What makes a professional a professional?

[Socrates]

Honestly, I don't see the importance of figuring out if somebody is a "professional" or an "amateur" photographer... what matters is the quality of the actual pictures they produce.

I am better than some "professional" photographers, but I don't get paid for my work. Most "professional" photographers are better than me, as are most serious amateurs as well...

I think the whole idea of being a "professional" is all about making money. Many "professional" photographers go to work every day at Wal-Mart and Sears and many other big-box stores, shooting children in a pre-set pose with pre-set cameras and pre-set lights... all of which were pre-set by somebody else. Many of these folks wouldn't have a clue what to do if you handed them an SLR and an assignment to go out into the field and shoot street, or sports, or a concert or anything else.

Basically, being a "professional" only equates to quality in the way that you have to be at least decent to get people to continue paying you money for your pictures.

Many advanced amateurs are actually much better photographers than a LOT of "professionals" when you get those "pros" out of their own little niche.

Many "professional" photographers around here do nothing but take the same exact senior pictures time and again, using the same templates and the same props, the same poses and the same locations. Does this make the pictures bad? No, not at all... technically, many are outstanding. But it becomes craft, not art to them...

Most "amateur" photography is facebook "crap" style snapshots. Some of it borders on the levels of "professional" quality (i.e. the quality you would expect from somebody who makes their living taking pictures) and some blows most of the "pro" stuff out of the water.

Rather than focusing on whether a person gets paid for their pictures, I think it is more important to focus on whether the pictures themselves are any good... and what we can do to make our own pictures better.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.

Gee, I wish that I could produce good pictures!

 

[RMThompson]

One thing I know for certain is that equipment has nothing to do with it. My first shots I got PAID for were done with a Canon A610 6MP digital camera.

You can view them here: (not safe for work or under 18): http://www.flickr.com/photos/rmthompson/page10/

Now, I shoot with what is considered a good amatuer camera, a Nikon D50. However, I work "PROFESSIONALLY" I suppose for various people, including commercial work for a tshirt company.

Am I a professional? Well, up until a few weeks ago I had a 40 hour a week job that had nothing to do with photography, and was the bulk of my income, so I would say no. On the other hand, I do weddings/events/commercial/model work, so maybe I am?

I learned to not concern myself with these words, because I know amateurs (on this forum!) who shoot beautiful pictures I am jealous of, and Professional wedding photographers who I could shoot circles around with a Kodak disposable. Not tooting my horn by any stretch, but its true!

 

[christopher walrath]

This is what I think sets a professional apart from others in any craft or pursuit. A professional has studied and practiced and learned what is needed to set himself apart through technical proficiency. The professional has come up with creative and intuitive ways to get the job done, he is inventive and resourceful and always with the end goal of personal enrichment and growth of competence presently in mind. He has taken every measure at his disposal to enable himself to master his chosen path in order to be the best at what he has chosen to be, oft times without the recognition of others. He shares of himself selflessly with others who require assistance with no promise of thanks or return other than that in his sharing he has bettered that which he does by making a fellow traveler stronger than before and providing, perhaps, a future resource for others.

A professional is not merely one who receives money for a task. A professional is one who sacrifices selfishness in order to acheive a superiority evident in everything he does.