PRO vs. Amateur

[joemc]

Defining professional would be hard to do... A friend of mine is a Dr...and that is his full time job.... But he makes 60-80 grand a year as a photographer(that is his passion)...Is he an amateur? or a professional??

Depends if he considers and depends on that money. IMO he's amateur.

To be more specific...He is a Dentist and he sees patients 2-3 days a week because he tells me that his back can not handle any more than that (that is normal...My wife is a Dentist and she does not see patients at all anymore).
So he has a lot of free time to shoot PJ, events, and for galleries.....But...he makes more as a Dentist!.....But I am sure he depends on the money from photography!

Again I ask.... Is he a pro?

 

[KmH]

Defining professional would be hard to do... A friend of mine is a Dr...and that is his full time job.... But he makes 60-80 grand a year as a photographer(that is his passion)...Is he an amateur? or a professional??

Depends if he considers and depends on that money. IMO he's amateur.

The difference between an amateur photographer and a professional photographer.....is business skill, far more than which is the better shooter. The Doc has 2 professions; if he's making 60-80 G's a year from his photography.

 

[SlimPaul]

There are many serious amateurs who shoot better than professionals. It all depends on the person, I don't think it can be generalized in a poll.

 

[joemc]

Defining professional would be hard to do... A friend of mine is a Dr...and that is his full time job.... But he makes 60-80 grand a year as a photographer(that is his passion)...Is he an amateur? or a professional??

Depends if he considers and depends on that money. IMO he's amateur.

The difference between an amateur photographer and a professional photographer.....is business skill, far more then which is the better shooter. The Doc has 2 professions; if he's making 60-80 G's a year from his photography.

Bingo......That is the answer.... Just like in any business.... If you can find a way to make decent money at it and market it....You are a pro!!...Does not make you a fantastic photographer though!

 

[ann]

:thumbup:

since i am a terrible speller i wasn't going to go there

and i have to second Derrel remarks

 

[Garbz]

I define Pro as someone who makes money. I know a few pros. The local camera club is full of amateurs who do much better work than they do. People who enjoy their hobby are much likely to do better work than people who just get paid for their job. About half of those pros do not enjoy photography enough to go out and do it on the weekend.


SpeedTrap's comparison is way off the mark in my opinion for that reason. In a sport you're competing fiercely and directly for the number 1 position where the money is. Whereas in photography there are many clients and thus many positions where money needs to be made.
For evidence of this take a look at the listings of photographers on craigslist. Some of their work is utter **** but they still keep getting paid for what they do.

 

[joemc]

A quick little story from a acquaintance of mine that kinda puts this better into perspective.

A person that comes from a family with a little $$ decided he wanted to be a glamor/wedding photographer.... He put a 1/2 page add in vogue and Southern Bride for a year... I think it might still be there?...But he knew nothing really about photography...but because he put himself out there people and other photographers looked at him like he was something special.... He did have to hire a couple good shooters to live up to the markets expectations.... The name of his photography company is HIS name,,,,and he is very successful now.... He is a brillant businessman and very good with his people skills.....He, himself is a marginal photographer!!

This just goes to show you......

 

[skieur]

Who spells better -- Professional or Ametuer? .... sorry .... couldn't resist ...

Obviously, not an "ametuer"! :lmao: tuer= to kill in French.

skieur

 

[flea77]

I would have to say that the average amateur is probably about 25 years old with a point and shoot and gets red eye in every shot. To me, the term average means take everyone in the world that has a camera and is not a pro, find the largest percentage within that group as far as skill is concerned, and there you have it. The vast majority of camera owners in the world who are not pros could not get a descent exposure from a back lit subject if you paid them $1,000,000.

Take for example everyone I can think of personally in my town that has a camera and takes pictures. They range from about 4 years old (next door neighbor has a daughter with a Fisher Price digital) to my wife's boss's father, 98 years old. One retired pro and one current pro in the bunch (I am thinking 50-60 people) and out of them, exactly five people know that you CAN even change settings on the camera other than zoom.

The pro on the other hand (to me someone who makes the bulk of their income from it) can shoot well enough that he can pay his rent, insurance, utilities, food, clothing and equipment from it. That says he is far and away better than the average person above.

And "better" to me means simply capturing a reasonably exposed, reasonably focused image that someone would want to keep. The better the exposure/focus/composition, the "better" the image.

So I say pro.

Allan

PS When I say composition I am not being critical, I mean is the subject's head cut off just below the eyes? Is the building angled when it was not supposed to be? Was your thumb in front of the lens when you shot?

 

[Canosonic]

So it's 1:1!!!

Ind stap staeting my lack af gramar!

 

[Rifleman1776]

Having lived and worked in both worlds, I have some opinions on this subject from experience.
For a long time, it was generally accepted that a professional photog was one who earned 51% or more of his income from photography. That never made much sense to me. If a person is hired to do a photo job, he is a professional while working on that job even if it is his only paying gig in a year.
Who can make the best pictures? That's a 'what shape is green?' question. It cannot be answered. However, a professional has access to places and events that are usually denied an amateur. The person hiring the photog will make places, people, equipment, whatever available to help accomplish what they want. I once had a Greyhound bus driven to a public location that would get anyone else arrested. An amateur would not have been able to get that shot. (I wish I still had a copy of that shot, I was pretty proud of it.) Plus, there is the mental aspect. If one is being paid to do something, there is a motivation to do the best possible. That is not always the case with amateurs. Then, there is the equipment involved. Pros often have equipment amateurs cannot afford. How many amateurs can light up the interior of a large, normally dark and dingy, factory? I have photographed famous people that amateurs would not normally have access to. In many cases, the pro has the advantage. That doesn't mean he is a better photographer but, over time, he will produce many more really great shots than the amateur.

 

[Garbz]

I would have to say that the average amateur is probably about 25 years old with a point and shoot and gets red eye in every shot.

Good point. I thought of the various types of pros completely forgetting that everyone with a mobile phone calls themselves an amateur photographer these days.

Maybe the Pros do take better pictures if you lump all these people in.

That's the problem with these polls. You need to define some boundaries or they don't make sense.

 

[Canosonic]

Well it depends on what the poll is dedicated to show.
So the "ametuer" , so far , leads.

 

[SlimPaul]

If someone knows his equipment very well and relies on his skills rather than auto P&S or even worse, DSLRs on auto, can we call such person a professional?

 

[PhotoXopher]

You have a Nikkor 50mm 1.8 G?

Must be a prototype!

By the way, a true professional will use whatever mode necessary to get the shot - even if that means (gasp) a DSLR on Auto. The difference is a pro will know why, an amateur most likely will not.