RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

A profession, as opposed to say an occupation, sets the requirement for admission to its ranks. This could be so many units of study, successfully passing a series of examinations and a background check that does find anything sufficient untoward to block entry. Once a member of the profession, the professional will be a "license holder" which will give him or her authority to perform certain actions that others who are not members of that profession would not be legally permitted to perform. The member of the profession will be subject to the disciplinary actions of the governing body of the profession, AMA for physcians, ABA for lawyers. This oversight can reach to level of removing offenders from the profession. I do not believe that photographers have the same degree of requirements for joining the professional photography community. Then there is the matter of being licensed only certain locales. A lawyer in Missouri for example couldn't just pull up stakes and head out Idaho and hang up their shingle. Certain requirements would have to be met. And there are no doubt other differences I'm not remembering.
But as Ed said above, their is a distinct difference between being a member of a profession and being professional. There are plenty shysters and quacks in the legal and medical professions. One quality of being professional is how we behave when no one is watching.

User ID

Simply getting paid does not really separate the sheep from the goats.

Plenty of unprofessional hack practitioners, at many endeavors, are making steady incomes in their practices.

Lukabulla

I get this often .. People ask are you a ' Professional Photographer '
I usually reply ' If I get work then Im professional if not then Im not but my images are professional.. this confuses them and not the reply they had in mind ..lol

I think now days A pro is regarded as a glamorous job , Bow Tye and rubbing shoulders
with movers and shakers .. The rough and ready photographer of the Vietnam era not in vogue at present ..

By the way I cant stand the word Amateur .. To me it sound like One doest know what they are doing ..
I much prefer ' Keen Photographer '

Burkley Loc: Park City

I agree. A gullible public does not make a paid amateur into a professional. To denote someone as a professional they need to have a high level of skill and expertise AND receive a reimbursement for services. Digital photography has made amateur skill levels a paying commodity. I can’t tell you how many lousy photographs, especially wedding photographs, that I have seen in the last few years. Anyone can create a decent portfolio if they take enough pictures and then use that portfolio to sucker the public. A professional gets great shots consistently at every shoot.

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Not if you don’t have your own train…lol

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

I am a hobbyist photographer who sees two areas where “professional” has real criteria and consequences. The first involves photo contests that exclude anyone that has a tax ID number for a photographic business. The other is Nikon Professional Services that have an income requirement to be able to take advantage of their benefits. I have neither, but these seem like good guidelines.

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

....jus' havin' sum fun here. Nuthin' serio's

Horseart Loc: Alabama

JMHO, call yourself and your wife professional photographers. You are deeply experienced and it was your business.
I sell quite a few phots but I am a photos photographer.

Art has been my business for over 60 years. Art is a lot like photography. No one can claim to be the best and no one can claim to be the worse. We each have our own style, BUT, I say if you make photos, you are at least some kind of photographer and if you paint pictures, you are some kind of artist.

After all's been said, I say you will be a professional photographer from now on.

I also think we have MANY here who would qualify as professionals, even though it was not a business for them.

E.L. Shapiro would be the one to ask. I'd like to know his take on this.

EJMcD

Please take no offense but can you help me understand what the snapshot of the dog has to do with this topic?

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

What a little cutie

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

Just a cool off reminder in case “someone” gets butthurt with a non-serious topic/thread such as this. You can clearly see to whom it is referring to as I used the “Quote Reply” button!!
….the Yorkie is cooling off in the pool… a non-professional image fo sho!!

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

Thank you, joecichjr!! 🥰

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Hi Jo!

I wrote something earlier in this thread:

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/tpr?p=14431937&t=798696

Yes, for sure, there are many extremely talented amateurs who could produce a caliber of work that would qualify as "professional" quality. Some are "retired" pros but most of the lifelong pros that I knew and know, including myself, never completely retired. They may cut down on the workload and continue on in the business, or do their photogahy for art's sake. Many of my teachers and successful photograher who I studied with or admired as a "rookie' worked well into their old age. It sounds morbid but they continued shooting, of one kind or another. 'till the day they died. This may sound lkie a cliché but if it's in your blood and your heart, you can't just walk away from it.

Talent, art, and enthusiasm aside, the BUSIESS of photography is "rough stuff. Many talented photoghers fail in business. Oftentimes
"artists" do not deal well with the demands and tedium of business. Psychologocally, professional photograhers can't always satisfy their own artistic perceptions and needs. Even if you are self-employed you are not always the boss. You meet "NEW BOSSES" every day, they are called clients, art directors, editors, let alone bank managers, accountants, and government folks. You need to satisfy THEIR requriemets, needs, and perceptions. Luckly, I can satisfy my individual artistic leanings every now and again. Some of the work is creatively and artistical challangng and some of it is mundane. You just try to do the latter as artfully as possible.

Competition, promoting the business, managing the business- some days it is a rat race and a s**t-show (excuse the language), and some days it is pure fun. It ain't for the faint of heart!

Nothing stays the same. Besides the technology, so many aspects of the buses change with the times- the challenges, the good stuff, and the market environment. You gotta be flexible and possess even more people skills than photographic skills.

Unless a person suffers from multiple personality disorder, it is hard to be an artist, tough business person, promoter, manager, chief cook, and bottle washer all the time. It's been 62 years in and I am still trying!

I ain't complaining! I love the work and the business is exciting but it certainly is not all glamour, fun, and big checks. Some days it is fun, once in a while we get some glamour, and the big cheques show up intermittently but they are hard-earned!

As they say in Brooklyn, "Dats My Take"! Best regards and thanks for asking!

Horseart Loc: Alabama

Thank you so much for your input E.L. Sorry I missed the first one. I truly agree that getting paid for their work doesn't always make one a professional. Of course one may call himself whatever makes him feel good about himself I guess. I have sold photos I made but no way will I ever be a pro photographer or even a good one. I just do my best for now.

I also agree that a true professional who naturally loves the work, will never "retire" completely.

I have painted since I was 4 years old and will surely paint as long as I am able to hold a brush. I just retired Dec 20 but now I will paint what I WANT to paint, instead of what my customers want me to paint. YAY!!!!!

I started selling my paintings when I was 16 and everything I have painted was either already commissioned or sold quickly. I have only 10 or 12 paintings that I chose to keep for myself. Two I painted when I was 8 years old.

I also taught private art lessons and the first thing I told my students was that after you do your first painting, you may call yourself an artist. You may not be a professional artist or even a good artist, but an artist just the same. You may never be the BEST artist or the WORST. Just be the best you can and remember that you will improve with every painting you do for the rest of your life.

I respect and honor your experience as a professional photographer and am happy to say I am a fan of E.L Shapiro.

Everybody please pardon any typos, but don't ever try to take my place as the World Grand Champion Typo Queen.

EJMcD

Yes I did see who you were responding to with a rather strange reply????