What makes a professional photographer?

Posted by mazzarellophotography on February 28, 2012 · 3 Comments 

Me

If you google “what makes a professional photographer?” you will find a lot of discussion.  Anything from How To Become… to a list of qualifying criteria.  The expected definition is that a professional in any area is someone who gets paid for what they do.  Well,  I know I got paid for some snaps before I was anywhere near professional so my eyebrows got a little twitchy at that one.  Another great definition of a professional is someone who successfully does something full-time.  Hmmm, I could counter that pretty quickly too but I continued down the list.  Clearly the quality of the images produced is a factor.  Then, the point that the advent of digital photography and the speed with which the craft is changing brings up the question “Are We All Amateur Photographers Today?”  I read the titles and a few paragraphs here and there and pretty quickly decided that my great idea for a blog post has already been thoroughly covered – which is fine because it became clear that discovering where to draw that line is a moot point.

This is a photographer’s blog.  I am on the journey of learning about photography and want to share what I’m discovering.  I spend most of my time either behind the lens or reading books and blogs about photography or viewing other photographer’s images, videos and tutorials, preparing my equipment and my brain for a project, setting up & breaking down shoots, editing images, talking to other photographers (and just about anybody else who will listen) about images and lighting.

There it is…

Professional and amateur alike, the conversation is light.

Places to go, people to see:

• Are we all amateur photographers today?
• Nokia 41mp camera phone

Filed under Talk the Talk · Tagged with photography