What makes a "photographer"?
Feb 26, 2020 00:14:10 #
Wow. Are we going your record. 20 pages and going..
Without a camera there is no photographer. So it must be the camera makes the photographer.
Without a camera there is no photographer. So it must be the camera makes the photographer.
Feb 26, 2020 01:52:08 #
Chromodynamics6
Loc: Beverly Hills Ca.
JohnSwanda wrote:
By what conceivable criteria would she not be considered a photographer, since her street photography stands with the greatest street photographers in history.
Exactly. I see that I didn't reply to who I intended. Somewhere in the mess someone said something that implied that if you weren't getting paid you weren't a "real" photographer. She never profited from her work. I think she was beyond amazing.
Feb 26, 2020 03:09:37 #
Maybe it's how we define ourselves... I'm not a "photographer", I'm just someone who likes to make pictures. Sometimes, I make a "good" picture - sometimes by intent, sometimes by accident. That way, I'm not under pressure; I just enjoy doing it....
Feb 26, 2020 06:38:01 #
There are various stages that can define where we are in our photography based on our skill levels we possess at the time an image is made.
What defines a photographer though is not his skills or if he makes a living doing it. This comes from deeper within the person. It is their vision and how they present the scene that defines them as a photographer. A deep connection with the scene can be reflected in the final image and this makes a great photographer.
Financial gains from one's photography does NOT make them professional. Some chose to shoot for other rewards. Too many here discount the non "making a living" photographer as a novice amateurs. They can't seem to look past the money as a definitive way to identify professional.
What defines a photographer though is not his skills or if he makes a living doing it. This comes from deeper within the person. It is their vision and how they present the scene that defines them as a photographer. A deep connection with the scene can be reflected in the final image and this makes a great photographer.
Financial gains from one's photography does NOT make them professional. Some chose to shoot for other rewards. Too many here discount the non "making a living" photographer as a novice amateurs. They can't seem to look past the money as a definitive way to identify professional.
Feb 26, 2020 07:19:10 #
frankraney wrote:
Wow. Are we going your record. 20 pages and going..
Without a camera there is no photographer. So it must be the camera makes the photographer.
Without a camera there is no photographer. So it must be the camera makes the photographer.
I agree with you there. People tend to steal the credit from the camera perhaps because they bought and owned it.
Feb 26, 2020 07:26:02 #
frankraney wrote:
...
Without a camera there is no photographer. So it must be the camera makes the photographer.
Without a camera there is no photographer. So it must be the camera makes the photographer.
Well, yes, any camera.
Feb 26, 2020 08:05:17 #
duane klipping wrote:
There are various stages that can define where we are in our photography based on our skill levels we possess at the time an image is made.
Those "stages" are described via adjectives preceding the noun "photographer". Good, great, lousy, amateur, professional are all examples of modifiers for the word.
duane klipping wrote:
What defines a photographer though is not his skills or if he makes a living doing it.
What defines a photographer though is not his skills or if he makes a living doing it.
Right. These things don't define him, they describe the various stages the photographer is in. One of those might be professional, which implies his profession is photography, which generally means he earns his living at it.
Feb 26, 2020 08:09:15 #
BigDaddy wrote:
Those "stages" are described via adjectives preceding the noun "photographer". Good, great, lousy, amateur, professional are all examples of modifiers for the word.
Another who gets it.
Feb 26, 2020 10:29:34 #
RodeoMan
Loc: St Joseph, Missouri
BebuLamar wrote:
I agree with you there. People tend to steal the credit from the camera perhaps because they bought and owned it.
The saw and the hammer doesn't make the cabinet.
Feb 26, 2020 10:30:00 #
Jene wrote:
Maybe it's how we define ourselves... I'm not a "photographer", I'm just someone who likes to make pictures. Sometimes, I make a "good" picture - sometimes by intent, sometimes by accident. That way, I'm not under pressure; I just enjoy doing it....
Do you know the exposure triangle and apply it to your shots. Do you worry about composition, lighting, white balance, etc? Have you have studied the concepts of photography and to the best of your ability and knowledge apply them to your shots? If you answer yes to either or both of these questions you are definitely a photographer. If not then you are still a photographer as by your own admission you "just enjoy doing it." All photographers get "good" pictures and all photographers get less than acceptable ones, even the pros. Don't sell yourself short and if you feel you want to improve there are many opportunities to do so. However, please never lose your humble attitude towards photography as it will take you to greater heights if you choose to expand your knowledge and practice of photography. Good luck and good shooting to you.
Feb 26, 2020 11:15:16 #
RodeoMan wrote:
The saw and the hammer doesn't make the cabinet.
Exactly. One can have all the knowledge, but without the tools, he can not create the craft.
Feb 26, 2020 11:16:27 #
frankraney wrote:
Exactly. One can have all the knowledge, but without the tools, he can not create the craft.
Feb 26, 2020 11:48:57 #
RodeoMan
Loc: St Joseph, Missouri
frankraney wrote:
Exactly. One can have all the knowledge, but without the tools, he can not create the craft.
And yet, as I noted earlier, I have never seen a camera take itself out of the bag and make an image any more than the hammer and saw will make the cabinet on their own. Actually I think we over think some of this stuff. Walt Whitman in his poem about the Learn'ed Astronomer tells about listening to all the facts and figures at a lecture and when it it was over going out into the night and soaking in the beauty of the stars. Perhaps we would all be better off if we quit yammering back and forth at each other grinding a question into nothingness and would simply take our cameras and go out and make some images in the way that we enjoy making them. If all of us behind the Hedge could somehow get together, do you think we would have a good conversation or would we wind up killing each other? I sometimes wonder. lol.
Feb 26, 2020 11:54:28 #
Feb 26, 2020 12:01:06 #
RodeoMan wrote:
The saw and the hammer doesn't make the cabinet.
That's true, but they sure made a hell of a mess when I built my shelf. . . .
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