yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

There is a Question at the end of this story if ya wanna skip the crap part!!

.... So, in the early 1970s, I started working at a Professional Commercial Photo Studio. I was not one of the Photographers there as I was hired into the Color Lab Darkroom processing color/slide film and printing and processing color photographs. I would work with some of the photographers in various shoots once in a while if they asked and needed help.
~ A few months before I took this job, I had several paying gigs - music groups, portraits, weddings, etc., that all paid for my services. That work outside of that studio (and another Commercial studio, after the first one) continued until 2004 when I retired from our (The Wife and my...) Wedding Photo Business. All during that time, I considered myself and later my wife as Professional Photographers, as we were paid for our services. Now, I still get paid occasionally doing a wedding or portraits for friends or whomever, but not as a business.

The Question is...... Is being a Pro Photographer getting paid, and if you no longer are freelancing or a hired pro - is a person at that point, now an Amateur again?

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

A professional is a professional -> experience.
Working or not, they're still a professional..........

I'm retired, am I no longer an Engineer?

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

Skipping right past the crap part.... I wonder what difference this "Pro -vs- Amateur" distinction actually makes.

There've been times I've been 'hired' --and have thus been paid-- for the 'photographic' services I provided, and other times when I've simply done what I've done and received no compensation above the satisfaction of doing what I'd have done whether I got paid or not.

Never, however, during those instances (or years) when payment or fees or checks or recompense in one form or another have gone in my direction has the bulk of my annual taxable income been due to photography, or even photographically related. And now, having been retired (from jobs/careers/primary sources of workaday income) for more than a decade, I 'produce' more (photographically speaking) than I ever have before. And when I'm not doing that, I sit on my butt and watch re-runs of Gilligan's Island or luv my cats up or putz around in the yard. Which makes --I suppose-- me a "professional" --and consequently, WAY beyond what-all being a mere tyro "amateur" generally entails-- retiree.

With considerable bragging rights.

As if bragging rights actually matter.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I was taking photos, processing film and printing photos in the '50s. People paid me for that. So I can claim to have been a professional.
Then I went to college and had no free time so that income stream disappeared. It was never restarted (graduate school, research, lab work, etc.) No more darkroom available. Does that mean I have lost my professional status?
Eventually I went digital and the processing didn't need a darkroom. So I started shooting events for the professional organizations I (or my wife) belonged to. Photos went to newsletters and websites. No income involved.

My 'professional' level in the '50s did not produce enough income to pay taxes on. It was always a money sink overall. And it has stayed that way since.

So I can claim status in either direction. That and $10 will get me a cup of coffee. It's a good thing that I don't drink coffee.

Bill_de Loc: US

It's your call. Maybe you should call yourself (if we are talking about you) a former professional photographer who has nothing to do now. Then the awakening ... make up thing to 'talk about' on UHH.



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MrPhotog

The only people who care are the IRS, a few photo contests and the Olympic Committee.

Since there are no Olympic competitions for photography you luck out. As Jim Thorpe found out, go pro once and you are branded for life. His family finally got his medals back 40 years after he died.

Competitions may want to separate pros from amateurs, (as well as kids from adults) and various competitions will have their own guidelines.

The IRS wants a cut of any money you earn. If you earn any at all, they consider that as taxable income. In that regard they consider you a pro. Until you prove otherwise.

Now, you are usually allowed to deduct your costs of doing business, so if you claim to be a pro you can deduct the price of cameras, lenses, lights, computers, and other gear, as well as travel and office expenses.

In some years you can even deduct more than you earned from photography, and use that deduction to help with other income. But, if you try that for too many years they oppose that and claim you are really a hobbyist. Then you owe back taxes plus interest and penalties on the amounts you had written off as expenses.

In the IRS view: If you want you be a pro, you need to make more than you spend.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

When I started farming I heard someone say that if you have a business you have to make a taxable profit at least two years out of three. But if it’s a farm it’s three years out of seven.

I made a taxable profit three years after starting. $6.

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

If any one is looking for the 'true' professional photographer/business, consider DF Goldbeck, sons and company in San Antonio Texas. The company is now in the hands of the 4th generation, getting ready to be taken over by the next generation. They have all done photography ad each if a millionaire from the company. It is the best model for a photography business in the world and their main cameras are Kodak Circuit 10 panoramic cameras that have not been manufactured sense 1910. All the Goldbecks after retirement continue making photographs for their own pleasure.

Bill_de Loc: US

Kind of specialized-

Goldbeck Company is a fifth-generation school panoramic photography firm that specializes solely in large groups of people. Using digital panoramic cameras with amazing state of the art technology, we are able to capture large groups of people with precise detail.

https://www.goldbeckcompany.com/about.htm


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User ID

Engineer Emeritus.

That plus $7 gets you a fancy latte.

SkyKing Loc: Thompson Ridge, NY

“…Amateurs think knowledge is power. Professionals pass on wisdom and advice. Amateurs focus on being right. Professionals focus on getting the best outcome...”

whfowle Loc: Tampa first, now Albuquerque

I think it could cause some problems with some photo contests but otherwise, who really cares.

mvetrano2 Loc: Commack, NY

I am an amateur photographer who took the NY Institute of Photography training in the 1990's thinking I would become a professional photographer, but my job as an IBM professional, and the money earned, kept me there. I have shot many weddings and portraits for friends and family, and they considered me as a professional photographer as I was shooting, but I never really made a living at it. I retired from IBM 13 years ago and love creating beautiful landscape and portraiture photos as an amateur. At the current age of 77, I will continue just enjoying my amateur photographing.

BebuLamar

You're definitely not a professional photographer.

raymondh Loc: Walker, MI

WOW!! Who knew one could make that much for farming dirt.