Mustang1

How can a person shoot in Auto and/or Program, have blurred, out-of-focus, underexposed pictures call himself a professional as he resorts to Photoshop to correct a lousy photo? Shouldn't he be creating that photo in the camera?

srt101fan

"How can a person shoot in Auto and/or Program, have blurred, out-of-focus, underexposed pictures call himself a professional as he resorts to Photoshop to correct a lousy photo?"

Who does that?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Every successful photographer is driven by an inner voice telling them everyone else is using PhotoShop.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Keyword being " Professional "... Who might that be that you are referring to ?

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

Photoshop is the digital dark room.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

This has been discussed about 87 gabazillion times here on UHH. My personal feeling is no. But the reality is that it is being done and will be done to even greater extents as advances in PP software continue.

Also expect at some point a responder to this post will say Ansel Adams did blah blah blah.

BebuLamar

If he made the money with those pictures then he is a professional.That's all.

Bill_de Loc: US

The OP got 10 pages of responses on his other thread, that had no real value. Let's see if he can hit 15 this time.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

This guy is called a pro by many. He uses a Ricoh GR1 or a GR21 and typically doesn't even compose in the viewfinder. I am pretty sure he uses his camera in full automatic mode. His prints sell for $1000s. In Japan, he is considered a Master of Photography. But you'd have to expand your definition of what constitutes a pro to wrap your head around his art and mastery.

https://www.hamiltonsgallery.com/artists/daido-moriyama/biography/

https://www.moriyamadaido.com/photogallery/

https://www.anatomyfilms.com/daido-moriyama-snapshot-art/

How a picture is recorded and processed is a workflow filled with lots of choices. Image manipulation for artistic effect is one of them. And no, creating a perfect image in a camera without post processing is not the mark of a pro. The final image is. Also a pro can be a commercial product photographer, a portrait artist, event photographer, wildlife and nature, sports, fashion, food, etc etc etc - and each have different standards for their specific piece of the industry. The only ones where the picture goes straight from the camera to print or publication are the documentarians - reportage, forensics, crime scene, etc. But these images are typically boring and not creative in the least. Not something you would see in a gallery or museum.

jcboy3

I am missing the connection between the title ("real photographer") and the text ("professional").

But, if you use a smartphone, you can run Photoshop "in the camera", so that's probably the solution to your quandry.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Real Photographers use Polaroid.

jcboy3

And a key.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

There are many photographers who, by definition, qualify as professional but don't really know what they are doing. This is more true now than decades ago.

ozoni11 Loc: Columbia, MD

An image is created in the camera...whether on auto, manual, shutter priority, aperture priority or scene mode. That image can be processed in any number of software programs. The final iteration might sell, might be kept as a memento of an excursion, might be stored online or on a hard drive. In my mind, calling yourself a professional photographer is correct if you are making a living from your work. Most photographers supplement income or do it for the sheer joy of photography. I have seen photos taken with cell phone cameras that outshine DSLRs. A real photographer is someone who takes pictures.

RightOnPhotography Loc: Quebec,QC

The P mode in the camera stands for Professional. So, the person who shoots in P, is not lying 😊