Are there too many wanna be photographers these days???

SecondShooters wrote: Hey everyone, I was wondering if you have noticed that there are alot of nice cameras out there therefore alot of people have decided that they are photographers.
What do you think??

Yes,
Just last week, my husband and I were at Longwood Gardens. Ran across a lady with a Nikon DSLR (at the time didn't know the model), she was busy shooting, her 4yr old son getting bored waiting. About 30mins later, my husband and I found a gazebo, I thought it would be a good idea to get a picture of the two us, but no one was around to ask. Not too long, that same lady came by. I asked if she could take our portrait ( I figure since she had a DSLR, should know how to use mine). Turns out she had a Nikon D90. She took a few portraits of us. Then continue to take pictures of her son, who looked bored. You can tell he wanted nothing to do with it. Anyways, so after she left, I had the thought that I wanted pictures of my husband and I kissing under the gazebo. Just so happens, a young couple comes by. The guy had a Nikon DSLR. I ask him to take our picture.

Got home to find out, the lady took 6 shots of us. 3 portrait, 3 landscape. I had the focus point line up for portrait. When she turned the camera for landscape, she never change the focus point. So for 3 shots we were not in focus at all. For the other 3 shots, there was shadow on our faces.

The reason I ask this specific lady is because we both saw her more then once taking pictures, so I assume she knew what she was doing, but the pictures show otherwise.

The guy shot better pictures, and he didn't seem to appear..."hey look at me, I'm trying to be a pro" He appear to be having a good time with his woman. As we left the gazabo, we saw they took our idea to kiss under the gazebo.

Rob pix4u2 wrote: I have noticed folks over the years who facied themselves as "Pro" level because they had a top shelf camera- I've also noticed that I am still shooting after these wanna be photographers have moved on to the next big thing in their lives. It always amazes me the number of folks who think " It's the CAMERA" that does the work- not the creative person behind the viewfinder !

A guy I know who lives in my area, has a higher end DSLR Canon. His composition is ok, but everything is off. I think he creates HDR, but in the worse way I have ever seen. He also has this habit of taking pictures with his Iphone and using an app to PP, instead of just using his Canon.

crystal wrote:

Rob pix4u2 wrote: I have noticed folks over the years who facied themselves as "Pro" level because they had a top shelf camera- I've also noticed that I am still shooting after these wanna be photographers have moved on to the next big thing in their lives. It always amazes me the number of folks who think " It's the CAMERA" that does the work- not the creative person behind the viewfinder !

A guy I know who lives in my area, has a higher end DSLR Canon. His composition is ok, but everything is off. I think he creates HDR, but in the worse way I have ever seen. He also has this habit of taking pictures with his Iphone and using an app to PP, instead of just using his Canon.

His twin must live in our area. Same think. Take OK photos with his "pro level" camera and HDRs them to death (and beyond). His young friends are all 'oohs and aahs" but think his work has declined since he got the new rig.

Yes there are but there is nothing wrong with being a wannabe, is there? After all, didn't all photographers start off at some point as wannabes or amateurs until they had some training and years of experience under their belt to become pros?

Some where along the way to wanting to be a Pro photographer my relatives convinced me that I needed a steady income and thus a "day job" . This was in the early 1970s so that's what I pursued was a carreer that paid the bills and the rent while I happily pursued my artist dreams on the periphery. Sometime in the early 1990s I got serious enough to pursue my second career as a photographer and went Pro as a series of second jobs. Working with a mix of clients and situations i worked my way into retirement from my day job and into photography full time for a lot less income. Since that time I found myself disabled due to injuries suffered from the day job and post back surgery. Now the disability folks say that I can work part time so I have begun the arduous task of building my photography business again. I don't consider this "semi-pro" as the Nissan man suggests. I consider it working within the limits placed upon me by circumstance and fate. I still photograph and write during the hockey season covering 38 or more games per season and am building the other aspects of my career back up to doing what I love and am passionate about. I will never go back to my Nursing career even though it makes tons more income than what I can currently bring in . I make my meager "living" through the lens and am quite happy doing so as much as I am allowed. Pro photography is what you make of it, paying attention to your craft and your clients needs. Not the amount of money you make or the amount of time you are able to devote per week.

Nicely phrased Rob. I liked especially, "paying attention to your craft and your clients needs."

This is a service industry. Become a good "servant".

Rob pix4u2 wrote: Some where along the way to wanting to be a Pro photographer my relatives convinced me that I needed a steady income and thus a "day job" . This was in the early 1970s so that's what I pursued was a carreer that paid the bills and the rent while I happily pursued my artist dreams on the periphery. Sometime in the early 1990s I got serious enough to pursue my second career as a photographer and went Pro as a series of second jobs. Working with a mix of clients and situations i worked my way into retirement from my day job and into photography full time for a lot less income. Since that time I found myself disabled due to injuries suffered from the day job and post back surgery. Now the disability folks say that I can work part time so I have begun the arduous task of building my photography business again. I don't consider this "semi-pro" as the Nissan man suggests. I consider it working within the limits placed upon me by circumstance and fate. I still photograph and write during the hockey season covering 38 or more games per season and am building the other aspects of my career back up to doing what I love and am passionate about. I will never go back to my Nursing career even though it makes tons more income than what I can currently bring in . I make my meager "living" through the lens and am quite happy doing so as much as I am allowed. Pro photography is what you make of it, paying attention to your craft and your clients needs. Not the amount of money you make or the amount of time you are able to devote per week.

Words of wisdom well said Rob

Thanks Matthew and David and John for your kind words on the subject

Rob pix4u2 wrote: Some where along the way to wanting to be a Pro photographer my relatives convinced me that I needed a steady income and thus a "day job" . This was in the early 1970s so that's what I pursued was a carreer that paid the bills and the rent while I happily pursued my artist dreams on the periphery. Sometime in the early 1990s I got serious enough to pursue my second career as a photographer and went Pro as a series of second jobs. Working with a mix of clients and situations i worked my way into retirement from my day job and into photography full time for a lot less income. Since that time I found myself disabled due to injuries suffered from the day job and post back surgery. Now the disability folks say that I can work part time so I have begun the arduous task of building my photography business again. I don't consider this "semi-pro" as the Nissan man suggests. I consider it working within the limits placed upon me by circumstance and fate. I still photograph and write during the hockey season covering 38 or more games per season and am building the other aspects of my career back up to doing what I love and am passionate about. I will never go back to my Nursing career even though it makes tons more income than what I can currently bring in . I make my meager "living" through the lens and am quite happy doing so as much as I am allowed. Pro photography is what you make of it, paying attention to your craft and your clients needs. Not the amount of money you make or the amount of time you are able to devote per week.

Great post. I have a day job and Im thinking I may use my photograpy as extra income. Not going to do any of the event or wedding crap but, I will work on unique landscapes and scenes. Im thinking Postcards with my website on them where they can purchase photos from me. Maybe I will try and get some Limited Edition prints of the more popular phtoos, I figure then they can be my cha-ching $$$$ photos.
Are there a lot of wannbes yes, but that is true in every aspect of life. Hell I even know alot of guys who wannbe a concretepumper like me but they dont quite have waht it takes to do the work. They assume it is easier than what they are doing and find out it is harder. So let the wannabes do their thing they will move on when what they thought was easy turns out to be harder then they thought.

Rob pix4u2 wrote: ... I don't consider this "semi-pro" as the Nissan man suggests. I consider it working within the limits placed upon me by circumstance and fate. ...

I think Nissanman was just arguing semantics. Not saying being pro/semi-pro/hobbiest etc. is something bad.

I know a certain pro (and if you knew who it was you'd never doubt my use of the word "pro" in any definition) that uses the word "hobbiest" as an insult if he doesn't think you're up to his tightly held standards.

Stealthy Ninja wrote:

Rob pix4u2 wrote: ... I don't consider this "semi-pro" as the Nissan man suggests. I consider it working within the limits placed upon me by circumstance and fate. ...

I think Nissanman was just arguing semantics. Not saying being pro/semi-pro/hobbiest etc. is something bad.

I know a certain pro (and if you knew who it was you'd never doubt my use of the word "pro" in any definition) that uses the word "hobbiest" as an insult if he doesn't think you're up to his tightly held standards.

Nat geo photographers.



(jump on aim)

Well this prolly isn't the best thread for me to get involved in, but since I am a wannabe photographer. In my area the local kijiji ads are flooded with people jumping out of the wood works for people who want to take photos for people at discounted rate. some even free.
I have had many digital cameras in the past which were good for parties, scenery and what have you. But i am really pursuing my dream of becoming a well known photographer in my area. there was a reason that I bought the camera that i did, nikon d300s, as i wanted a serious camera with all the bells and whistles, my camera hasn't disappointed. i really like the commander mode on mine, now if i just had 350 to get the su-800 commander, then i would be really happy

The D300 you own has a commander mode built in, for multiple flashes.

flanagans.photography wrote: Well this prolly isn't the best thread for me to get involved in, but since I am a wannabe photographer. In my area the local kijiji ads are flooded with people jumping out of the wood works for people who want to take photos for people at discounted rate. some even free.
I have had many digital cameras in the past which were good for parties, scenery and what have you. But i am really pursuing my dream of becoming a well known photographer in my area. there was a reason that I bought the camera that i did, nikon d300s, as i wanted a serious camera with all the bells and whistles, my camera hasn't disappointed. i really like the commander mode on mine, now if i just had 350 to get the su-800 commander, then i would be really happy

My earlier post dealt with the folks like you who are serious about getting better and going pro-you aren't part of the problem as we all started out somewhere with less than ideal equipment and worked our way up either self taught or through schooling.
That being said this site is a great resource for those who want to get better at all of this photo stuff. I think the OP was referring to the people who fancy themselves a bit more than they really are and aren't willing to take the time or put in the effort to really get good enough to "go pro".

Scotty wrote:

Stealthy Ninja wrote:

Rob pix4u2 wrote: ... I don't consider this "semi-pro" as the Nissan man suggests. I consider it working within the limits placed upon me by circumstance and fate. ...

I think Nissanman was just arguing semantics. Not saying being pro/semi-pro/hobbiest etc. is something bad.

I know a certain pro (and if you knew who it was you'd never doubt my use of the word "pro" in any definition) that uses the word "hobbiest" as an insult if he doesn't think you're up to his tightly held standards.

Nat geo photographers.




(jump on aim)

Coff Coff....