Speaking to The Independent’s careers section, Michael Regnier - the commissions and features editor at Panos Pictures - says photography is still a great choice for a career.

Regnier’s company buys photographs from freelance photographers and commissions them to take pictures of news events around the world for editorial purposes. He explains that this can be exceptionally rewarding and provides a varied career with opportunities to travel afforded by few other professions.

Interestingly, he has a number of strict criteria that prospective photographers must hold in order to win commissioned work. He says that PhotoShop skills are essential, as well as the ability to identify a good journalistic picture and set up a difficult shoot. He also says technical know-how and a good grasp of their subject matter is as important as creativity and flair - training is a must. (photographycourses.biz are launching an excellent photography training DVD)

When qualified, photographers can earn up to £25,000 from one agency, such as Panos, and can work for several agencies if they are successful. So, despite growing competition from all the budding photographers out there, there is always work for talented photojournalists providing they have been trained well and are media and news savvy.