Is the era of "Paid Photographers" drawing to a close?

There's always going to be demand for lower quality product. This is true in any industry. Because photography is so accessible now, you just see a lot more supply...

With the invention of the Flowbee, how come there are still Barber shops? I would have thought they would have gone out of business. DOH!

neilwood32 wrote in post #9134336
Yes the general public might accept "good enough" but there will always be a sizable minority that want GREAT work and are willing to pay.

As Allen said - find a niche and use it. Or produce top quality work. Or both!

Ya better be doing both. You're only as good as your last job. You still have to deliver or you won't keep your clients and a stable of steady, HAPPY clients is what pays the mortgage and feeds the family.

ConDigital wrote in post #9132355
We live in the age of DIY you go into hardware stores now that are the size of two airplane hangars filled with tools that must make the weekend warrior leap for joy and the paid professional weep for times past.

Photography is a non licensed and non regulated field. There's nothing stopping anyone from having business cards printed with Professional Photographer adorned on them.

Photography is a craft, it used to be a bewildering craft to the vast majority of the population. Hence they were willing to pay someone else for their knowledge of the craft. As technology marches on the need to know the technology is diminishing. Ten years ago the greater part of the population didn't carry a camera with them everywhere they ventured. They do now in their cell phones. Cell phones in years to come will probably be 30 megapixels.

Photography is not the bewildering craft to the average person that it once was. This distinction can only become even more blurred with the passage of time.

It depends on how deep you scratch the surface about how bewildering of a craft photography is. I've been a serious amateur for 4 years and there are still aspects that leave me scratching my head. Lighting? That's a black art at best and anyone who thinks they are an "expert" are either a damned fool or a liar. Color management? Gimme a break, its hit-and-miss at best. Post-processing and Photoshop expertise? The average person doesn't know layers from levels and noise from grain. To say nothing of HDR's, fake toy model photography, duotones, quality B&W, etc. etc. It may be easier than ever to get the image, but that's only the tip of the iceburg. The workflow from image capture to output has never been a more complicated process. Can a guy use a P&S and Picasa and thinks he's getting good stuff? Yes, but can he sell it? Probably not.

irishman wrote in post #9134599
Can a guy use a P&S and Picasa and thinks he's getting good stuff? Yes, but can he sell it? Probably not.

I wouldnt bet on that, he probably could sell it, not for as much as someone with better skills, more experience etc...but enough to convince him/her that they are "a professional"...remember there is a market for that...what ever "that" happens to be.. look at Ebay

I completely agree that there will always be those that will demand quality and are willing to pay for it...but I also agree that it will be a smaller segment of society willing to do so. The p&s is changing the game, and lowering peoples expectations for better or worse much faster then people seem to realize..go to any event and see how many are there...heck go to those that have a bias againt DLSR's and see who gets the shot..it may not be "The Shot" but I will bet my next paycheck that it will be "good enough" for them.

In order to survive, my guess is the pro is going to have to be able to produce an image that Joe/Jean Smith know they cant replicate, and so will gladly pay for it...

Stop asking the camera manufacturers to add more and more features that make your job easier

Devil's Advocate of course...

nicksan wrote in post #9134423
There's always going to be demand for lower quality product. This is true in any industry. Because photography is so accessible now, you just see a lot more supply...

Absolutely, there just isn't a better price than FREE. It doesn't matter how good your product is sometimes.

And most free stuff is definitely worth the price.

After all, every horse's ass you meet gives you free stuff.

Everyone has access to high quality paint, but not everyone can make a good painting. =)

There will always be artists making money at their art as long as they are good.

Heck, i kinda think years from now there will be less people with DSLRs trying to make really good photos, its seems kind of TREND like right now.

20droger wrote in post #9135962
And most free stuff is definitely worth the price.

After all, every horse's ass you meet gives you free stuff.

I'm not sure how to interpret this. The Me and Free generation courtesy of the Internet expects free and will take whatever isn't tied down.

digirebelva wrote in post #9133275
Look at flickr and read some of the comments on some of the rather plain jane boring images...the perception is changing of what is considered "good" and now seems to be "good enough", yes the exceptional images still generate many more comments, but look at the images people are willing to put out there overall...

Exactly. With the rise of Flickr and sites like it, I think there's been a "dumbing do" of photography for the average person- the sheer volume of images out there is bewildering, and it makes truly exceptional images stand out that much more.

Hence why I don't have a flickr or bother looking at mediocre images on flickr.

ConDigital wrote in post #9131322
Is the era of "Paid Photographers" drawing to a close? Is the heyday of the paid professional photographer well and truly getting to the end?

With many people not bothering with wanting prints of their photos and more and more of the general public having access to better and better cameras I can see the writing on the wall.

Times do change. There will always be a niche, but I think that niche will dwindle.

I think you're being melodramatic, there will always be room for talented artists. I have no doubt that there will be more crappy competition for photogs and maybe a bit less opportunity but so long as there are couples who actually wants nice photographs of their wedding and families looking for nice family portraits I imagine there will still be room for real photogs with talent. And that's not even getting into fashion, product, and fine art photography that requires far more talent than equipment.

wyofizz wrote in post #9136330
I'm not sure how to interpret this. The Me and Free generation courtesy of the Internet expects free and will take whatever isn't tied down.

Exactly. And most of it is horse exhaust.

20droger wrote in post #9136688
Exactly. And most of it is horse exhaust.

Right!

Every older generation thinks the younger ones are for crap.

"The kids these days! Geez! They don't know how to work hard. They want everything handed to them. They don't know how hard we had it."

Guess what? Your grandparents said the exact same thing about your generation.