Pixiq

What makes a professional photographer? From the early Kodak ads of “Just press the button and we do the rest” to the very funny Lumix commercial of today http://tinyurl.com/296fca7 photographers have historically been fighting the notion that just anyone, any Joe or Jane, can take great pictures.

Yes, anyone can take a great, outstanding photo, but doing it on demand, with a short deadline, with too small a budget, with 8 people over your shoulder explaining what they want you to do... well... that’s a skill. Those folks over your shoulder are called clients, art directors, product managers, account executives, and anyone who could get out of the agency that day to hang around your shoot. You also deal with bad weather when you need a sunny day, with models that didn’t show up, airline staff that lost your seat on the flight you had to catch, assistants that can’t wean themselves off Facebook during your shoot, rent a cops hassling you, and all sorts of issues that no one can ever foresee.

And the only thing anyone wants to know- “Did you get the shot?”

Yup, you’re a professional photographer. So take your “button” of the Kodak ads in days of yore, and see what it looks like when all the stuff hits the fan.

All anyone needs, many in the public feel, to be a "good" photographer is a “good camera” and just a few lessons on how to “do that”. On that note, I’m gonna buy me one of them good typewriters, the same one Hemingway had, and I’m gonna write me one o’ dem novels, yessireebob.

It’s an age-old question on photography discussions and one that always starts a flame war on the Internet- What is a professional photographer?

To me, my definition is easy. It’s not someone who makes money or doesn’t make money. It’s not this accolade or that accolade. It's not the most technical photographer who knows the best aperture on a particular lens needed to get the most sharpness. Nope.Throw all those things out. A professional photographer simply someone that can produce a great image on demand, right now. And with everything going wrong, falling apart, and blowing up. They keep their cool and produce the shot needed. Like a trained monkey on a chain, just play the music and watch us dance. It’s not easy, it’s not something you learn with 2 minute YouTube lessons.  

I love people asking a photographer  “How was this done?” Of course they're thinking...."Yeah, just tell me the secret formula and I’ll knock it out. I'll do it cheaper. What plug-in do I need? What camera will do that, what lens do I need? And what client did you shoot this for, so I don't waste any time finding them to ask for your assignments."

A real pro is a problem solver and knows how to pull a bigger and bigger rabbit out of an ever-shrinking hat, as the budget to make the photo gets smaller and smaller, deadlines shorter and shorter, demands higher and higher. After all, all you need to do is just press a button! Sigh. A pro produces. On time, on budget, with a look, a vision that is theirs. As one art director told me one, you need to "bring something to the party".

Anyway, that’s my story, my definition of a professional photographer, and I’m sticking to it.

Next time, I’ll tackle the question “How do you know when you’re a successful photographer?” A trickier question, not often asked.