What is YOUR definition of a Professional Photographer?

[Mulewings~]

I'd like to see what separates the Professional from all others in their own terms.

Is is because you [Professional Photographer] make your entire living off from it?
Or is a Professional one who makes limited income or is published?

Give a very clear answer.
Please?
Thanks.

[TPF Sponsor]

[boogschd]

for me ...

professional photographer = someone who makes a living out of photography

[CSR Studio]

Makes their entire living from photography.

[Mulewings~]

Very good, this is exactly what I was asking for.

[NateWagner]

NOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!!!!! NOT ANOTHER THREAD ON THIS EXACT SAME TOPIC!!!!

Please just do a search, there are threads upon threads that go pages and pages and pages about this very topic.

[beni_hung]

Someone who makes a good amount of money from photography.

I say that because if someone has a day job, but is still doing weddings and what-not on the weekends, bringing in a few thousand a month, I think that a person like that would be considered a professional.

[Mulewings~]

NOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!!!!! NOT ANOTHER THREAD ON THIS EXACT SAME TOPIC!!!!

Please just do a search, there are threads upon threads that go pages and pages and pages about this very topic.

Sort of ... but not a direct question that asks for short precise non rambling answers:

PRO vs. Amateur

Simple and staying on the Thread Topic would be very nice.

[NateWagner]

yeah, but that is where it will inevitably end up.

By asking what is a professional, somebody will say something about how a pro is proficient and good at what he does, that there must be a standard of quality. Somebody else will then say, oh, but I have seen amateurs who provide better quality than "pros"

and it will go from there, always does.

[NateWagner]

as a side note, I think op's often have this odd thought that they actually have some sort of control over what happens in a thread.

In this case, yes you did only ask for one specific answer, but... people won't follow it (as I haven't obviously)

[Mulewings~]

Thanks for pointing that out.
I guess we can refer to the old post then and not continue.

I just asked for simple.

[AlbertoDeRoma]

I'd like to see what separates the Professional from all others in their own terms.

Is is because you [Professional Photographer] make your entire living off from it?
Or is a Professional one who makes limited income or is published?

Give a very clear answer.
Please?
Thanks.

Here's a possible simple test:

Q: Random guy at a party: "What's your profession?"

A: Professional photographer: "I am a photographer."

A: Non professional photographer: "Import/export."

Simple enough for me. Not that the particular label makes any difference.

Alberto

[IgsEMT]

Sort of ... but not a direct question that asks for short precise non rambling answers:

PRO vs. Amateur

Simple and staying on the Thread Topic would be very nice. __________________

saved me a search

[Actor]

NOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!!!!! NOT ANOTHER THREAD ON THIS EXACT SAME TOPIC!!!!

Please just do a search, there are threads upon threads that go pages and pages and pages about this very topic.

1. With the exception of "C&C Please" threads, one could do an exhaustive search on any topic presented and, in 90% of cases, find another thread with a similar subject.
2. Search engines are a branch of artificial intelligence and, in general, they are crap. The state of programming art (science?) has yet to produce a really good one. One of the best appears to be Google and it's nothing to get excited about. Trying to find an answer to any question on any forum by using its search engine, which is likely to be very primitive, is a futile exercise about half the time. I sometimes have trouble finding my own posts with the TPF search engine. Once you give up and start a thread you can still get nailed by a sharpshooter who points out that a similar thread already exists.
3. I submit that the primary purpose of this or any other forum is to foster a sense of camaraderie, rather than to slowly compile an exhaustive and non-redundant encyclopedia (that's the Wiki's job). So what if there's an existing thread? So what if it goes on for pages and pages? If you went to a party and brought up the subject of, say The Lord of the Rings, you would not expect someone to say "We've already discussed that. If you want everybody's opinion we can loan you the security tapes." I say, "Keep the conversation going." If you've lost interest, you don't have to read the thread.

[KmH]

With the exception of "C&C Please" threads, one could do an exhaustive search on any topic presented and, in 90% of cases, find another thread with a similar subject.

1. I sometimes have trouble finding my own posts with the TPF search engine.

Really? This is a piece-of-cake:

1. Click on "Search"
2. under "Search Forums", click on "Advanced search"
3. On the right find "Search By User Name"
4. Right under that select "Find Posts By User" OR "Find Threads Started By User"
5. Scroll down and click on "Search Now"
6. Voila! The Photo Forum - Photography Discussion Forum - Search Results All the threads you've posted in, but they're not in order. Here's all the threads you've started: The Photo Forum - Photography Discussion Forum - Search Results
7. Then there is a plethora of Search Options under all that and you can retrieve each one of your posts. The Photo Forum - Photography Discussion Forum - Search Results and do it ascending/decending order, and constrain the search to specific date ranges, blah, blah blah.......

You may not be most people....

The point is most people don't search: Because they don't know how to search, can't be bothered to learn how to search, and/or expect the computer to just somehow read their minds and get what they want anyway..

I submit that the primary purpose of this or any other forum is to foster a sense of camaraderie, rather than to slowly compile an exhaustive and non-redundant encyclopedia (that's the Wiki's job).

I submit that the primary purpose of this or any other forum that has advertising is to make money for the forum owners.

Visitors see all the advertisements and out number members about 5 to 1 so the Forum owners actually make money off those of us that generate their main content.

[NateWagner]

you're right they absolutely could. And doing so would save a great deal of the repetitive threads that are on here.

The only reason I mentioned it though was because this sort of thread tends to get heavily debated and there is no reason for it to get started again.

I said it, (and then he quickly found the particular thread I was thinking of so it must not be that hard) merely in the hopes of not having this argument propagating throughout this thread any more than it has to.