Old Timer Loc: Greenfield, In.

I would like some opinions and different view points on the subject of the future of photography and the role of the professional as it is now and what it will be ten to twenty years from now. After observing nearly eight decades of change in several industries and professional roles, such as corner cafe, filling station, bicycle shops, and even the shoe repair shops and a host of other changes, farming is one to see great change and advancement.
I believe that the professional photography as we know today will be a different in the coming years.
With the cell phones and tablets that have cameras, that is what people want and use. Price is part of it but the convenience and cost is also a factor. This face of the industry has change whether we like it or not.
Example the selfies and and high key and other techniques that younger folks like takes very little skill. Composition, depth of field and focus does not seem to matter. Most do not even process or adjust color, contrast, or correct white balance.
Could it be that when shoot and advent such as wedding that we shoot journalistic style and turn over the unedited cd and let them do with them what they want to do with them and them take local
Drug Store or Wal Mart for processing.
My question is if we do not give the customer what the want and and or willing to pay, is the professional going to be around.
There will still be a limited work for the few who some will want to pay the extra and have the quality and memories, but for the average consumer today is price, convenience, and fast service they seem to want.
Please do not get in name calling or other disparaging remarks, keep the discussion civil and polite as there seems to be a few who like to stir the pot and get personnel with others.

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

Point well taken! :)

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

Yes. Many more photographers does not mean many more high-quality photographers. There are millions of drivers on the road and there are still many professional drivers. Will the pros' assignments and methods change? Of course. They will have to keep up with the times.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

What must first be done is establish a clear definition of what a professional photographer is and is not.

I don't think today's smart phone and tablet cameras really are impacting the true professional photography industry in a significant way. Sure, some people are taking their own family portraits with their phones instead of hiring a professional portrait photographer. But people have been doing that 30, 40 years ago with consumer automatic cameras (most households had at least one of those) and disposable cameras! In essence, nothing has changed. What is having a far greater impact on the professional photography industry is the economy.

Frank2013 Loc: San Antonio, TX. & Milwaukee, WI.

No professional will be around if they don't give the customer what they are willing to pay for.

TheDman Loc: USA

This is amateur photography, not professional. Amateur photography has been around as long as photography has. The reason people pay professionals is because they want something better than amateur.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

The immutable fact is that there will be change. In all fields change is the only constant that can accurately be predicted. However, what the change will be cannot be predicted. I would like to think that the public at large will someday grow tired with selfies and the bad cell phone pictures. Print media is rapidly deminishing ( S.I. as an example) but that is because of the internet not cell phones. One can only guess at the future of professional photography.

Elliott Design Loc: West Tennessee

Those little green pieces of paper rules the world. Those that have an abundance of it and like to boast how much they paid for daughter Susie's wedding photos will seek out the professionals and continue to spend big bucks for prestige and bragging rights. Those of us that have very little exposable income will do what we've done for years and get by with what we can afford. As cell phones and iPads with cameras continue to improve, the amateur and hobbyist photographers will be weeded out for hired work. That's progress and human nature. You have several choices, but the main two are either become the high-end sought out professional or just play with your camera on the weekends for your own enjoyment, it appears there will be very little middle ground for semi-pro's when everyone can produce photos as the equipment never ceases to improve.

Since the introduction of and cheap prices of computer graphics equipment I've watched the signage and graphics industry go a similar route over the past 30 years, once you had to study and practice to become a sign maker and graphic designer (still do to be a professional at it) but now everyone with a computer and a CD full of clipart is an instant artist. The population of my area is still about the same as 30 years ago when there was only two other sign makers besides me in the whole county of 30,000 people—now there are around 25 people with vinyl cutters making signs in their spare bedroom or garage. They deserve to try and make a living as well as anyone, if the customer is satisfied with a cheap price, low quality materials and amateurish layout then that is not a customer I would want anyway. Not everyone can afford the computer equipment to make an occasional sign but they still have access to a PC and clipart at work and want to "design" their own signage, so it goes and as you asked, yes the times are a'changing for all aspects of industry and will continue so.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

I believe there is no future for professional photographers, leave now while you can.

There, now there should be more customers for me!

blackdog64

During the early 80's, I used to sell photographs to magazines. £25-£30 per 1/2 page, £40-£50 for a full page, £100-£150 for a 2 page spread and around £200 for a cover.

Now they have endless numbers willing to sell their photos for nothing or for a few cents.

Pros will always exist for when someone tells a photographer what they want and only the pro will reliably come up with the goods.

But in my opinion, appreciation of photography now is quite low and in order to compete, (unless things change), Pros will have to offer more than just photos. Writing, maybe or personalisation.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

Winner of the sun dance film festival used a i phone to make a movie!

It is the photographer not the gear

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

Whether or not parts of an any industry survive technological changes is about supply and demand, as with all things in the marketplace. The flood of cheap, instant, high-tech photo gear, thanks to the ever-shrinking and faster micro-circuitry has basically wiped out that part of the professional photography market where the finer points of exposing and printing don't really matter that much. People tend to learn to like things that are fast and almost free (food, mp3 tracks, fotos). At the higher end of the demand spectrum there will always be a need for professional photographers (fashion, advertising, well funded weddings, pro sports, etc.) The technical barriers and time constraints with producing usable images are largely gone and along with them, the need for someone skilled handling the medium. Much like with sound, anyone can stick a Zoom on a tripod and make "CD-quality" recordings without the old constraints of messing with expensive mics, reels, rack-mounted preamps, etc., and those who happily saved by not hiring a trained engineer will gladly listen to audience noise, HVAC fans, and call it acceptable. Likewise. the flood of cheap, capable equipment allowing anyone to make pictures that are "good enough" has lowered overall expectations in the area of quality for the sake of saving money, areas that for technical reasons used to be the domain of the professional.

So it is up to professionals to educate the marketplace about the sort of quality that transcends equipment specs. Of course there will always be a need for professional photographers, even if fewer of them will be doing the average wedding or shooting for the daily paper. That just makes the profession all the more competitive and leads unfortunately to casualties. It takes skillful advertising to get people to see the value of paying for quality. Easy for me to say, though. I admittedly don't have the passion or drive to go beyond the hobby level. It's why I respect the folks out there making a living at it in a market flooded with automatic, hi-tech cameras in the hands with folks with more equipment than skill. (Not that amateurs can't be good, that's not the point.)

I'll post this suggestion to all you advanced amateurs out there with high-end digital cameras: when you're asked to do weddings, decline and suggest hiring a local professional photographer simply out of respect for those who make a living at something you just play with. I hope no one is offended, but likely some will be. It's just a suggestion.

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

:thumbup: agree

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

:thumbup: agree

gemlenz Loc: Gilbert Arizona

I looked up the word professional on Wiki: A professional is a member of a profession. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skills necessary to perform the role of that profession. In addition, most professionals are subject to strict codes of conduct enshrining rigorous ethical and moral obligations. Professional standards of practice and ethics for a particular field are typically agreed upon and maintained through widely recognized professional associations. Some definitions of "professional" limit this term to those professions that serve some important aspect of public interest [1] and the general good of society.[2][3]

Not all photographers have had formal educations in photography (like me). We are self taught and have a lot of experience. Not all of us belong to PPA (like me).

I think the work professional is used loosely here. Just because we get paid to take pictures does not necessarily make us a professional, according to the definition.

To stay a cut above the armatures maybe we need to establish ourselves as professionals first. So by definition what a lot of us do (like me) is a trade, not a profession.

A good example is my neighbor who fixes cars for people in the neighborhood. He is not a professional mechanic but he's good at what he does. He doesn't go to school to keep up with auto mechanics field. He just does it for side money. People got to him because he's good and charges about half the labor of what a shop would. I can charge lower prices for my photography because I have low overhead and (so I've been told) I'm good at what I do.

Just my thoughts.