Lia Healy Photography

So… there has been a rather interesting question doing the rounds of late, heating up the forums and the photography groups.  Just what constitutes a professional photographer?

For those of you who are not in the industry, the answer to this may be simple.  When occasions arise which require a photographer, you put your feelers out, ask for recommendations, or turn to Google.  You find a name.  You call or invariably email the person, make a booking and voila – you have found yourself a professional photographer.

Ask a photographer however and you have just opened the mother of Pandora’s Box.  Prepare your ears for a long, looooooong list of justifications, clarifications and exceptions to the rules; which may and will be bent and / or broken at any or all points during the conversation at the discretion of said photographer.  I have learnt many new phrases whilst discussing this question; weekend warrior, mum’s with DSLRs and my new favourite – the Fauxtographer.   There are in fact sites such as this one  dedicated to exposing the talent challenged photographers of the world.  Whilst I was taken with the thorough research put in by this site to tell us that real photographers ‘have more than one lens’, I still felt there was some room to investigate further.

I liked several points on This Site which goes into further detail on spotting a fauxtographer.  I agree with several of them, namely; ‘A fauxtographer does not have insurance’.  Ditto the point on fauxtographers not having contracts.  I must take exception to the point about fauxtographers not rocking a great kit.  Sadly, God seems fit to bless some particularly untalented people with enough money to be kitted out in the fastest glass on the coolest cameras ever.  This is purely to taunt me and I have moved on.

What separates the Pros from the Fauxs?  Well, as it turns out it’s all very subjective.  Here are the biggest issues keeping the ‘real’ photographers up at night, as well as my views on the matter.  Did you catch that distinction? 

A Pro works full time in the business and has no day job.  Now let me think on that.  I personally know several hundred photographers.  Of those, I know two for whom photography is their only source of income.  Not two hundred, TWO.  Two people who have photography as their sole income earning activity AND work more than forty hours a week at it.  One of whom is an amazing person all round and wonderful photographer, and one of whom…is not.  Whilst the second mentioned likes to think they are a full time photographer, I have noted their fondness of facebooking thinly veiled scathing remarks aimed at other less worthy photographers, with particular distain shown for ‘weekend warriors’ and part timers of any kind.  (To the point where I suspect their photography is taking a back seat to their creative writing).

Of the part timers, the vast majority seem to be parents, thus the ‘mum with a DLSR’ tag.  And this is where the above distinction comes in.  I am proud to put myself in this category.  I choose to balance my work with three little people and love every second of it.  My mentor when I started in photography, bought a camera after taking her autistic son to several photographers who were unable to work with him.  She is self taught and insanely good.  You can drool over her work here.  Many of the best child photographers are as good as they are from understanding little people like only a parent can.  This is not to say that non parents can’t make great photographers or single people can’t be wedding photographers, just that having a genuine love for your subject shows in your photos every time.

A Faux undercuts all the Pros out there in price and will ultimately be the downfall of the industry as a whole and possibly the whole world.  Ah brother.  What I love about this ol’ chestnut is that most of the people dragging it out are not that long out of portfolio building themselves and are now  very busy picking other people’s price lists apart.  My take on this one:  These photographers are not taking your business.  You are not in competition with them.  There are people who will snap up a $75 shoot with all images supplied.    If your packages are $1000 and have a selection of quality prints – you are not looking at the same customer.  The $75 buyer was never going to buy the $1000 package so just relax.  Likewise, the $1000 buyer was not going to take up the $75 offer.  Even if you ARE in the same price bracket, you are not in competition with anyone else.  People are coming to you because they love your work – or going to someone else because they love theirs.  Lastly – anyone who is charging a pittance for their work is not going to be in business very long.  It is not sustainable so they will be out of your hair soon enough.  Smile and move on.

A Pro has formal training in photography.  Yes, I have no doubt that formal training in photography will provide a level of skill which equates to wonderful images.  As will practice.  As will raw natural talent.  I am a HUGE fan of further learning.  Learn everything you can, suck it all in.  Attend workshops, read books, read your manual inside out.  This is good stuff!  Formal training is quite rare in today’s industry  and yes, I know this is the bugbear of every educated photographer.  My take on this:  Rightly so!  People who have spent time and money studying photography deserve recognition and some distinction from those who have not.  It does not mean that an educated photographer is necessarily better than an uneducated photographer by any means.  But I would be in favour of a system of recognition in our industry for this in much the same was as a cook is somebody who cooks food and a chef is a trained professional.

Fauxtographers do not understand lighting, gear, composition, editing… Hmmmm.  This one is tricky.  After seeing how much talent there is out there from the Fauxs and a gobsmacking lack thereof from some Pros – I’m going to have to say this one will not separate the two groups for you.  What you are talking about here is good and bad photographers.  Not Fauxs and Pros.  A topic for another blog altogether!  Please keep in mind, that for every image you see that makes your eyes bleed and your heart sad because it is just SO BAD… there is someone out there with a beating heart because they love it SO MUCH.  Food for thought.  Do not be quick to point out the lack of skill from others in their photography or their editing.  What I see as out of focus, someone sees as pretty and soft.  What you see as blown and hideously over ‘shopped… someone else sees as bright and cheery.  Dismount from the high horses people.  There are grandmas out there everywhere loving the centre framed, over lit studio poses.  It will serve you well, to stop aiming for what the photography purists tell you you should be producing and start looking at what your client wants.  Unless of course you intend to pursue photography as a hobby, in that case, snob it up!

Pros do not give images on disk.  Ever.  Ever ever ever.  OK, they may give them, but you will pay A LOT of money for them.  Hmmm, let me think.  Facebook has more than 800 million users, 50% of whom log in each day with an average of 130 friends each.  I’m not sure how good your maths is, but I kinda like being able to promote myself online and I like it very much when my clients put my images on their Facebook and recommend me to all of their friends.  But that’s just me.  Further more, when *I* go looking for a photographer to take *my* family photos, I would like the flexibility to share them in whatever way I see fit.  My clients want digital images.  I could be wrong here, but last time I checked, they were paying me, so it’s a bit of a no brainer for me.  Please don’t misunderstand, I love love love prints.  Quality prints.  From Quality Labs.  And beautiful books and enormous canvasses.  And I promote them to each and every one of my clients.  But so long as my brain (occasionally) works – I would like the freedom to purchase the goods that I want at a reasonable price in the format I choose – and I respect my clients enough to offer the same.

Pros shoot in manual.  Umm, no, they actually don’t always.  I do.  I encourage it, but I know a lot;  As in a lot of ‘Pros’ who shoot entire weddings in AV mode.  To each their own I say.  As opposed to most Fauxs I know who  read their manuals inside out and manually adjust every setting on their camera.

So.  The end result… am I a Pro or a Faux?  I’m still undecided.  I kind of like to be a bit rebellious, I always have.  Tell me something is the ‘proper’ way to do something and watch me run to do it the naughty way.  I never read the manual for my flash.  (I know right??)  Photography is my full time, part time job – it’s what I do when I am not being a mummy.  I am in no rush to give my kids away and be a ‘real’ photographer any time soon.

As for the big question – what is a professional photographer?  In my mind it is a little of all of the above.  A Pro is someone who makes money from their photography and acts in a professional manner.  This means that they take time to learn how to use their camera in all environments – from the brightest sun to the most dimly lit churches.  I personally don’t believe in ‘natural light photography’.  Every photographer makes it their mission to find glorious light.  Every photographer does everything in their power to use the light available.  But a professional knows how to operate in ALL light and can adapt their kit to suit, including their flash.  A professional has insurance and uses a contract.  These are the minimum standards that you must adhere to keep you and your clients safe.  A professional knows how to use their camera in manual mode – which gives them the freedom to use it in any other mode if they choose to.  A professional never ever speaks badly of their clients in public (and I’d hope not in private).  The term ‘Bridezilla’ must never pass your lips.  A Professional replies to emails, makes calls and follows up when they say they will.

But most of all – being a Professional photographer is having the confidence in yourself and the respect for others, to boost up those around you in this industry.  A real photographer is happy to see others around them do well.  They share their gift with others and are happy to help.  All of the points above can be taught.  I love mentoring new photographers, if you need help with the technical or the business side of your photography – contact me.  But having a giving spirit and the ability to see worth in others around you -  that is something that comes from within yourself.  Cultivate that and there will be no doubt that you are NO Faux!