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How do you define a 'pro' photographer?, Your personal opinion.

How do you define a 'pro' photographer?

A photographer who make any amount of money out of photography	[ 78 ]	[13.20%]
A photographer who earn at least 75% of hes income from photography	[ 76 ]	[12.86%]
A photographer that work in a studio or a photography firm.	[ 35 ]	[5.92%]
A photographer that own 'pro' level equipments.	[ 8 ]	[1.35%]
A photographer that takes great photos, but may and may not sell them	[ 341 ]	[57.70%]
None of the above, please state your reason	[ 27 ]	[4.57%]
More than one options from the above, please state selection.	[ 26 ]	[4.40%]
Total Votes: 591
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saviola47

Mar 28 2008, 04:02 PM

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[quote=shinchan^^,Feb 4 2008, 03:30 PM]
easy
To become a canon pro
--------------------------------
2 x Professional SLR bodies
3 x L-series lenses

owh...by buying these item can claimed urself as pro la?

everyone can buy mercurial vapor v(the boots that cristiano ronaldo wear)
but can we play like ronaldo eventhough we wearing the same boots as he wear?

edan1979

Mar 28 2008, 04:03 PM

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Custom??? Custard???

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pro.... hard to defined one...

stormchaser

Mar 31 2008, 03:59 PM

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love your neighbour, help serve society

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i think pro photographer is to be able to take good shot in regards of what camera he is using.. imho...

Samurai-X

Mar 31 2008, 04:41 PM

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A person who earn a living using his skill and ability could be considered as a expertise in that particular field.

However, i think skill and ability should be associated directly with the income he is earning.

I think how pro a person should have gone through a proper competition and gain acknowledgment from a diversified portfolio of professionals.

d-sky

Mar 31 2008, 05:06 PM

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QUOTE(saviola47 @ Mar 28 2008, 04:02 PM)

QUOTE(shinchan^^ @ Feb 4 2008, 03:30 PM)

easy
To become a canon pro
--------------------------------
2 x Professional SLR bodies
3 x L-series lenses

owh...by buying these item can claimed urself as pro la?

everyone can buy mercurial vapor v(the boots that cristiano ronaldo wear)
but can we play like ronaldo eventhough we wearing the same boots as he wear?

What shinchan^^ means is...
http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/servic...ent/services.do
"What is Canon Professional Services (CPS)?

CPS is the currently free service designed to provide Canon professional users with information and support. Canon Professional Network (CPN) is the website and communication system for Canon professionals in Europe."

"CPS is designed for professional users and as such there are some entry qualifications.
The current stipulation is that members should own at least two professional Canon AF bodies and three Canon L-series lenses."

He's just passing on info only, not making his own judgement la..
Right, shinchan^^?

shah14co

Apr 5 2008, 08:24 PM

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For me Option 2 & 3

dagg3r

Apr 15 2008, 06:00 PM

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-= DaGg3r Inc. =-

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for me it will be those who keeps on shooting with whatever gear(s) they have and make FULL use of them to produce the shots. =)

empire23

Apr 15 2008, 06:53 PM

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Rifle Armed Redneck from Toowoomba

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The usual defition is that a pro photographer earns the majority of his or her income from photography.

My definition follows one from the EA, a professional is a person that has some form of formalized education/formalized skill in his/her field, generally degree level or an equivalent level of experience. A professional also possess skills normally untained or unrealized by the general populace by the virtue of training and learned skills. A professional also has a set of ethics or an ethos that follows his or her line of work.

N's

Apr 15 2008, 07:34 PM

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Father of all Engineering.

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:none of the above, please state your reason:

A photographer that takes lousy photos, and definatly will sell them.

couleur

Apr 17 2008, 12:29 AM

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professional photographers lived in Untold Images, Studio ROM and 360.

hanafinoor

Apr 18 2008, 12:47 AM

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Freak

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A pro knows a to z or maybe a to m (very well) about photography and have practice the theory he embraces in relation to photography.

jsc_tidus

Apr 19 2008, 11:44 PM

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i'm choosing "More than one options from the above, please state selection"

why?

a pro photographer would take superb photos and would work for others (firms, weddings) and sharing the passion of photography with others that interested

alantan

Apr 20 2008, 01:46 AM

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Option 5,'A photographer that takes great photos, but may and may not sell them' is abit too naive. Everybody can take great photo's (beauty is in the eye of the beholder..yada yada bla bla bla) if somebody is denial about their own photography works.

i chose the option 1, you make money out of your own profession..the term 'profession', that will only make you a pro-photographer. If everybody who takes great pictures and do not sell their work bla bla bla...the only word or position for them(the suitable one and if their work are really good as in with concepts,ideas,research and studies) they are called 'artist' not profesional photographer.

i hope you guys are clear about this by time i write this...i'm just sharing.

regards,
alan tan

Added on April 20, 2008, 1:57 amor put it this way, a pro-photographer is someone using his own talent/ability of photography to earn a living doesn;t matter if he is giving out photographic service or giving free photography service. it also has to be measured by his own professionalism in oneself. if you are a pro yourself at anytime then when people ask of your pictures you should be able to tell them.it doesn't matter if it's artistic or technical. It is like when someone gave you a bowl of rice you will automatically know should you pick up a chop stick or a spoon or a fork or by hand. *just an example

some of you may not agree with my above statement then start analysing yourself and see how far you can go.

all the best!

Added on April 20, 2008, 2:08 am

QUOTE(hellfire8888 @ Sep 25 2007, 03:53 PM)

i don t understand yeah u r a pro photographer...so..???
unless there is a real title for photographer like DR , IR and etc... a pro photgrapher is always define as a man with a camera and know how to click away at the right time and able to sell his pics.....

eg..
let say i am at the scene on 911 WTC.. just happen i just buy a point n shoot and manage to snap most of the pics before the so call pro photographer came... then i manage to sell to big magazine publication...
it does not matter if the quality or composition is right or not..but just because it is a hot topic my photo is able to sell like hot cake..so am i consider a PRO photographer?

or let say u manage to snap a picture of madona running naked with a phone camera with VGA quality...and sell it to the magazines so am i a PRO..

it is always debatable...

hey hellfire8888,
it is debatable and it is not what you think it is. I'm sorry but you're wrong.
Photography come in many different aspect. you'll find many photographer with many different work that is because it comes in many different categories.
you can be a nature photographer and i can be an architectural photographer and she may be the wildlife photographer.

a journalist do not become journalist because she knows how to write. A journalist will become a good one when she can find god story to write about it and send it over to her producer for further disccusion if it's approriate to be on the news.

what you were saying earlier about point and shoot on 9/11 and sell it to magazine as an hot pic, technically you sell your pic and earn some money..well that is not the whole point of the person taking the picture at that time. it would be something like this if i'm the photographer.

i'm walking on the street..whoa...something hit on the towers..it's an aeroplane..oh wait..i have a camera with me..click clikc click..blardy shots...this is seriouse stuff. 5 hours later, magazine comes and tell people, ''who has picture of event , bring it to us and we will pay loyalty to you" so i heard the news and they paying me 150usd if it's blardy good shot and my shot is like the closest it can get. so i went to them and sold my pic and i earned 1500USD just with a tap! "TAP".

the moral of the story is where is the photographic and professionalism mindset? he ever thinks is only about the cash.

so question no.1 boys and girls - is he a profesional ? NO!

Regardless of composition and technique , make sure you know what you are trying to do.abstract? okay..but tell me about the concepts behind it.how did you devoloped these set of abstract photography?how this idea appear to you? what inspired you? Who's work did you make reference off?

so come back just for another example, Honda makes car, i make DIY car too they can run as well. but am i a pro?

think about it please .

This post has been edited by alantan: Apr 20 2008, 02:11 AM

A9001

Apr 26 2008, 06:39 PM

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QUOTE(wkhai @ Dec 12 2007, 07:11 AM)

OPTION 2 for me

my point of view

a PROFESSIONAL is someone who earns his living from photography - it is his CAREER, not a hobby, not as side-income, not an opportunist being in the right place at the right time being the only person capturing the only photographs of a world-changing event which he then sells to the media.

Having said that, and in respond to the example of a carnival staff being assigned to snap holiday pics using polaroid to be sold...
there are GOOD professional photographers and LOUSY professional photographers

I know i will not be very popular by saying this...
but as long as your rice bowl is NOT photography... you're not a professional photographer.

You might be a very good hobbyist photographer, but you will not be considered a professional photographer.

I think many people fail to remember the rule of thumb for any professionals, that's why there is NO CLEAR DEFINITION of a professional photographer... simply because there is no need ... if you earn a living taking photographs, you're a so-called "professional" photographer... or simply put, you're a photographer.

you don't see the labels professional singers, professional soccer players do you? either you're a singer.. or you're not...
let me give everyone some parallel example to put things in perspective...
(i) you can have a great voice and put many of the so-called singers these days to shame, but all you ever do is wow your friends and peers during karaoke sessions... can you call yourself a "professional" singer?

(ii) you're a really good soccer player, in fact your technique and skllls might far surpass the greatest soccer player in the world... but if you don't make a career out of playing soccer, can u call yourself a professional soccer player?

similarly, you can take beautiful and great pictures, or even consistently take the best photos the world have ever seen... but if you're not making a living out of photography, then you cannot call yourself a "professional" photographer. you can call yourself a very extremely good photographer tho'

These days, anyone and everyone who holds a camera and take a lot of photos as a hobby is claiming themselves to be photographers. And the practice gets so common amongst the hobbyists photographers, fueled by forums where all these hobbyist photographers congregate... that they start claiming to be photographers and patting each other's back and calling each other professionals... just because they take lots of good photos. let me ask you... if you go sing karaoke everyday during your free time because you like to sing, and you're good at singing... can you claim to be a singer?

----
option 1 is not accurate... as example has been given... if i happen to be able to sell just one photo in my entire life (someone who makes ANY AMOUNT of money out of photography, even if it's just that one time) ... i can;t be considered a professional photographer.

option 3 actually fits the description, but is too limiting in its context, cos there are many professional photographers who don't work in studios or photography firm, eg photo-journalists.

option 4... i don't think i need to go into that, everybody knows that the equipment does not make the man. Otherwise i can buy a grand piano and put at home, but can't play for shit, and call myself a professional pianist

option 5... a photographer that takes great photos... is simply a great photographer

until and unless he makes a career out of it, he cannot call himself a professional... see my examples of singers/soccer players/pianist for my argument.
----

as for skills... just as there are lousy singers who can't sing for shit, and lousy soccer players who can't play for shit... there are also good/great professional photographers and professional photographers who can't take a decent photo.

----
someone mentioned that photography is an art... to the hobbyist, photography is an art... yes... but to a professional photographer... photography is a science. there are too many examples, i could go on and on... i'll just mention a few...

take news photography for example... those of you who cover events where there are press photographers will be able to relate to this.. the hobbyists will take many photos... the press photographers will always take only one or two shots... the important shots that will make it to the newspaper the next day... sure, your photos might be great, nice, beautiful, everything correct... but why isn't your photos published in the newspaper the next days (even if you were to sell it to the newspaper)... simply put... yours is an expression ... an art... while for the press photographer, it is a science... eg. get the VVIPs and VIPS in the picture shaking hands with the event text and background / backdrop clearly seen... compared to your photos, it will be dull and not exciting... but it gets the job done

i'll give another 2 examples... many of you here shoot events like F1, Japan GT, MotoGP... what are the photos u take? cars after cars, racequeens after racequeens... i have yet to see someone posting a photo of the winning car / bike crossing the winning line with a marshal waving the chequered flag in the background somewhere... or photos of the 3 winners at the podium, or even a phoo of the winner holding the trophy or being presented the trophy... if you're a professional photographer covering the event, those will be the shots u cannot afford to miss.

one last example regarding art vs science... you guys take photos at PC Fair... if i'm PIKOM... what photos do u think i'll want from you? i don't need all the booth babes photos... yes, those are very pretty girls and nicely taken photos... but what i'll really want are photos of the crowd (to show how successful it is)... photos of some of the special booths maybe....
----
actually... "a person who takes great shots, having great understanding of photography technics and vast knowledge in photography BUT not doing it as a profession (making a living)" can be called a good/expert photographer

u can use the term "amateur" for someone who is new in photography, or who points and shoots but does not go into great length to understand photographic techniques.

Option....dun know with one. Maybe a photographer who can accurately define the exact meaning of it is a Professional photographer.

A very good explanation and quite true lar.
Look likes I am pro too, the lousy one. I took thousands photos with G Lenses over the years but never sell any or won prize any of it. But I need to take photo to earn a living.
Like when a new bungalows completed, my job is to supply and install beautiful manhole cover. So my photo is only for the cover and no need the whole house with blue skies. Then photo show to each house owner, ok jobs done pay money. fix above description

My fren is pro photog too. He is doing the sewage tank. Every time pumps blocked or crack appear inside the tank, photos is 100% require as proof because he is the only one dare to go down there.

I have one friend damn lucky amateur photographer, he was born millionaire. His father left over few hundreds mil eat cannot finish. His photography toys in his room is more then any Fotokem outlet. His hobby is every week fly here and there shooting photos, dating, enjoying with model and superstar. Wow...beautiful pic of using soft lens, very pretty, very fair skin, beautiful pink,,,um,,,um
But he is really real kedekut, want to buy one also he not give.

So, Conclusion for Definition Of Professional Photographer should be separated into 2 easy to remember categories:-

G Pro = Good Professional Photographer

L Pro = Lousy Professional Photographer

Perfect-Stranger

May 6 2008, 01:09 PM

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做人如果没梦想，同咸鱼有甚么分别

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A photographer that takes great photos, but may and may not sell them

Most people chose this because of cool personality ... xD

ronniefai

May 6 2008, 01:46 PM

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Pro = he can do things that normal people can't do.

I choose no 6. PRO is not self proclaim. Is a title given by others as recognition.

TheVoIP

May 12 2008, 06:55 PM

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Super General

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My defination of Pro is very simple.... 1D and a couple of L lenses.... Then Pro liao...

This post has been edited by TheVoIP: May 12 2008, 06:55 PM

eddychstu

May 23 2008, 01:23 AM

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Why so serious? [quote The Joker]

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From: R@pP3rs HeaV3n

one that will make the world remember him with just a single photo. like kevin carter

darthbaboon

Jun 5 2008, 01:49 PM

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Dark Lord of the Sith

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One that knows what he wants in a photo and knows what to do/manipulate in order to get it

Sto12m

Jun 12 2008, 05:52 PM

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Newbie

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I'll choose opt 1, 2 & 5.
imho..
You can hardly sell your photos if they are not nice enough. And 'earn for living through own photos' means this photographer spend most of his/her time on this field which shows the deep passion of a real photographer.

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