"Everyone with a camera calls themself a photographer..."

[Luna]

.

 

[Arch]

i think there is an almost identical topic to this in the discussions section at the moment... i really dont know if its worth starting another one.

ah yes this one.... http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123865

 

[Iron Flatline]

Any person operating a vehicle is a driver.

Chauffeurs, truckers, and racers are all professional drivers. They do different kinds of driving.

Any person operating a camera is a photographer. That does not make them a professional.

 

[GeorgiaOwl]

I am a flyfisherman....and let me tell you, when the movie " A River Runs Through It" came out, the flyfishing sport/hobby was FILLED with new folks wanting to catch fish on a fly rod. These folks had little or no skill, and some of them thought that the fly rod they bought, or the flies or the wader brand - would make them the best flyfishers that ever set foot in a river. Some even thought they needed a wide brimmed hat and a cigar.

Sound familiar?

But the thing is......some of those people had the sense and intelligence to actually learn about flyfishing and today they are as adept with a flyrod as any of us that have been doing it for decades!

And I knew alot of grumpy ole' fly fishermen that were not at all happy about all the new people getting into the sport.

That sounds familiar too, doesn't it?

 

[Village Idiot]

It does sound familiar. I think that's the difference... people who make an effort to learn, and people who just do it without learning any of the techniques or anything like that. That's why I was contacting her in the first place, to learn. But I guess she didn't like that too much.

I'd tell her to go F herself and that the first $5 I made, I'd donate it to her...because she's going to need it for her retirement fund when I put her out of business.

But that's just me and I can be an ass most of the time.

 

[Atropine]

Well, I have seen some beginners here with practically no clue about wb and proper lighting and yet they persist with watermarking their photos with something like "Steves Photography". Cracks me up every time.

I mean, is it that shameful to be doing photography at an amateur level? Adding full name would have been understandable, but adding something that sounds like a company/professional establishment is just weird.

 

[tedE]

everyones allowed to brand themselves however they want.

some people make careers out of complete bull****ery and false imagery

 

[Socrates]

Any person operating a vehicle is a driver.

Chauffeurs, truckers, and racers are all professional drivers. They do different kinds of driving.

Any person operating a camera is a photographer. That does not make them a professional.

Not me.
I'm a snapshooter with a really nice camera and a bunch of lenses to go with it!

 

[GeorgiaOwl]

maybe Steve gets paid for his photography?

People buy bad art all the time. doesn't make the artist any less of an artist.

 

[Alpha]

Being annoyed is being defensive. And people act defensive when scared. Unless there is a compelling reason to fear amateurs, then there's no reason to be annoyed.

 

[julie32]

Alpha, I love your response here. And couldn't agree more.

 

[Rick Waldroup]

So... how do you feel about this statement? I recently got an email back from a long-time photographer (I was asking to shadow them when they shoot weddings) and she gave me this long response about how people like me are why the industry is struggling and that nowadays, everyone with a camera calls themself a photographer. While this may be true to a certain extent, that doesn't make them (us, me) any less worthy. That statement just really bugs me. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Oh, I get it. You want to receive some free training so that one day you may become her competitor shooting weddings. And then, after a while, when you realize how hard it is to shoot weddings and make a decent living doing it, you call it quits in a year or so and go back to your normal day job. Or you just become a weekend warrior, undercuting her prices, but you never really have any intentions of doing this full time.

I don't blame her at all for the response she gave you.

 

[Dioboleque]

What a *****-a-rooni-dooni!

If people like you are what's wrong with the industry then people like her are what's wrong with the world!

If she didn't want to help you she should have left it at that, there was no reason to crap all over your ambitions... I'm sure she got no help getting into the industry... did it all by herself right?

Unfortunately she's free to be an ass, just don't let it get you down! :sillysmi:

 

[Stillsky]

Oh, I get it. You want to receive some free training so that one day you may become her competitor shooting weddings. And then, after a while, when you realize how hard it is to shoot weddings and make a decent living doing it, you call it quits in a year or so and go back to your normal day job. Or you just become a weekend warrior, undercuting her prices, but you never really have any intentions of doing this full time.

I don't blame her at all for the response she gave you.

So now it's a bad thing to want to apprentice?

 

[usayit]

Being annoyed is being defensive. And people act defensive when scared. Unless there is a compelling reason to fear amateurs, then there's no reason to be annoyed.

Agreed... never understood the defensive nature of us photographers...
People like Judges and doctors are the only ones that should be defensive.