Do you consider people who do portrait work at Walmart, Sears etc to be professionals

[CCericola]

I worked at a MotoPhoto for a bit when I was in college. It was a 1 hour lab with a tiny studio in the back. Actually it was the first job I had that used strobes. It was stepping stone.

Do I think Sears and Wal-Mart employees working in the portrait studio professional photographers? I would say they are more photographers-in-training. It's like asking "is a McDonald's worker a chef?".

It has already been said, but sometimes you get student working part time and you can get fabulous results. Other times you don't.

 

[KmH]

.....I used an actual dictionary, you used Wiki. Mine is a valid source, anybody can write what they want on Wiki.....

One can write whatever they want in an actual dictionary too.

 

[shootermcgavin]

Paid does not equal professional... There are amateurs that get paid and professionals that don't. That is an unfair blanket to a term that is more fictional than factual related. Just like calling yourself an artist, who is to prove the person is or isn't... I don't think there is a possible correct answer to this question.

 

[jwbryson1]

I used an actual dictionary, you used Wiki. Mine is a valid source.

Mmmmm....okay. Define "valid." You are attacking the source, not the content. Strike one.

 

[Overread19 7]

Are you guys being all elitist about professionals and dictionaries --- again??

 

[naptime]

yes. They are professionals. They are in this profession correct. This is how they make their living.

that doesn't mean they are automatically good. There good professionals and bad.

I don't blanket people. One guy can be a button clicker, the next could be someone that is and has been a pro wedding photographer for 15 years. who's son now has leukemia so he is doing whatever he can to Mae extra money. So during the week he works part time at Wal-Mart. His wife is also trained culinary chef working on one of the most prestigious restaurants in town as the head chef. But on the weekends you can find her in the window at taco bell late at night.

are these people less professional?


I realize I used extreme cases. Point being , just because you see someone in a certain job, don't assume that you know that persons background. When I was delivering pizza once, someone was very rude to me, and told me that I should consider getting a real job. Little did this person know, I OWNED the pizza shop. I was delivering because one of my drivers got into an accident that night.


I would agree that MOST are probably just glorified button pushers. But I wouldn't blanket them all.

 

[CCericola]

Don't make Overread hit you with the Mod-Stick.

 

[tirediron]

Don't make Overread hit you with the Mod-Stick.

Ahhhhhhhh... he doesn't have the... uhh... ... spheres!

 

[MissCream]

They do it as a profession yes.

A friend of mine who is an actual professional wedding photographer works at a Walmart studio in the off season and she said the camera is stuck in one mode, you can't change ANYTHING, not the lighting, Iso, shutter speed. You literally just have to click the shutter button (aside from posing people). Take the camera off the tripod and most of them wouldn't have two clues how to use it.

So no I do not see them as professional photographers.

 

[bentcountershaft]

Oh good, a "What defines a pro" thead! Newbies to this forum should take note and maybe do a screen grab as these hardly ever happen. They're a rare find, kind of like intelligence on the internet. The only thing that could make this week better is a "Art vs. Crap" thread. One can only hope.

 

[Josh66]

Cutesy? I used an actual dictionary, you used Wiki. Mine is a valid source, anybody can write what they want on Wiki. This is about definition, not the answer you want to hear.

[h=3]pro·fes·sion·al/prəˈfeSHənl/[/h][TABLE="class: ts"][TR][TD]Adjective:[/TD][TD][TABLE="class: ts"][TR][TD]Of, relating to, or connected with a profession.[/TD][/TR][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Noun:[/TD][TD][TABLE="class: ts"][TR][TD]A person engaged or qualified in a profession.[/TD][/TR][/TABLE][/TD][/TR][TR][TD]Synonyms:[/TD][TD]adjective. vocational - occupationalnoun. pro - practitioner - specialist[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]Seem to be that you just have to be engaged in the profession to reach the definition of professional, not qualified. So I think paid does = professional

That's cutesy, but inaccurate and shallow.From Wiki:[h=3]Definition of Professional[/h] The main criteria for professional include the following:

1. Expert and specialized knowledge in field which one is practicing professionally.[SUP][6][/SUP]
2. Excellent manual/practical and literary skills in relation to profession.[SUP][7][/SUP]
3. High quality work in (examples): creations, products, services, presentations, consultancy, primary/other research, administrative, marketing, photography or other work endeavours.
4. A high standard of professional ethics, behaviour and work activities while carrying out one's profession (as an employee, self-employed person, career, enterprise, business, company, or partnership/associate/colleague, etc.). The professional owes a higher duty to a client, often a privilege of confidentiality, as well as a duty not to abandon the client just because he or she may not be able to pay or remunerate the professional. Often the professional is required to put the interest of the client ahead of his own interests.
5. Reasonable work morale and motivation. Having interest and desire to do a job well as holding positive attitude towards the profession are important elements in attaining a high level of professionalism.
6. Participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavour often engaged in by amateurs b : having a particular profession as a permanent career c : engaged in by persons receiving financial return[SUP][6][/SUP]
7. Appropriate treatment of relationships with colleagues. Consideration should be shown to elderly, junior or inexperienced colleagues, as well as those with special needs. An example must be set to perpetuate the attitude of one's business without doing it harm.
8. A professional is an expert who is master in a specific field.

[h=3][edit] Trades[/h] In narrow usage, not all expertise is considered a profession. Although sometimes referred to as professions, occupations such as skilled construction and maintenance work are more generally thought of as trades or crafts. The completion of an apprenticeship is generally associated with skilled labor or trades such as carpenter, electrician, plumber, bricklayer, Lineman and other similar occupations. A related distinction (and very valid) would be that a professional does mainly mental or administrative work, as opposed to engaging in physical work. Many companies include the word professional in their store name to signify the quality of their workmanship or service.So a person at a Walmart who pushes a button and takes a photo, but who does not have the specialized skills and experience that it takes to make adjustments to the camera is not, to me, somebody who is a "professional." More of a tradesman I would argue. YMMV.

LOL. Then why did you start this thread when all you are intersted in hearing is the dictionary defnition of "professional", which you were able to find on your own?

 

[MTVision]

They do it as a profession yes.

A friend of mine who is an actual professional wedding photographer works at a Walmart studio in the off season and she said the camera is stuck in one mode, you can't change ANYTHING, not the lighting, Iso, shutter speed. You literally just have to click the shutter button (aside from posing people). Take the camera off the tripod and most of them wouldn't have two clues how to use it.

So no I do not see them as professional photographers.

My sister in law worked there for 5 years and she only knows how to use the auto mode on her DSLR. She's good at posing but that's about it.

 

[Overread19 7]

Don't make Overread hit you with the Mod-Stick.

Ahhhhhhhh... he doesn't have the... uhh... ... spheres!

User temp banned for 30mins for questioning a mods -- er --- spheres...

 

[Village Idiot]

I worked at a MotoPhoto for a bit when I was in college. It was a 1 hour lab with a tiny studio in the back. Actually it was the first job I had that used strobes. It was stepping stone.

Do I think Sears and Wal-Mart employees working in the portrait studio professional photographers? I would say they are more photographers-in-training. It's like asking "is a McDonald's worker a chef?".

It has already been said, but sometimes you get student working part time and you can get fabulous results. Other times you don't.

Professional cook? Sure. But that's like calling a person working at a portrait mill an artist. Photography, according to Merriam-Webster, is the act of producing images through the collection of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface (such as film or a CCD chip). A photographer is anyone who takes pictures. The tourist with their P&S cameras are as much of a photography as Ansel Adams was.

FYI - Portrait People studios use Pocket Wizard PII's. Everyone knows about the range on those right?

 

[o hey tyler]

They do it as a profession yes.

A friend of mine who is an actual professional wedding photographer works at a Walmart studio in the off season and she said the camera is stuck in one mode, you can't change ANYTHING, not the lighting, Iso, shutter speed. You literally just have to click the shutter button (aside from posing people). Take the camera off the tripod and most of them wouldn't have two clues how to use it.

So no I do not see them as professional photographers.

This.^

I know someone who worked at the Sear's portrait studio. They didn't know jack crap about cameras, exposure, or anything. They basically are told what to do, or have predefined poses for the number of people.