Are you a photographer or someone who owns a camera ?

Thank you :D


I don't know what difference it makes anyway, or why anyone would care who calls themselves what :shrug:

no i'm not sure if it makes any difference i was just curious as to what others thought
 
All I care about is delivering. And that I'm happy with what I do. Anything is just a distraction going through the process.
 
Photography is my hobby, but I'm no photographer...

Thats how i view myself

funny thing is i do a lot of cycling for a hobby yet call myself a cyclist

i'm not trying to open a can of worms here or have a dig at anyone , its people perceptions of themselves and others that interest me

thanks for your replies
 
I used to have a basic camera which I took lots of photos of nothing in particular in poor 2mp quality, now I have a nice camera but take the same random photos only in better quality.
 
For this reason, I actually don't tell people I'm a togger, the boring conversation that inevitably follows this revelation is same old same old, it's like my own private groundhog day...do you do page 3/Who is the most famous person you've photographed/I've taken some great shots on my phone, can I work in your studio/my camera is broken, what is wrong with it/I used to work for Kodak...yadayadayada


Precisely why I don't tell people I am an IT manager.


DOH ! :bang:
 
Ooh.. my computer keeps crashing.. can you help................


Whats a tog? Sorry Im new to the forum, and still learning!
 
Ooh.. my computer keeps crashing.. can you help................


Whats a tog? Sorry Im new to the forum, and still learning!


Yes - if you happen to have a £4million IBM mainframe :p
 
Sounds more like you're an amateur, to me. I wouldn't pay you to fix my car any more than you would pay for a photoshoot from an amateur photographer such as myself.

But you only become a professional photographer once you earn money for taking photographs. So where does one end and the other begin with your definition?
 
Last post along these lines described the differences as:

Amateur: No money for photo's
Semi-Pro: Part earnings from photography
Pro: Photography is the main source of income...
 
But you only become a professional photographer once you earn money for taking photographs. So where does one end and the other begin with your definition?

Straying from the point a bit, but I would agree with NissanMan's post for the most part, although there will be some exceptions. I've made a few quid from my photography, but I'm still very much an amateur.

My point was that, by definition, one can take a few pictures with one's camera and be called a photographer. They don't need to be good photos. It's just a term for someone that takes photos. One needs to be more descriptive to define whether one is a good/bad photographer.

The spanner analogy falls down at that point, because by definition a mechanic must possess skill and knowledge to repair or build mechanical things etc.
 
Some bloke called me a wxxxxr the other day - so by definition - I'm just going to say I own a camera.
 
Daft questiion quite honestly. If you drive do you have any reservations about saying "I'm a motorist"? There's no implication there that you're a rally or racing driver.

The truth is until you can say quite comfortably "I'm a photographer" lots of people are going to see you as someone with a camera.

Practise it - "I'm a photographer".... that's it - job done! ;)
 
My name is Keith and I am a photographer

There I've said it :clap:
 
Daft questiion quite honestly. If you drive do you have any reservations about saying "I'm a motorist"? There's no implication there that you're a rally or racing driver.

The truth is until you can say quite comfortably "I'm a photographer" lots of people are going to see you as someone with a camera.

Practise it - "I'm a photographer".... that's it - job done! ;)


i like it ! :clap:
 
Im a photographer and a camera is merely a box that lets light into.
 
I live in France and was getting bored with being thought of as a tourist with a camera, all my polo shirts now have PHOTOGRAPHE written on them with my company name, this removes any doubt :thumbs:
 
I'm gonna stick my neck out here and maybe even annoy some folk - but I'd say I'm a photographer, and not just a madman with a camera. Well, that too :thinking: :lol:

Whether or not I am a good photographer is a completely different matter...
 
Photographer shhmotographer.... I now need a new word. I'm sick of all this confusion with the word "photographer". Why is it that this is the only hobby/profession known to mankind that seems to want to draw a massive line between "amateur" and "professional", or "photographer" and "snap shotter". As if it's that simple! You know what the problem is? It's the bloody english language. It needs 2 different words for professional, and 2 different words for amateur depending on whether or not you're referring to money or ability. And that still doesn't solve the problem. I'm now sick of calling myself a photographer. I need a new word and am open to suggestions... visual artist? Sounds a bit wussy... Light specialist? ... would probably be lying... Arty farty button presser?







Edit... should probably stick a "/rant over" at the bottom :lol:
 
because pros like to hoot their own trumpet and can't stand being lumped with the same word as someone on their jollies with a 500D.
 
I disagree. People that "hold a camera and take photos but don't make money out of it" (formerly known as amateur photographers) are as bad. Infact, threads like this are generally started by people wondering if they are actually a photographer or not. I've never seen a "pro" start this topic.





Edit: By the way, I work in IT... so I'm no "pro" :lol:
 
Contrary to my original point, I quite like UrbanDictionary's definition of "photographer".

Photographer
What just about every scene kid and hipster under the age of 25 calls themselves these days. Many own Canon Rebel xtis and rely heavily on cropping and Photoshop filters to give their otherwise mundane photos an "artsy" feel. It is also not uncommon to see them wielding Lomography cameras (usually a Holga, now that they're sold at Urban Outfitters) on any given day. Typically, these "photographers" cite Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, or, in the case of those Vice Magazine devotees, Terry Richardson, Cobrasnake, or Richard Kern, as major influences, because they couldn't name any other photographers to save their lives. The typical subjects of their photographs include, but are not limited to: pidgeon-toed girls in Converse that have been drawn on with ballpoint pens and/or Sharpies, flowers/weeds growing out of cracks in sidewalks, juxtapositions of objects that typically don't go together (in one such case, a Queen of Hearts playing card on a cracked sidewalk), a girl who looks like something out of an American Apparel ad smoking a cigarette, decaying buildings, and just about anything that looks "vintage" (ie, yellowing washing machines in a laundromat).

'16-year-old Dylan took to calling herself a photographer after receiving her Canon Rebel for Christmas, and snapping a few photos of sidewalks in Decatur.'
"These photos represent the irony of life," she said.
"And you represent the bane of modern photography," David replied.

:D
 
i think therefore i am
 
'16-year-old Dylan took to calling herself a photographer after receiving her Canon Rebel for Christmas, and snapping a few photos of sidewalks in Decatur.'
"These photos represent the irony of life," she said.
"And you represent the bane of modern photography," David replied.

LMAO, love it! :D
 
7/10 for rant effort. ;)

That's not really the point I was making though. Amateur or professional, they're all photographers. That's what I was getting at. I'm on your side. :)


to be honest i would of went more in depth lol but i cudnt be arsed and i was on my phone lol
 
to be honest i would of went more in depth lol but i cudnt be arsed and i was on my phone lol

Thank be to jaysus all the spelling pedants have their heads stuck in the "pedants and spelling" thread! They'd have a field day on us.
 
And yet another thread turns into a ***** slinging contest
 
I guess the people arguing on a forum and not taking photographs are not photographers.
 
Its funny, i've never heard of someone asking if 'you a professional or amateur artist?' or 'are you an amateur musician?' yet photography is a whole other can of wiggly things.
 
whether you are doing it for fun or for commercial purpose to me both of them are photographers,aren't they not taking photos both ? lol
 
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