are females better in photography?

[bribrius]

not to insult us guys. But I just did a quick search and it seems like 95 percent of photographers up here in my area are female. Mostly wedding, that sort of thing but even in other fields.

not opening a can of worms am I?

:mrgreen:

 

[ronlane]

Popcorn, popcorn, get your cold beer....:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

Waiting for the crowd on this one.

 

[Braineack]

Not until obama makes it so by decry of the divine right.

 

[Gavjenks]

Not until obama makes it so by decry of the divine right.

I should hope that Obama decries divine right!

 

[SpikeyJohnson]

I think the reason for that can also be the availability of the male photographers. In my area ("Happy Valley" Utah Valley, Utah) there are a lot of women who don't have jobs so they can take care of the kids. Many of them do photography on the side to pay for little things like day trips with the kids and such. While most the men here go to work from 8-4 or 9-5. Most mother's also buy nice camera's with large aspirations and just begin taking photo's of the children. Eventually they move up by educating themselves via the internet and become excellent photographers, or in some cases, horrible. Hence the "a mom with a camera" term.

Something I have also considered is societies views on men doing artistic jobs. I don't feel this way but I think many people look down upon men doing artistic or creative ideas that don't involve heavy lifting, welding, automotive, computers or business. Most people don't see photography as a business, so when the think photographer they think lazy when really it is a lot of work to pay the bills.

 

[SpikeyJohnson]

Also, I don't like weddings at all, I have shot a few but I think women may be better at it because the men are just there to get hitched . I think the women have a few more ideas when it comes to weddings and romantic photos.

 

[Designer]

Your title asks if they are better?

Worms a-plenty.

Just because there are more of them doesn't equate to their being better.

So what do you think; in looking at their portfolios, are they good?

(just adding fuel to the fire)

 

[webestang64]

not to insult us guys. But I just did a quick search and it seems like 95 percent of photographers up here in my area are female. Mostly wedding, that sort of thing but even in other fields.

not opening a can of worms am I?

:mrgreen:

House wives with cameras.............they are all over here in St. Louis, shooting weddings and kid portraits. Not sure if "better" is the word.....more like "more" is the word. How do I know this...? I work at a lab and see it all.

 

[runnah]

Their boobs help act as a counterweight for rock steady shots.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Their boobs help act as a counterweight for rock steady shots.

I can't express enough how important that is at speeds over 100km/hr.

 

[sm4him]

I think the reason for that can also be the availability of the male photographers. In my area ("Happy Valley" Utah Valley, Utah) there are a lot of women who don't have jobs so they can take care of the kids. Many of them do photography on the side to pay for little things like day trips with the kids and such. While most the men here go to work from 8-4 or 9-5. Most mother's also buy nice camera's with large aspirations and just begin taking photo's of the children. Eventually they move up by educating themselves via the internet and become excellent photographers, or in some cases, horrible. Hence the "a mom with a camera" term.

Something I have also considered is societies views on men doing artistic jobs. I don't feel this way but I think many people look down upon men doing artistic or creative ideas that don't involve heavy lifting, welding, automotive, computers or business. Most people don't see photography as a business, so when the think photographer they think lazy when really it is a lot of work to pay the bills.

^Yep. THIS. I think it's just that, despite many, many changes in our society, it IS still more common for women to not have a regular, full-time day job outside the home, and therefore they TEND to be the ones grabbing a DSLR and throwing out their shingles. So it makes sense that there are more female "pros" out there than men.

Your title asks if they are better?

Worms a-plenty.

Just because there are more of them doesn't equate to their being better.

So what do you think; in looking at their portfolios, are they good?

(just adding fuel to the fire)

^AND, also THIS.

No, they are NOT "better." I *think* that what you are suggesting is that perhaps there are more women IN the photography business BECAUSE they tend to be better at it, but I think that would be a totally false premise. Like I said, I think there are more simply because they tend to have the time to start photography businesses more than men.

In fact, my completely unscientific GUESS is that if you totaled the number of MALE "pros" (I know, a whole can of worms right there!) and then calculated how many of them were actually really GOOD, it would be a greater percentage than if you did the same thing for the female population, BECAUSE I think females TEND to be the ones who start "businesses" within a month or two of picking up a DSLR, without really understanding how to take professional photos.

Those are ALL hasty generalizations and only my opinion anyway. Plus, then there's the factor of what's GOOD photography? How do I determine whether *I* am better than *you*?

 

[Scatterbrained]

not to insult us guys. But I just did a quick search and it seems like 95 percent of photographers up here in my area are female. Mostly wedding, that sort of thing but even in other fields.

not opening a can of worms am I?

:mrgreen:

I'm going to go with no on this one. That said, women may be more likely to lean towards a particular style of photography or a particular genre. It bears reminding that when it comes to wedding and portraiture anyone with an SLR (and some who aren't even that well equipped) can start a Facebook page and hang out their digital shingle. Given that you can get a free portfolio website, a free business website, a free blog, etc, it's no wonder people who have no real marketable job skill feel compelled to put their cameras to use. This is the same crowd that used to get sucked into the MLM schemes from companies like Amway and Mary Kay back in the 80's and 90's. The difference here is that I see it more in younger people (late teens early-mid 20's) where Amway and Mary Kay used to suck up the middle aged housewife crowd. Hell, my own sister, who just got a T3 and can barely work the controls, is already looking to turn it into a revenue stream.

 

[Designer]

We're going to need a bigger bucket.

For the worms.

 

[runnah]

Their boobs help act as a counterweight for rock steady shots.

I can't express enough how important that is at speeds over 100km/hr.

How often do your bosoms break the speed limit?

 

[runnah]

if you totaled the number of MALE "pros" (I know, a whole can of worms right there!) and then calculated how many of them were actually really GOOD, it would be a greater percentage than if you did the same thing for the female population, BECAUSE I think females TEND to be the ones who start "businesses" within a month or two of picking up a DSLR, without really understanding how to take professional photos.

So what you are saying is that men are better at running business and photography and that women make irrational decisions based on emotion?

Wow Sharon, I am shocked.