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

.

 

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.

 

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?

 

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.

 

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.

 

everyones allowed to brand themselves however they want.

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

 

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

 

maybe Steve gets paid for his photography?

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

 

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.

 

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

 

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.