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View Poll Results: Are you a "pro" photographer?
YES, i work full time as a photographer and fully charge 53.88%
SOMETIMES, i charge just sometimes but photography is not my full time job. 2720.93%
NO, most of my job i do it as a hobby 7658.91%
IN THE FUTURE, im planning to become a full time photographer in the near future 107.75%
USED TO BE, im not working as a photographer at this time. 118.53%
Voters: 129. You may not vote on this poll

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02-16-2016, 02:27 PM   #1
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Do we have "pros" around here?

Im wondering how many people works actually as a photographer and uses Pentax gear? By pro, i mean people that actually charge for their pictures, as a full time job or as a partial job.

02-16-2016, 02:32 PM   #2
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Quite a few, and then some!
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02-16-2016, 02:35 PM   #3
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nice
02-16-2016, 02:44 PM - 1 Like   #4
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What about those who sell work at exhibition, shows, fairs etc on a regular basis ? Professional or semi-pro or what ?

02-16-2016, 02:47 PM   #5
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Kinda sorta not really?

I do not rely on photography to put food on the table.

I do however have a monthly goal to make sure dayhome/child care is paid for and expenses/profits balance by year end. This means in addition to my regular day job I do try to post $1500-$2000 worth of sales. But, if I don't earn a dime I don't really care.

2016 has been a 3/4 split of customer/creative work. The fun thing is that creative work can lead to more paid work.

According to the tax man I'm a pro.... they seem to want money every year....
02-16-2016, 02:47 PM   #6
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What about freelance writers who use Pentax gear for images in their work?
02-16-2016, 02:47 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by BarryE Quote
What about those who sell work at exhibition, shows, fairs etc on a regular basis ? Professional or semi-pro or what ?
do you rely on photography to put food on the table?

I choose #2 based on the fact I don't rely on it to put food on the table, but most of my shooting is paid work.

02-16-2016, 02:49 PM   #8
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I don't know how to describe myself. I work a full-time job and have ambitions to do wedding photography on the weekends. I have found success doing engagement photos and some events though. But then again I'm just starting out.

I won't consider myself a "pro" until I'm doing this full time to the point I can comfortably quit my day job!
02-16-2016, 02:55 PM   #9
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Well, i guess that if you dont mainly get your income based on photography it means that it is not your profession (at least not now), on the other hand, if most of your income comes from photography ( weddings, sports, landscape, etc, etc, etc ) and you do it as a full time job, it means that you do it in a professional way ( it doesnt mean that you are good or bad, it just means that most of the income comes from photography )
02-16-2016, 03:08 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by Wired Quote
do you rely on photography to put food on the table?

I choose #2 based on the fact I don't rely on it to put food on the table, but most of my shooting is paid work.
It was the ' charge' word that bothered me. 'Rely ... for food on table' ? Nop, not that basic, but there will be many of us who cover less fundamental needs with their Pentax kit. So maybe a 2+ option is needed ?
02-16-2016, 03:20 PM - 1 Like   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by BarryE Quote
It was the ' charge' word that bothered me. 'Rely ... for food on table' ? Nop, not that basic, but there will be many of us who cover less fundamental needs with their Pentax kit. So maybe a 2+ option is needed ?
So that might be option 2, cuz is not your full time job but you charge/sell your job in regular basis... the key words here are "full time job"
02-16-2016, 03:48 PM   #12
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I'm full time, but I don't charge -- I get paid my salary. I still put option 1
02-16-2016, 03:53 PM - 1 Like   #13
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I wouldn't define a professional as someone who makes money off of an expertise or who charges. I would say that a professional is someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery of a field. I have sold photos and even services, but that does not make me a pro. Even if I earned all my money off of photography, that would not make me a pro. I'd rather, then, that you phrase the issue as "who makes money, or tries to make money, from photography".
02-16-2016, 04:20 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by sholtzma Quote
I wouldn't define a professional as someone who makes money off of an expertise or who charges. I would say that a professional is someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery of a field. I have sold photos and even services, but that does not make me a pro. Even if I earned all my money off of photography, that would not make me a pro. I'd rather, then, that you phrase the issue as "who makes money, or tries to make money, from photography".
It depends of the terminology.. a professional is a person that do a certain job as a profession.. but it doesnt mean that the job is great, ofcourse we can assumed that because this person do it as a profession the job will have to be better than the average people, but thats not the case all the time. Same as for example soccer players and amateur players, there are some great great players that play just for fun, that doesnt make them professionals, on the other hand, if they play and most of their income comes from this ( even if they are not so good ) it makes them professional or... pros.

According with Wikipedia:

QuoteQuote:
Professional

A professional is a member of a profession or any person who earns their living from a specified activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skills necessary to perform the role of that profession.
02-16-2016, 05:05 PM - 2 Likes   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by kooks Quote
It depends of the terminology.. a professional is a person that do a certain job as a profession.. but it doesnt mean that the job is great, ofcourse we can assumed that because this person do it as a profession the job will have to be better than the average people, but thats not the case all the time. Same as for example soccer players and amateur players, there are some great great players that play just for fun, that doesnt make them professionals, on the other hand, if they play and most of their income comes from this ( even if they are not so good ) it makes them professional or... pros.

According with Wikipedia:
The reason most people would go with the "making money" definition is that it's impossible to access and grade levels of expertise. Browse the internet (Flickr, e.g.) and you will find:
1) People who are utterly amazing and do it all as a hobby.
2) People who are utterly amazing and make a good living on their talent.
3) People who are pretty lousy and do it all as a hobby.
4) People who are pretty lousy and somehow find people to pay them to take these miserable photos. Sometimes a lot of people pay them.

You'd be amazed at how many of #4 there are. They make money, do photography as a living but are inferior to many hobbyists I've seen. Are they professionals? They still are, even though they suck.

In the case of photography, it is often more inconvenient to be considered a professional if you're not doing it for money. Example: many landmarks have a policy against professional photography. I've been asked if I am a pro several times simply because I'm taking photos with something other than a cell phone. But they don't care how good you are. They care whether you are making money.
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