Inspirational writer, photographer, humanitarian, and all-round great guy David duChemin has an article on his website called Confessions of a So-Called Pro. The article looks at some of his behaviours David is guilty of that “so-called pros” should never ever do. Things like shooting in direct sunlight at 800ISO, or handholding a long lens at 1/30th of a second shutter speed.
Yes, he does things that technically are improper, unkosher and sometimes just plain wacky. But you know what? He gets great pictures. And that’s David’s point: are you taking technically perfect pictures with no vision, or do you have a vision and are you creating art, even if things aren’t perfect.
Me? I handhold far too much; I’ve got a tripod for decoration, but rarely use it. I spend far too much time looking at people’s faces and not enough time looking at the background, or the way their hair is flying all over the place or the way the dress isn’t quite perfect. And while I am getting better, the fact is, I am willing to go out on (a metaphorical or literal) limb for the sake of a great shot. More often than not, it doesn’t work, but when it does….
How about you? What photographic sins have you committed, or do you commit regularly that are a sure sign that you aren’t a “pro”? Things you do that make the pixel peepers or the lighting geeks or the business gurus crazy, but still work for you?
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1 Comment at "Are you a So-Called Pro?"
What really matters is the end product, no matter what label you’ve slapped on yourself. It may take the inexperienced shooter an extra 5+ shots to get it right, or a lot of nudging in post processing, but if the final product is of comparable quality, who’s to say labels matter.
Now a person who makes a living shooting photos has every incentive to get more product in less time and get prints in the hands of a client ASAP. You want to do as much work at a comparable price to your quality as possible.
If you want to start tier-ing people’s abilities, why not look at how much a client actually gets from their work and what they get paid for it? You could be a total amateur, but if you can convince a client its worth it, you can totally outstrip the professional who’s marketing them self at a lower pricepoint.
Really, what is all of our gear and software tools and hardware worth if you can’t produce what someone will buy? If someone can outshine you with using a 5 year old Rebel and cheapo MacBook , you’re either doing something wrong, they’re either doing something right, or a combo of both.
My personal opinion: bottom line, the professional is the one who gets paid a professional rate. ‘Nough said.
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