Everyone's a pro nowadays.

Orangegsx wrote in post #10021752
Hey everyone gets lucky every once in a while! I think before I shoot seriously for anyone I need to get rid of my extreme fear of portraits and flash.

Do you really think your best efforts only come about because of luck? Nothing you've read and applied nor anything you've figured out on your own has any impact? Really?

The most important thing a pro can spend money on is marketing and accounting.

and of course, themselves. I haven't looked at a gear update in real interest till something fails and I need a replacement. New gear helps make necessary gear less expensive.

I love a good rant thread. Things that don't fit into other threads.

I hate watermarks on snapshot photos. Who's going to steal your image?

...and does your watermark really read 'Joe Average Photography'?

...and you have a website to showcase your snapshots?

...and your website has 'Photography' in the title as well?

Awesome. You are truly a photographer now. Go back to holding your 5D2 at arms length like a P&S.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #10021780
Do you really think your best efforts only come about because of luck? Nothing you've read and applied nor anything you've figured out on your own has any impact? Really?

I guess I'm my worst critic. I feel that a small portion of my images turn out how I would like them. I'm still pretty new at this though, only been shooting for a few years.

alpinekiwi wrote in post #10021829
I love a good rant thread. Things that don't fit into other threads.

I hate watermarks on snapshot photos. Who's going to steal your image?

...and does your watermark really read 'Joe Average Photography'?

...and you have a website to showcase your snapshots?

...and your website has 'Photography' in the title as well?

Awesome. You are truly a photographer now. Go back to holding your 5D2 at arms length like a P&S.

i agree with everything there. man oh man. maybe because i'm only 20, but i swear everyone i know my age has some sort of blog to show their photos. and the guy i was talking about earlier, he watermarks everything on his flickr. im thinking "no ones going to jack you're pictures."

themadman wrote in post #10021747
Whats wrong with being proud of shots done with an XSi? I'd be way prouder of a nice shot shot with a Rebel than a "better" camera since it shows I have technique. Good technique and ability can be applied to any camera.

What drives me crazy aren't people who buy a DSLR and thinks it makes them a photographer, but the people who right off the bat buy a pro/pro-sumer camera and thinks it will automatics take amazing photos..

my point exactly. believe me, sometimes i wish i had a rebel for the sheer convenience. but "downgrading" from my 40D isn't going to change my images. neither will going to a 5D2.

It's just like the guy who has a giant unnecessary truck who doesn't use it for anything useful. It's becoming phallic. Having a DSLR is like wearing a nice watch now.
i have preconceptions about people i see walking around with DSLRs, especially young adults and teenagers. The worst part is, many people who actually practice the art for the sake of becoming better look just like that, myself included.

I was talking to my roommate about this "photographer" who is excessively proud. There's a huge difference of being proud of your work, and being proud of yourself. of course you should be proud of yourself for creating it, but the pride should be in the piece of art itself.

I'm young, have a reasonable collection of gear and try shoot often, and I still don't think much of my own work, there must be something wrong. My main subject matter is quite niche though, and most of the stuff I see relating to it is in magazines, and often from the same, very talented photographers.

I do laugh when people with entry level DSLRs and kit leneses, maybe a clip on flash of some kind, think that their photo's are quite something, just because they've actually bought a flash because they wanna try some 'arty' lighting.

Interesting....

I've had a camera of some sort since I was 10 years old. 35 mm starting n the 70's and medium format in the 80's. Now digital and medium format.

I don't have a blog, photography web site, or even a Flickr account. All I have to do is wander over to the Nature Photographers Network and look at some of the galleries and my place in the photo world becomes completely apparent.

On the other hand, I took some bird photos with my sigma 150 500, cropped the crap out of them, made a screen saver for the computer and let them run. My college boy came home and said "Wow, what kind of camera did you take those with".

Made me feel pretty good, Maybe I should turn pro too

I think, for me, my photography can be pretty well summed up by with what John Shaw wrote in the opening to Nature Photography. "It's not so much what there is to shoot, it's what there is to discover."

So if it's OK with the rest of the world, I'll keep wandering around taking photos, and even if they aren't as good as some peoples, I'll still be happy even if I dont have a web site, flickr, blog and the title "pro" after my name.

Al

Wish I can share the same enthusiasm as the OP, lol

iwasinvertedx wrote in post #10021068
It's an interesting phenomenon that since DSLRs became more affordable, everyone seems to be photographer now. It seems that just because you have the camera, say a Rebel, you're instantly some great photographer.

This guy I went to high school with, and now college, he has an XSi and seems to be excessively proud of his photos. They're not particularly strong images in terms of lighting and composition, and mine aren't incredible either, but it wouldn't hurt to have some humility.

I do like that cameras are more accessible to the general public, but it does bother me that suddenly everyone is so arrogant of their work. It's almost as if having the camera itself is a sort of status symbol. And in general, a lot of people are just trying to flaunt it without making art.

Sorry, this was just a little rant about how photography is changing with the advances in technology. I should take a cultural anthropology class and write a paper about this. haha.

I'm assuming most people have had a similar observation. Any thoughts?

I feel your pain since I have been in your position. Since I have been shooting, my friends have always loved my work. A few have always asked and trusted in everything I have had to say in terms of feedback on gear apart from the one guy.

He pretty much took my advised, picked up camera gear and then started making money off pretty much what I used to shoot when I taught him including my local business.

Little while later, we ended up having to shoot again and the results spoke for themselves. His work was less than usable where as mine was publication material.

I have found that yes, everyone thinks that they are capable of making money off photography but I have found the amount they make vs someone who is more than capable holds a BIG difference.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #10021129
There is definately a sense of entitlement with some quarters of the population now days.

"I bought this gear, therefore I deserve attention and respect for the results" (regardless of the actual quality...)

But like I said, if you have the chops to convince someone else that what you've shot is worth something, then that's what matters. I'll be the very first to admit my marketing "skills" are sorely lacking and I know that if I don't push harder, I won't have much of a future!

Agree, and a lot of it starts in the schools. Can't flunk Johnny because you might hurt his self-esteem (followed by Johnny most likely flunking out of college later); kids can't play dodge ball because the slow-footed would be humiliated; can't have a single valedictorian because its not fair to the person that didn't study as hard and had to settle for second. Its the "everybody's a winner mindset" that evens things out in the short run, only to leave people unprepared for reality once it sets in. Way too much enabling going on...so much so that some don't learn from their mistakes because they're not really "mistakes", so the problem gets repeated. Just look at the American Idol auditions...kids with absolutely no talent whatsoever finally face the cold reality of being told so, and the reaction is to call judges stupid. Eventually, the marketplace evens things out, no matter the calling...even photography.

Being pro has nothing to do with getting good images or having good gear, its about being able to persuade people that your images have value.

If you shoot a pile of steaming manure and can persuade someone that it has value, you can be pro. If you can shoot the same pile of manure and make it look good, you could probably earn more assuming you can persuade someone it has value.

As a lot of folk comment around here, having a photography business is 80% business and 20% photography.

I would love to earn money but my pile of steaming manure doesn't have value!

most people want to escape a humdrum day job existence and photography caters directly to the creative side. it takes very little to get started and the subject is endless. ego is a function of cultural and social conditioning and the deep desire to be seen as distinctly above the pact and worthy of reproducing with. doesn't really matter what the sport or expression is. ego is about a promise that never truly arrives. we all want to be accepted in some form or another. it's a driving force in humanity. art is subjective. so is life. life is art.

iwasinvertedx wrote in post #10021698
nicely stated.
i was being facetious and commented on this guy's facebook status updates that were bragging about his pictures that he should be a little more humble. and he told me to F*** off. he got all defensive. it's probably more hilarious to me because i've known him since high school.

So you commented on this guy's Facebook status - not a message where only he can see it, but a comment on his status that's visible for all to see - that he should be a little more humble?!?

Often when I read threads like this - and in this case too - you seem way to concerned about others and their gear. Who gives a rip? How does his being "overly proud" affect you? It sounds like YOU know exactly how proud he should be of his work and are oh so close to telling him.

Sorry if this seems like a rant, but get over it. Enjoy what you have and be pleased with what you can do with it....

guess it depends on where this guy WAS compared to where he is now with digital photography. If he had a cell phone or a even a decent point-and-shoot, the results with a DSLR and a decent lens are probably light years ahead of where he was.

Suggest he come here to POTN and look through some of the picture sharing or lens sample shot sections. That'll put things in perspective for him REALLY QUICK!!!

dave