as people with experience in a trade, we can either try to stem the tide of newbie "pros" by withholding our knowledge, chastising and berating them from our elitist pedestal for not doing things the way we did them, or the way we feel they should be done...OR, no matter HOW they got their start or at what experience/equipment level they are at, help them to improve, and in doing so, encourage and guide them to doing things properly and professionally.
that's the approach my wife is trying. hopefully it will yield some good results.
And that's laudable.
Unfortunately, it doesn't happen all too often here on TPF. On any given day, I'd imagine the "Don't do it because you're not good and you're not ready and this is why" posts out number the "Good luck and let us know how it goes" posts 100 to 1.
Manaheim took me to task for always taking the position of "Get out there and do it". Well, given the prevailing tone of everyone of those threads, why not?
Personally, I find the premise of the OP a bit odd. The second sentence says he's concerned about those who make a living shooting pictures.
Why?
He may well have his reasons but, personally, I've never seen it as my place to tell someone they should do something, simply because a negative result will have zero impact on me. It's all about action vs. responsibility. Step up and be a man. Do it, but take the heat if it goes bad. I see
nothing wrong with that.
I work in a high-end retail shop, and I've had some issues with how certain things are laid out. One of those things was the location of our credit card machine. After telling the manager "We should move it here", I was told "We can't do that".
Well, maybe "we" can't, but
I sure the Hell can. An hour later, all cables had been replaced and routed through the bottoms of display cabinets, the system was tested and it worked great. Everyone says the location improves work flow, and it does.
The only thing I knew about credit card terminals was that I didn't like where ours was. I didn't know how to test them or reboot them. I didn't know how to integrate it with our register or our routers. I didn't even have a very deep knowledge of drilling holes through cabinets (and avoiding the wiring in
those) and routing wires through them, but I did it I just did what I did, plugged it all in, and hoped it worked. It did.
I did what I did, and I did it for three reasons.The first reason is that I felt it needed to be done. Second, no one else was gonna' do it. If they ever were, they'd have done it long ago. But the biggest reason I did it was because I was told "We can't do that".
It worked out well, so I've been the recipient of several pats on the back, and some may say those are well deserved. Had it
not worked out, though, I would've been the recipient of several kicks in the ass, and
those would've been well deserved, as well. The downside had the potential to put us down, saleswise, for the entire day. In all honesty, I probably would've lost my job.
Our manager had been telling people "it can't be done" simply because she didn't want to deal with the hassle of ordering some new cables. I worked with what we had on hand, drew on my shallow level of experience on such matters, and it works flawlessly.
Telling someone that they can't do something because "it can't be done" rarely has the desired outcome, which is keeping the person from doing it. Instead, lend a hand, offer sound, honest advice, and hope the person pulls it off. If they do, applaud them, if they don't, lambaste them and point out why...