Do stylists generally make more or less than photographers?

Question

I am a commercial photographer shooting product and such in room sets for catalog/web. I've been told by a couple of people in the industry that stylists usually make more money than the photographers. Is that correct? I've been told that I would be a great stylist but I'm not sure if I really want to walk away from the photography job. It seems that stylists are always working where everyone and their brother wants to be a photographer.

Answer 1

Like any profession, the fee is based on experience, talent, and client.  

Food stylists are generally the highest paid.  That is a very specialized field that crosses many different disciplines (culinary, imaging, legal, and design).  People in that field have usually degrees or many years of experience working under the tutelage of others.

Answer 2

Stylists probably make more than photographers who don't charge correctly...!

Photographers own the rights to images they make and should licence the usage.  No professional photographer should work on time (i.e. charge by the day).

So to answer your queastion I would say no, the stylists I work with don't earn anywhere near as much as me as they charge a day rate and I charge licencing fees which can be quite large depending on the project and usage of the final images.