Can i be classed as a Pro?

Am I a pro?

  • Yes

    Votes: 31 45.6%

  • No

    Votes: 37 54.4%
  • Total voters
    68
My question would be who decides, or has the right to decide, who is professional or not?
 
Yes you can be called a professional as its your profession to earn money.
 
As far as my understanding is, if you earn money from it you're a professional.
 
there was a very similar thread to this not so long ago, perhaps read that one, then I wont have to lock this one when it all goes pear-shaped
 
To be honest this debate has been done to death sooooo many times, and allways ends up getting very heated. Everyone has their own criteria of who is/isn't etc, at the end of the day it's totally up to you. If you want to call yourself a pro, then go right ahead, no one else can decide for you.
 
Hawker said:
To be honest this debate has been done to death sooooo many times, and allways ends up getting very heated. Everyone has their own criteria of who is/isn't etc, at the end of the day it's totally up to you. If you want to call yourself a pro, then go right ahead, no one else can decide for you.
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Hence my opening post of:

"My question would be who decides, or has the right to decide, who is professional or not?"
 
You earn money so are professional. Whether you are a good or bad professional is the question that really matters!
 
i would consider a pro as being well know, and having a large client base, whos sole income to be from shoots. a semi pro i would consider as being someone who has been paid for doing shoots but not solely his/her income. IMO
 
Keith W said:
Hence my opening post of:

"My question would be who decides, or has the right to decide, who is professional or not?"
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I'm not disagreeing with you, I was just trying to find a polite way of answering the question, If I put down my initial answer/thoughts to the question, I think I'd be having an enforced break from TP ;) No offence to the OP but the amount of times this crops up just grates sometimes.
 
If this is your main source of income then YES as it would be classed as your profession. If your main source of income was from plastering or plumbing then you would be a professional plasterer etc whether good or bad at it.

Although I'm not sure if you are taking the p**s out of a similar thread earlier today.? :wink:
 
I was told years ago,once you charge for a service,you are classing yourself as a pro,reguardless if you might think so or not.
 
By the simplest of definitions then if you take money for it you're a pro. if you earn your living exclusively from it, you're a full time pro.

The word 'professional' though, also implies a certain level of skill and competence and we take it for granted that people in certain jobs will have attained that minimum standard. Asking how you use your flash or what mode to use the night before the wedding job doesn't really cut it.

Unfortunately more and more people don't seem to think the second definition very important - if they even consider it all.

Sorry Matty. :D
 
d3adm0nk3y said:
As far as my understanding is, if you earn money from it you're a professional.
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I disagree - if you earn your living from photography - you are a pro. There are loads of amateurs who earn a little pocket money from photography but they are NOT professionals. Professionals can shoot to a brief, can cover a wide variety of subject matter with confidence (although they may specialise in one or two areas) and, most importantly, it is their main source of income. There are far too many amateurs who think, because they sell a few baby pics or whatever that they have become pro - sorry you haven't!
 
Hawker said:
I'm not disagreeing with you, I was just trying to find a polite way of answering the question, If I put down my initial answer/thoughts to the question, I think I'd be having an enforced break from TP ;) No offence to the OP but the amount of times this crops up just grates sometimes.
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your comments are welcome and i dont think i would be taken the wrong way, just a simple explanation what clarifys pro/semi/amature will do. or you could just walk away from the thread. but i would also like to know!!
 
JIMC said:
I was told years ago,once you charge for a service,you are classing yourself as a pro,reguardless if you might think so or not.
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someone works for inland revenue.... :P

uh... by dictionary definition, as in, you make money from photography, yes, you're pro.

However, I think the term is more often used in the photo world to mean 'full time photographer' as in, their job is photography, they do no other paid job. In this case, no you are not.

Others define it on 'that's a pro photo'.... in which case, imo, yes, you are, cars aren't my thing really, but you seem to be kicking out some bloody good work...
 
Ive been referring to myself as Semi Pro lately.

I work full time as a payroll manager, but then shoots weddings and the like nights and weekends for some pocket money.

And before anyone pounces, yes the taxman knows :p
 
^^ that sounds fair enough. I started as a semi pro too. (in 1970 - full time freelance from October '71)
 
Betty said:
Ive been referring to myself as Semi Pro lately.

I work full time as a payroll manager, but then shoots weddings and the like nights and weekends for some pocket money.

And before anyone pounces, yes the taxman knows :p
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Dee isn't your real name is it? :p
 
I agree with the if its all you earn and pay your bills by then yes,
If you have a second job no. imho

acording to this thread i am a wana be semi pro :D

md:thumbs:
 
Don't get too caught up with the label.
You are a photographer...and a bloomin good one. You're young, enthusiastic and full of drive (no pun intended).
Whether you are pro or not now doesn't really matter. Keep doing what you're doing and before long the phone calls will be coming in along with the pay cheques and you won't need to ask the question :thumbs:
 
melevo said:
your comments are welcome and i dont think i would be taken the wrong way, just a simple explanation what clarifys pro/semi/amature will do. or you could just walk away from the thread. but i would also like to know!!
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Lol, no I would just get banned, lets just say it was along the line of what awp said a few posts up, only summed up much better than I would have ;) Again it's nothing to do with the OP, just the question.
 
why does it matter if you call yourself a pro?


EDIT: that can be read in 2 ways i realise: why does it matter cant we all call ourselves pros and why do you feel the need to call yourself a pro
 
I didn't think there was any such thing as a pro tog? :)

Anyone with a camera can call themselves a pro, a better question would be "Am I good enough that people like the majority of my shots?"

If the answer is yes, then be happy with yourself :D
 
When and if you become comfortable saying to someone that you are a professional photographer, you have probably reached that point in your career.

The person asking will automatically make some assumptions too and one is that you will know what you are doing and be doing it in a confident and professional manner.

Actually I think it might appear a little pompous to call yourself professional in the same way as calling yourself Mr [whatever], rather than your christian name and surname.

Let your actions do the talking!

Graham
 
melevo said:
i would consider a pro as being well know, and having a large client base, whos sole income to be from shoots. a semi pro i would consider as being someone who has been paid for doing shoots but not solely his/her income. IMO
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That's the usual definition of a professional, in any area. Not neccessarily the being well known and having a large client base, but someone who makes a living from it.
 
1.following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain:IE, a professional builder.

This being the primary definition of professional, then yes, the level of your ability does not come into the equation, just as some professional footballers maybe skilled enough for the premiership, others are not and some you even wonder how they make a living at all.
 
Merovingian said:
What about if it's your main source of pocket money? :lol:
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That's my wifes income :D

I've earned money from photography, but I wouldn't call myself a pro, more an enthusiastic, hopefully gifted, photographer.
 
CT said:
By the simplest of definitions then if you take money for it you're a pro. if you earn your living exclusively from it, you're a full time pro.

The word 'professional' though, also implies a certain level of skill and competence and we take it for granted that people in certain jobs will have attained that minimum standard. Asking how you use your flash or what mode to use the night before the wedding job doesn't really cut it.

Unfortunately more and more people don't seem to think the second definition very important - if they even consider it all.
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:clap::clap: Very well said CT, ignorance of the second definition is precisely how cowboy's are born.

I'm on the side of the fence that expects a certain kind of quality from a professional and I don't throw the term around lightly either.
 
As has been said, don't get caught up on being labelled a 'pro'. It's pretty meaningless. Anybody can call themselves a pro but actual ability and attitude are more important than labels.

Although a pro may be defined as someone who earns their primary income from a given trade, a true pro (imo) is someone who can get the job done to a consistently high standard, whatever the brief and whatever the conditions.

George, your work is very good and you make a bit of money out of it. Keep doing it and the labels will take care of themselves :)
 
My photo insurance people (photoguard) make this question really simple to answer. According to them if 50% or more of your total income is from photography you are 'professional'. If up to 50% you are 'semi-professional'.

I think that's quite a neat way of pocketing yourself into a group, if you reaaaallly feel you need to.
 
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