FOTOSTAN Loc: Ca..NYC..Fla.

Back in the "good old days" when a person said "I am a photographer" the end result: a print or slide was his proof. No drug store processing, but good darkroom working knowledge. TODAY. it's another story. All I see and read is not photography, but..." I've got a Zulu D 317 camera, can some one help me and tell how to use it" or, "should I use a 800mm lens for shooting birds, or a zoom lens" etc... Now aday a so-called photographer is someone who owns a camera. How many times did I see and hear.. " I put my X camera on auto focus, but the pix is out of focus" OR, "what mm lens should I buy, since I want to photograph birds 12 miles away" Even at weddings, a so-called pro photographer shoots many hundreds of images on a memory stick, and gives it to the couple, saying, " now go and have prints made someplace, money please?.. I write this complaint because, just the other day, a PRO PHOTOGRAPHER who got his certificate from a mail-order house stating he was a pro, at a photo shoot, didn't know how to use his "Z" camera and had to use a point and shoot... SOME PRO.. Learn your craft, prove your knowledge, THEN, be proud of a honorable trade...

FOTOSTAN Loc: Ca..NYC..Fla.

Sorry for the spelling, I am a photographer... not a "spellter"....

Carioca

Fotostan, I share your frustration with the ignorance and lack of manners that people with and without cameras display all the time.

But to aim that attitude at everyone with a camera is ridiculous. Please don't take out your frustrations on the rest of us.

JKF159 Loc: Arkansas

[quote=FOTOSTAN]Back in the "good old days" when a person said "I am a photographer" the end result: a print or slide was his proof.

That is still the proof.

FOTOSTAN Loc: Ca..NYC..Fla.

My complaint is NOT people who have or own a camera...BUT... those who profess to be a PRO PHOTOGRAPHER, and haven't the knowledge to be one..

FOTOSTAN Loc: Ca..NYC..Fla.

Gee many thanks for those complaing of my posting.. MY REPLY: If you can drive a car, doesn't make you a cab driver.. you still need a licence.. why not photography (as a trade)

Carioca

The free market will solve that problem pretty quickly. If learning to use his equipment was too much trouble, he's going to have serious trouble overcoming a bad reputation and a lack of good work to show for his efforts.

Licensing just makes things more difficult for those who've earned the title.

Carioca

Because photography doesn't involve operation for several hundred pounds of equipment at high rates of speed.

FOTOSTAN Loc: Ca..NYC..Fla.

"FREE MARKET"... how about the guy who has a business card, and some prints he bought from some service company.. and produces CRAP ... to me belittles my trade. I'M NOT AFRAID TO PROVE TEST MY TALLENT.. for a proper licence..

Carioca

Your talent speaks for itself, with or without a license.

Look at all the fools who have drivers licenses...do you really think that license says anything about their skill at driving?

Ducklady

Coming from a profession that had licensure, I can tell you that it doesn't take very long before it becomes academically focused and expensive. All licensure means is that you had the time and money to jump through the hoops. There's no guarantee your experience and hard work will even qualify. In fact, unless you took course at an "accredited" school it probably wouldn't. Is that what you want? Very few licensures are based on any sort of test alone. And the testing usually has little to do with the skills required for competence.

Also, licensure brings malpractice insurance and lawsuits like flies to honey.

I guess I'm saying that if you think you're frustrated now... try licensure.

steve40 Loc: Asheville/Canton, NC, USA

A photographer implies one, who uses a camera to take a picture. Anyone who uses a camera to take a photo, is a photographer of sorts, just not always a good one.

Digital cameras, and PhotoShop have produced more I wanna be's, than it has actually good photographers. Anyone can shoot a mile wide scene, and later crop the sweet spot out of it. But can they find, and photograph it; using the one original image.

Sorry but there are more PhotoShop'ist, than real Photographers.

Carioca

No one begins as good photographer. We all have to start at the bottom and work our way up. Some of us will get there sooner than others.

Are you here to help the wannabes, or to belittle them?

steve40 Loc: Asheville/Canton, NC, USA

I am not trying to belittle anyone, but the truth is not all wannabes, are going to be gonnabes. Sometimes just having fun with your camera supersedes dreams of greatness, in a field already too crowded to stand in.

All through the years that has been my philosophy, I take pictures for my own satisfaction. And once in a while out of fateful luck, I really make a good one.

Frank'sPhotography Loc: Terre Haute, Indiana

Photography is a learning experience where one is constantly learning the equiptment at hand and it's various uses. Digital photography is much like film photography and dark room, once you learn it, you improve on what you learn.

I learn a lot from this forum because others explain their problems so they can learn from the replys others give. I have never met anyone that is perfect including myself but learning from mistakes makes a better photographer.