Forty years ago nobody would buy a Brownie box
camera and think to offer their services as a professional photographer.
Around thirty years ago Kodak and a couple other manufacturers
came out with "instamatic" cameras. Still, no one would think
that with an instamatic camera they were equipped to offer professional
photography services.
As camera technology progressed, more and more
"bells and whistles" got added to the improving models of what
then became known as "point and shoot" cameras. Still, nobody
with just a point and shoot camera would consider himself or herself
a professional photographer.
You see, back in the days before the advent of
digital cameras, film was the medium for recording photographs.
And before the invention of instamatic and point and shoot cameras,
you had to actually know how to use the controls on a camera in
order to properly expose the film to make a photograph.
Instamatic and later point and shoot cameras enabled
millions of people to make snapshots and record their lives and
those of their families and friends. Professional cameras with
changeable lenses and aperture and shutter speed controls continued
to be the tools of professional photographers and serious amateurs.
Point and shoot cameras designed for hobbyists
proliferated and millions of people began to enjoy the hobby of
photography. And certainly many got to be pretty good at composing
and creating photographs with them. But even if all their friends
told them what great photographs they made, do you think a person
with a point and shoot camera would have the gumption to claim
to be a professional and offer their services for hire? I think
not.
Now days with all the available digital SLR cameras
geared to the hobbyist consumer with a price tag that is within
the reach of many hobbyists, one cannot tell by looking at the
camera whether the user knows what they are doing or not! Why
not? Because all the DSLRs have Program modes of operation
that enable the user to use them just the same as a point and
shoot camera.
The advances of digital photography have been
absolutely wonderful! Now days a camera is a complex computer
with a lens, and most people with a little practice can make some
pretty good photographs with them. Certainly the optics for modern
DSLRs are vastly improved over the point and shoot optics of yesteryear.
The downside of all this progress is that more
and more hobbyists with nice DSLRs are marketing themselves as
professional photographers, and charging for their services without
knowing anything about photography except how to frame a picture
and press the shutter release. As a result many people are being
duped into hiring amateurs, and are buying amateur quality photographs
because they think they are getting a good deal because the price
is low. And because they don't know how to separate the amateurs
from the pros when choosing a photographer to do a job for them,
whether it be portraiture or commercial photography. Caveat emptor…Let
the consumer beware!
Stan P. Cox II is a professional portrait photographer
with over 30 years specializing in fine portraits of Families,
Children and High School Seniors. His work may be seen at Watanabe
Floral, Royal Hawaiian Heritage Jewelry, and at his website: www.ParamountPhotography.com.
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