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 p.2 #1 · Wedding Photographer? Ya' okay! WTF? | |
alohadave wrote:
Bleh!
You seem to think that there weren't hacks before digital made it easier to become a photographer. There were plenty of bad to middling photographers that people used because there were far fewer choices.
I say that the explosion of people offering their services is a fabulously good thing for the industry. If people are happy paying less and getting what they want, then the market has expanded, and ultimately provided more work for photographers in general. You'll see in a few years that the industry is going to transform itself into something that you can barely recognize. It's going to hurt some people, but it'll help a lot more.
Photography has never been about selling f/stops or shutter speeds. It's about marketing and salesmanship, the technical details don't matter to anyone but photographers. Customers care about pictures that capture them in a good likeness, or capturing an emotion...Show more →
You seem to ass-ume a bit much, like you assume to know what I think. I know there were hacks pre-digital, it's simply gotten crazy since digital due to the simplicity of it all and the learning curve.
You say it is good for the industry, ok, that's your opinion.
My opinion and point is that you should not receive pay for services in such an industry without at first reasonably knowing what you are doing and having a fair amount of experience. What is "reasonable or fair"? I guess that could be argued forever. My point is, there are people out there that are taking on a moral obligation to professionally save memories for people. If they are going to do it for pay, then it would be nice if they knew what they were doing.
"Oh look at me, I'm a professional photographer"....
Sir, do you know what aperture priority is or how a particular lighting is going to affect your images?
"Who cares? My client doesn't know any difference, why should I?
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What's even worse, is that not only have I seen these "photographers" charge for their crap, but I've also seen them charge insane amounts for it. Cracks me up and saddens me all at the same time.
What's sad is that photography is not the only industry where there are people claiming to be professionals and expect to be paid as well as professionals, there are other industries too. example:
Recently I needed some work done on my pellet stove. I call a local company that claims they can fix it and know what they are doing. I make appointment knowing it is going to cost me 80 bucks an hour plus trip charge to have my stove worked on by said professional. He arrives totally unprepared, asking me questions about the unit that he is getting paid to figure out. I even have to look online for him for additional information to help him do his job. He has no clue what the problem is, cannot fix it, but still gets his service charge. I call another company, they come out, same type of charges, but these guys know exactly what to do and how to fix it with no problem whatsoever.
The above is a real example that just happened to me. This type of thing happens with so called photographers all the time and it makes everyone look bad and is completely immoral. If you don't know what you are doing, do not charge until you do. Now take note, I'm not saying don't do it, you have to get experience somehow. Simply do it for free until you have it down.
And for fun, here's another example:
Local "professional" convinces soccer board to use her for soccer pics of the kids and each team. Charges accordingly and folks receive 100% junk. Some of the pics are so bad they are hardly usable, yet she charged all the same and did not adequately capture the memories the parents where hopeful for. Again, this kind of stuff happens all too often and I will speak out against it with my dying breath. If you charge people for your professionalism, whatever the claim may be, yet you truly do not have an adequate grasp on what you are doing, then you are absolutely being immoral in accepting payment for services.
For the record, I am a hobby portrait photographer and do not consider myself a professional. I've been doing it for 20 years and do it simply for the enjoyment of the hobby. However, I do consider myself a professional landscape photographer and a professional wildlife photographer, which is what I've focused on all of that 20 years and have sold many images to books, mags and have sold many prints over the years. I'm not bragging by any means, I figure someone may ask, so there it is. The short of it, I can and do portraiture, but because I know I lack professionalism in that industry, I do not charge. But that doesn't mean I can't do some stellar work in the portraiture arena either. 
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