Being a professional vs calling yourself a “professional”
I saw a post shared by another creative and decided that it would be a wonderful topic for this week’s blog post. The post discussed how calling yourself a “professional photographer” and being a professional photographer are two different things. Sadly in today’s world, many people go out and buy a “fancy” camera, get an editing software and buy some presets (for non-photographers; a preset is essentially like a Instagram filter you click a button to top a photo with preset edits that someone else created and sold) and call themselves a professional. A lot of people think because they take a few good photos they should start a business with no experience and want to charge pro prices. While this is a nice outlet to start as an amateur or hobbyist, this is not conducive to the professional world. And I hate seeing people that call themselves professional photographers asking for preset suggestions to make “their style”, a bought preset is not YOUR style. It’s someone else’s.
As a creative professional this is my biggest pet peeve. As a true professional, you have to put in the hours, Learn color theory, lighting techniques, proper posing, white balance, composition, and use your camera among many other things. As a professional, you never stop learning through classes, workshops, networking with other professionals, mentoring/ and being mentored. Not to mention technology; it is ever-changing so not only are you learning new editing techniques. But also learning your equipment updates. A true professional will learn their camera in and out; their camera truly becomes an extension of them. They will view the scene and know what settings to put that camera on to capture the image that will require minimal editing and definitely no preset use. This is why you are investing in your photos when you choose a true professional because we put in the hours to give you our best work. These images are our art and they represent our business and add to our portfolio. And no I am not saying you should disregard the amateur who is just starting out because we have all been there in some form at some point during our photography career. I am saying you should understand what goes into a professional photographers business. Why our price list is the way it is. And know that if you book a amateur with little to no experience you should not expect perfect professional quality photos.
When you book with me know that I have spent over 12 years with hands on learning and taking photos without charging a cent. Practicing different techniques, learning the different settings, learning in different environments. I have taken actual classes in photography and gained my degree in professional photography. I ensure my camera is on the perfect settings for the location and take photos in such a way that very little editing needs to be done. Most of my cropping is even done in camera not post production. All of this allows my turn around time to be shorter and allows me to keep my prices low. Because I feel everyone should have access to professional photos. So please do your research before booking with a photographer. Go through their portfolio and see if you like their style it will truly make you happier to find someone who can give you the style you want reflected in your images!
