51 ways to spot a photographer
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Most of the apps on their smartphone are photography related. Instagram, Nik filters, name it.
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Their laptop or computer is configured for editing, sometimes games as well, but look for a top quality screen.
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Most of the books on their shelves are photography guides or albums.
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If you get invited to a wedding, and the guests keep handing their cameras to another guest, instead of the hired photographer, chances are he too makes a living with a camera.
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They have a love for vintage. Obviously, photographers aren’t the only ones, but a lot of today’s shooters are suckers for “old school” tones.
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No kit lenses. Photographers try to get rid of their kit lenses as fast as possible. That is if they buy any kit packages at all.
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If you go into a camera store, you’ll know who is a photographer and who is looking to buy a gift. Just look for the childish, kind of stupid look on their faces.
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The clothes. There is a tendency towards two extremes when it comes to how photographers dress. They either dress like accountants or chose a wardrobe that just screams for attention.
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They become excessively attentive whenever someone pulls out a camera and theirs is at home.
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Whenever they are on vacation and they see someone with a cooler camera, they stop them for a chat about how the camera works and if it is worth buying.
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They go to art exhibitions, mainly other art forms, and have a rather superior attitude, one that says “ this isn’t real art, I can top it ! ”.
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They never run out of batteries in their cameras.
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When they pass by a gorgeous woman with a Leica camera, you can bet they’ll notice the Leica first.
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They can make fun of people by telling them that bokeh is a flower arrangement.
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They laugh at the folks with iPhones and compact cameras at concerts.
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They are regular clients at the local photo lab. Regular enough to grab a beer with the owner.
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Lunch downtown = Instagram
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If you search their name on Facebook, the first page that will probably be displayed will be called “John Smith Photography”. The second one will probably be the real profile.
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Their families start to think of them as “special” or rather with “special needs”. Like that of standing near a metal tripod during a thunder storm.
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With every mainstream movie that has a photographer as a main character, they argue about how misleading the part is.
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They sometimes wear vests that look like they were stolen from a fly fisherman. The only difference is that a photographer’s vest is a lot more torn and used.
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Whenever they see a good photo online, they try their luck to see if there is any EXIF data, just so they can make a note of camera model and exposure settings.
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They enjoy telling people what to do, especially when it comes to groups at certain events or pretty models.
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They still feel confident when carrying a point and shoot in a place where everyone else has a DSLR. As long as, of course, it’s a high end point and shoot camera.
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They regularly get packages from FedEx and UPS and 90% of the times they contain gear or accessories.
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They aren’t always impressed by the longest lenses because they know there’s more to a good lens than physical length.
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You can tell there is a photographer around when you see someone trying to take candid pictures with their iPhone on the subway.
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They get offended when someone close, like a friend or a family member starts talking about how great another local photographer is. This happens even at family reunions when they see people they haven’t seen in years, who don’t even know they’ve taken up photography.
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They secretly go through women’s fashion magazines. Not to find out what the latest trends are, but to have a look at the photos and convince themselves of how they’ve could have done a better job.
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Photographers tend to be very proud, yet when two or more find themselves in the same place and at the same time, it’s like they’ve been best friends forever.
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Photographers rarely settle for standard vacation packages.
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They get annoyed when people see them with a camera and call them “paparazzi”
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You know how you can find all sorts of stuff in a regular person’s car trunk? Well, you can bet that if it’s a photographer’s car, there’s a tripod somewhere in there.
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When they go to an optical store for a pair of glasses, they get into arguments with the staff about the number of actual layer coatings on the lenses.
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Photographers are generally gentle creatures. Just don’t mention any camera brands and by all means, never mention anything like Canon vs. Nikon when you’re somewhere in public and you think a photographer might be close by..
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They have little or no marketing skills. Most of them anyway.
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They never, ever use Auto mode.
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When in front of something interesting, they seem like they have the camera glued to their face, and they’re pretending it’s a machine gun.
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If you ever see someone using a film camera, they’re either really old, as in technology has passed them by , or a highly passionate photographer.
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You can find them in artsy circles, with fashion designers, makeup artists and hairstylists.
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They sometimes take very long to capture an apparently simple phone pic. It’s all about the composition they say.
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If you see someone carrying a Lowepro, Tamrac or Kata bag, you’ll know what kind of contents to expect.
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They are very much like IT professionals: they spend most of their time, ironically, in front of the computer . You’ll notice however that instead of numbers, they deal with pimples.
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A photographer will never ever carry a DSLR with the lens mount open ( camera owners will).
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You know someone’s a photographer when he or she passes the “kid’s stuff” in a camera store and goes straight for the “big guns”.
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A photographer will always critique the work of another, with valid , technical arguments, but he will also be secretly envious.
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Photographers usually need a few days after returning from a vacation just to select the photos.
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Their lenses have duct tape on them , for protection.
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When you mention Stock to a photographer, it has nothing to do with food or the stock market.
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If they’re over 50 and still wearing a baseball cap backwards…well, you know.
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They’re easy to confuse with stunt men because they’re always getting into trouble or dangerous situations for a good angle. The only difference between the two is that the stuntman is usually filmed by someone else
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It would seem that spotting a photographer nowadays isn’t much of a challennge, especially since a lot of people try to be one or actually end up being successful photographers. However, and this might come as a bit of a surprise, it’s not always easy to spot a photographer, especially to tell the difference between him and the average camera owner. Since the DSLR market is continuously growing, it’s easy to confuse the two .
Here are some of the signs that you might be dealing with a photographer. Before you start reading, please keep in mind that this is in no way intended to offend anyone. Enjoy!
Images Credit: cinemafestival, Copyright:Milkovasa
Also Read: 41 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DATE A PHOTOGRAPHER
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