, as the results show, they are numerous.

The large majority of respondents (91%) are freelance photographers, with only 9% of photographers employed as staff. Among these staff photographers, 86.5% said they earned all of their income from photography, while only 59.4% of freelance photographers could say the same thing. "[It means that] two in every five freelances have an additional income stream from outside the photography industry," says the British Photographic Council.

Freelancers are also earning much less than staff photographers, the survey found, with the average freelance profit being £18,821 while a staff photographer earns, on average, £34,535. Only 19% of freelance photographers earn more than £30,000.

In fact, the survey found that 50% of professional photographers have seen their turnover for the past year fall. 40% believe this decrease will continue this year, in part because of increasing competition from amateur photographers.

"With everyone owning a camera of some sorts, most people do not recognise the skill required in producing a good picture," said one respondent. "I can see photography as a profession slowly dying - apart from a few customers who do appreciate quality and are prepared to pay for it."

A large majority of respondents agree, claiming that competition from amateur photgoraphers is the biggest threat to their businesses (74.4%). "The mystique is gone with digital, the amateurs go untaxed, uninsured and unregulated," said another respondent. "We have Fensa for double glazing, we have Corgi for gas and plumbing but an owner of a digital camera is not a wedding photographer and goes unregulated."

Falling rates and falling demand came second and third in photographers' list of worries (66.9% and 56.4% respectively). Photographers are also worried about legislation affecting photography in public places (49%) and copyright infringements (48.7%).

Probably the most controversial finding from this survey is the estimated impact of copyright infringement on photographers' revenues. A majority of respondents (59%) are aware of their work being infringed upon in the past three years. When asked for an estimated market value of these infringements, the 1698 photographers who participated in the survey reported an average loss of £3605, totaling more than £2m.

This number is likely to be much higher as countless acts of infringements go unnoticed.

The threat against photography in public places is also a major worry for photographers, with 59% of them reporting that any legislation that makes it more difficult to photograph in public would "significantly hinder" their businesses. Only 3% of respondents claimed that they would benefit from such legislation.

Orphan Works legislation is also viewed as a threat, with 54% of professional photographers surveyed stating that it would significantly or moderately affect them for the worse - 40% say it would neither help nor hinder their businesses.

Finally, the survey found that a large majority of photographers (84%) would welcome moral rights legislation making it mandatory for publications to credit or bylines all images. The new UK government has pledged, earlier this year, to look at the issue of moral rights as part of a copyright law revamp.

To read the full report, visit the British Photographic Council's website.

The British Photographic Council is composed of 13 organisations - the
 Association of
 Photographers,
 the 
British 
Association 
of
 Picture
 Libraries
 and 
Agencies,
 the
 British
 Press
 Photographers 
Association, 
the 
British 
Institute
 of 
Professional Photographers, 
the 
Bureau 
of
 Freelance
 Photographers, 
the
 Chartered 
Institute
 of
 Journalists,
 Editorial
 Photographers
 UK
 and
 Ireland,
 the
 Master
 Photographers
 Association,
 the
 National
 Association
 of
 Press 
Agencies, 
the
 National 
Union
 of 
Journalists,
 Pro‐Imaging,
 Redeye, 
and
 The
 Royal
 Photographic 
Society.