sarge69 Loc: Ft Myers, FL

I get the feeling everyone before me said the same thing I want to say but in a different manner.

To me this guy ( and his friends ) are acting very defensive because they are jealous and on the attack.

I've seen some excellent, no....Awesome photographs on this UHH site and whether they are ' luck ' or 'careful composition and settings' is not for me to argue. The photos are beautiful.

Does not make us all ' Photographers ' but it sure comes close.

Sarge69

TNmike Loc: NW TN

I read in the posted rant link that the poster "1st handled an SLR in 2003". I have him beat by 20+ years. Now raising a family I did find that it was a hobby I could not afford. So just a couple years ago after kids were raised and on their own my interests were rekindled and I have been able to afford a few pieces of decent photo equipment. If the guy in the link feels challenged by me HE really needs to think about changing his occupation as a Professional Photographer because he ain't one yet!!!

I enjoy UHH, there are several Professionals, many very advanced amateurs, and even photo enthusiasts that share their knowledge and skills here. I enjoy reading all of their comments and seeing their photos. I'm pursuing this as a hobby not a new career. I start classes at a near by college on Tuesday next week. If the blogger feels threatened now just wait till I finish my 'Continuing Education Classes'. I'll have my equipment and just enough knowledge to be a real threat. :-D TNmike

nivek340 Loc: South Hadley Ma.

The trouble with the word PRO is people think the word means great Photographer. If you look at the rules of Golf a Pro is somebody who does it for money.
If you are great then you should call yourself an Expert and that solves the problem of being called a Pro or those who call themselves a pro photographer.
Plus art people and those who went to college have a chip on there shoulder.

altheman Loc: Christchurch, New Zealand

A photographer is a person who takes (makes?) pictures with a camera. Those on this forum who take/make pictures with a camera are photographers. When we see a photograph we like the question we often ask is "who was the photographer?"
In my time I have been an amateur photographer, a military photographer, a wedding photographer, an aerial survey photographer, and now now I'm back to being an amateur photographer struggling to come to grips with the digital technology which makes it so much easier for us to turn our photographs into great pictures.
Yes there are people out there who think they are taking great photos and are trying to earn a living at it and perhaps someone should take them aside tell them they need more practice or that they have no talent or whatever. As far as I'm concerned when a person has a camera in their hands and they are taking pictures then at that moment they are a photographer.
So lets stop mixing up our terminology here, a photographer is a person who uses a camera to take photographs, a professional photographer is a person who is making a living with his camera, (and must be reasonably good at it otherwise he/she will go hungry), and then there is the semi-professional photographer who gets paid for some of the photography that they do. We are all capable of making that picture that has the wow factor, it is just that some of us do it consistently and some of us don't. What we all have in common is that we love photography.

wannabe Loc: Baton Rouge Louisiana

Well said.

Onquest Loc: Just Wandering

Yes, this blogger does come across as a bit sour grape-ish, however it wasn't that long ago on this forum I was reading about how upset some folks were about the 'Craigslist Professionals'. I think every person with a camera is capable of a lucky shot now and then, and sometimes they don't even recognise what a good shot it actually is until someone with a trained eye points it out.

I think this is really the crux of the matter. To a trained eye a lot of the photography out there is quite crappy. We've all seen the bride with the kid picking his nose in the back ground, or the beautifully posed senior with the garden hose sprawled out behind, and yet the possessors of such fine photos don't see anything wrong with them! I'm not one to talk smack on another photographer's work, but it sure is disappointing to me to know that people with cameras get well paid for this.

PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North

The author has a point alright. It's on the top of his head - about ten inches higher than the chip on his shoulder.

FredB Loc: A little below the Mason-Dixon line.

This ridiculous rant, and others like it, remind me of the monastic monks who bitched about Gutenberg's invention.

"Just because you know how to move type doesn't make you a printer!"

Same old BS. Methinks many of these complainers are untalented hacks who spent a lot of money for an 'education', but then saw iPhone pics from a 12 year old that made their stuff look piss-poor.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Very distasteful. :thumbdown:

The term "snob" is too good for him.

nivek340 Loc: South Hadley Ma.

sound like somebody is off the meds

UP-2-IT Loc: RED STICK, LA

Read his Blog, seems he spends his time just speaking his mind about quite a few things. Did some research on the gentleman, see his self description:

Hi people. My name is Archie but i prefer to be known as the Prince Of Prose in my own delusional world. Unlike most people my delusional and imaginary world does actually exist. It is quite subtlely the reality that i live in. I don’t usually care what any random person thinks about me but it matters a great deal to me what my closest and dearest friends think and feel about me.

He has a long opinionated rant about the folllowing:

Photography
Obesety
Love
Anger at India
Rain drops & Roses
Texting
The cause of love


I think he is rather disillusioned and obviously self opinionated.

lacsar Loc: Columbia SC and Newland NC

Well, I just read this article and I think to some point he is correct. He, however does sound kind of angry through out the total of the article.

I am not a photographer, nor do I wish to earn a living at photography. I only like to take pictures that for me will add a memory encompassing a slice in time or someplace I visited that I liked,even just something that is pleasing to me. I looked at those most expensive photographs ever sold and I must say many on this blog and perhaps even myself have made many photographs that are much more pleasing to the mind and eye than those. I am amazed sometimes at the quality of work many here have produced amateur or professional.

I don't understand the authors anger at people that like photography. If someone opens shop as a photographer that is not good at their art then it probably won't be long in business. The person who would use them probably would be a onetime customer. Soon enough word will get out and their reputation will precede them so why worry who opens up shop. I don't think this really would hurt a real photographer's business with any regularity.

In my conclusion the article was bitter and unnecessary. Perhaps the author has a nice camera. Perhaps he could get some nice pots and become a chef.

Annie_Girl Loc: It's none of your business

While I see some valid points to his blog rant he lost me with the phrase, "the unworthy camera owners", how can one judge who is worthy of owning a camera? Seems rather elitist and over the top.

winterrose Loc: Kyneton, Victoria, Australia

I want to be a Professional Photographer, just like that wanker. Only thing is, everybody thinks my photographs are crap....just like that wanker. So if I reply to his blog like the other wankers and agree with everything he says, will that make me a photographer just like that wanker?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

No, but it will make you an aspiring wanker. :D