I don't understand the thread. The first post was insanley bizzare, I wouldn't go trekking on minefields with bomb disposal gear and an assault rifle shouting "this is a piece of ****" to the veterans of war because I am an inexperienced photographer when compared to a "professional".
Why are people getting so confused with the term professional anyway? In any person's right mind they would assume a pro has all the know how, experience and tangible evidence to back him up.
I've come across people who claim to be "pro" level wedding photographers but that is just utter crap. Now I am no pro but I am aware that there is A LOT more to being a pro than just being able to compose a decent looking shot. A term a friend and I use a lot to refer to these so called "pros" is "flickrheads". I don't mean to generalise but there are hundreds if not thousands of people who seem to think that just because they have uploaded what has become a gem of a shot from their camera to flickr and seen good feedback; they claim they are pro level and so must find it comfortable to call themselves a pro. Like I've said before on another online forum.... if someone came up to you and mentioned he or she was a hockey player you wouldn't question them and say "oh do you do that fulltime?" or even if someone mentioned they were a doctor....
Obviously one needs official creditation along with many other special traits. I would crap myself if I was given a few flashguns and thrown into a wedding to get some "good" work. Would you be able to look at a scene and know instantly what aperture and shutter would be most suitable? If so, you're still not pro, you need to be able to take your pictures and worry not of your exposure, and worry not about deleting your crap shots since every 1 in 2 "should" ideally be a great shot especially if you're on a contract and dealine for image posting.
The dudes who shoot for getty for example don't have time pratt about with PP and the fact that their images still look extremely good in the papers is a clue as to how good of an "allrounder" they are when it comes to positioning, control, the ability to react and adjust to surroundings without hindering themselves and it's not about being creative either.
"Oh I know I will just adjust these sliders on Adobe Photoshot or Lightroom or Aperture" ......or whatever it is these so called pros use. Sports shots for example are printed on paper ASAP. The pros have no time whatsoever to cock about with PP software and most of the times are penalized for doing so.
While I do agree the gap is closing in terms of the quality of images being produced by "Amateur Photographers" a term I really do enjoy using since that's what most of us happy snappers are since we don't do it as a "profession", it hardly marks the end of want and need for the PROs. If you don't have the years of experience or a decent portfolio to back you up, chances are you will not receive an official title of "professional".
I have seen lots of images on TP and Flickr and when it comes to the sports shots for example, they are average, very average and the followup comments are mind blowing when people say "amazing simply amazing" "oh the best thing i've seen" "you clearly are pro level" etc. I have yet to see Getty standard images on here by the masses.
All that said while being a very amateur and probably crap photographer myself.
I have had the chance to meet up with Diego Garcia in person and we have indeed learnt a lot from eachother. He never claims to be a professional but he knows a good shot from a **** one. And by **** I mean "by your own standards". What might appear average to someone else can be amazing to us. Earlier today we learnt some flash techniques and exposing correctly from a pro....that's hardly a pro-like thing to do. He is a legend, always helped me as an amateur photographer better myself. He has also taken so many shots for clubs etc at events FOC just for the love the game. Sometimes altruism goes much further.
So next time, before you make a thread containing connotations that pros would find offensive please reconsider.....there is still a lot of crap on the internet.
All that said while being a very amateur and probably crap photographer myself.
P.S, and if you can't take someone calling your shots average weekend snaps then maybe you should consider not posting them at all in the critique sections. That or ask forum mods/admins to not allow "better photographers" to join the forums.
Peace
Why are people getting so confused with the term professional anyway? In any person's right mind they would assume a pro has all the know how, experience and tangible evidence to back him up.
I've come across people who claim to be "pro" level wedding photographers but that is just utter crap. Now I am no pro but I am aware that there is A LOT more to being a pro than just being able to compose a decent looking shot. A term a friend and I use a lot to refer to these so called "pros" is "flickrheads". I don't mean to generalise but there are hundreds if not thousands of people who seem to think that just because they have uploaded what has become a gem of a shot from their camera to flickr and seen good feedback; they claim they are pro level and so must find it comfortable to call themselves a pro. Like I've said before on another online forum.... if someone came up to you and mentioned he or she was a hockey player you wouldn't question them and say "oh do you do that fulltime?" or even if someone mentioned they were a doctor....
Obviously one needs official creditation along with many other special traits. I would crap myself if I was given a few flashguns and thrown into a wedding to get some "good" work. Would you be able to look at a scene and know instantly what aperture and shutter would be most suitable? If so, you're still not pro, you need to be able to take your pictures and worry not of your exposure, and worry not about deleting your crap shots since every 1 in 2 "should" ideally be a great shot especially if you're on a contract and dealine for image posting.
The dudes who shoot for getty for example don't have time pratt about with PP and the fact that their images still look extremely good in the papers is a clue as to how good of an "allrounder" they are when it comes to positioning, control, the ability to react and adjust to surroundings without hindering themselves and it's not about being creative either.
"Oh I know I will just adjust these sliders on Adobe Photoshot or Lightroom or Aperture" ......or whatever it is these so called pros use. Sports shots for example are printed on paper ASAP. The pros have no time whatsoever to cock about with PP software and most of the times are penalized for doing so.
While I do agree the gap is closing in terms of the quality of images being produced by "Amateur Photographers" a term I really do enjoy using since that's what most of us happy snappers are since we don't do it as a "profession", it hardly marks the end of want and need for the PROs. If you don't have the years of experience or a decent portfolio to back you up, chances are you will not receive an official title of "professional".
I have seen lots of images on TP and Flickr and when it comes to the sports shots for example, they are average, very average and the followup comments are mind blowing when people say "amazing simply amazing" "oh the best thing i've seen" "you clearly are pro level" etc. I have yet to see Getty standard images on here by the masses.
All that said while being a very amateur and probably crap photographer myself.
I have had the chance to meet up with Diego Garcia in person and we have indeed learnt a lot from eachother. He never claims to be a professional but he knows a good shot from a **** one. And by **** I mean "by your own standards". What might appear average to someone else can be amazing to us. Earlier today we learnt some flash techniques and exposing correctly from a pro....that's hardly a pro-like thing to do. He is a legend, always helped me as an amateur photographer better myself. He has also taken so many shots for clubs etc at events FOC just for the love the game. Sometimes altruism goes much further.
So next time, before you make a thread containing connotations that pros would find offensive please reconsider.....there is still a lot of crap on the internet.
All that said while being a very amateur and probably crap photographer myself.
P.S, and if you can't take someone calling your shots average weekend snaps then maybe you should consider not posting them at all in the critique sections. That or ask forum mods/admins to not allow "better photographers" to join the forums.
Peace
ha ha ha!
