What makes a photographer???

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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Scott Murray said:
Yes of course it is an open question :) I just want to know what people in this century think and feel about photography, as I feel it is losing its meaning.
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One of the things i see more and more amongst what i call the unthinking masses is the need to continually be entertained,this manifests itself in many ways look how many need to walk around playing games on the phone,pictures now take second place with these people to moving images.
At one time a moving image meant a certain amount of preparation to view,now it can be near enough instant,take a short clip on the phone and within seconds some one a few hundred ( or thousands) of miles away can be viewing it via a multitude of various platforms.
 
SkvLTD

SkvLTD

Senior Member
In this day and age, I would say a photographer is someone who delivers the utmost quality in their images. Anyone with a phone can compose a shot, maybe get lucky with lighting, but that will never match a proper camera. I personally strive to highlight that there is and a huge difference that phones will never really gap and that photographs are vastly different from snapshots.

So someone who captures a moment in utmost quality, by any means necessary.

Naturally skill, eye, and all the basics are a given.
 
P

Pretzel

Senior Member
Scott Murray said:
I have been thinking, with the event of mobile cameras. What does everyone think makes a photographer?

To me a photographer is someone that captures something that we all cannot capture. Its being able to share a single moment that possible no one else will ever see. For example my mountain gorilla photograph, this got quoted as a monkey pic. I quickly pointed out the extremes I went to capture that moment and it was no monkey experience.
I see photography as that capturing things others may never be able to capture.
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So if I capture something anyone can stop and shoot, I'm not a photographer? (stirring the pot, no offense taken or given with this comment)

Eyelight said:
In a purely definitional sense, "what makes a photographer" is holding a camera and pressing a button.

In the spirit of the art, the profession and the craft, I imagine "what makes a photographer" is passion.
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This is more along the lines of the way I think.

To tie them both together a bit, I feel like a "good" photographer can capture a moment, any moment, in such a way as to point out what others may have missed (i.e. beauty/details/circumstances others may have missed or regularly overlook), so perhaps that's a bit of your "things others may never be able to capture." Then, I think the "passion" to catch these moments at any given moment is what might push the good to GREAT, eventually, as that passion will lead to more learning, more searching, more seeing... more shooting.
 
A

Alansin

Senior Member
I may get random but here i go: (and sorry for any grammar mistakes in advance )

I think today taking a photo, will technically make you a photographer, but its like saying that if i draw a line im a painter, or if i pile rocks im a architect...

Then there is always the discussion between "technique and art"
and then more and more tabu and bs between good, or bad art, and all that crap.

As all arts mentonied above, its not about what you do, its about what you transmit with it.

i mean:

photography its not about capturing a moment, its about freezing a feeling into a image.
 
Woodyg3

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
I consider anyone who plays a musical instrument seriously a musician, no matter their style of music, the instrument they play, or my opinion of their abilities. I feel the same way about being a photographer.
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Woodyg3 said:
I consider anyone who plays a musical instrument seriously a musician, no matter their style of music, the instrument they play, or my opinion of their abilities. I feel the same way about being a photographer.
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You would change that when you hear me play anything ;)
 
T

TedG954

Senior Member
The more I read in this thread, the more I feel entertained.

I'm surprised that no one has suggested some type of qualification standard we should all meet before being allowed to post a photo. Or, some kind of ranking to show how high you are on the "real photographer" food chain. If you're a real good photographer, you could be like a Major, and if you're only taking photos because you just enjoy it, you could be a Private, or maybe a Corporal. That way we wouldn't have to guess who's a real photog and who's just a hack.

I have to admit that when that system takes effect, I'll go AWOL.
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
I've thought about this since I joined this forum, mostly in trying to decide if I could consider myself truely a photographer due to my knowledge and experience or more to the point the lack there of.

But now I feel I'm a photographer, because I have managed to capture shots showing my view of the subjects the way I see them, both in mind and showing my passion! :)

But I frankly I let others judge for themselves if they consider themselves photographers or not. I am only sure of the fact that I "feel" like a photographer myself now. :)
 
Whiskeyman

Whiskeyman

Senior Member

Photographer pho-tog-ra-pher fə-ˈtä-grə-fər
- one who practices photography; especially one who makes a business of taking photographs

Straight from Merriam-Webster! Sorry for being lazy!

WM




 
Whiskeyman

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
TedG954 said:
The more I read in this thread, the more I feel entertained.

I'm surprised that no one has suggested some type of qualification standard we should all meet before being allowed to post a photo. Or, some kind of ranking to show how high you are on the "real photographer" food chain. If you're a real good photographer, you could be like a Major, and if you're only taking photos because you just enjoy it, you could be a Private, or maybe a Corporal. That way we wouldn't have to guess who's a real photog and who's just a hack.

I have to admit that when that system takes effect, I'll go AWOL.
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One of the major attractions about this site, is that there is, and hasn't been, and hopefully never will be such pretense. There are other sites available if one should feel the need to peruse such. I though, care to not do so!

WM
 
Woodyg3

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
Whiskeyman said:
One of the major attractions about this site, is that there is, and hasn't been, and hopefully never will be such pretense. There are other sites available if one should feel the need to peruse such. I though, care to not do so!

WM
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Agreed. :)
 
Danno_RIP

Danno_RIP

Senior Member
To me a photographer is in part all the things listed above... and more. It is my Grandparents traveling across the Great Plains with my Grandfather taking pictures with his Brownie box camera. Capturing a sunset or sunrise... that picture of a baptism capturing their expression. It is working to really understand how it all comes together... gaining knowledge and using that to share something you love with others in hopes that they might see what you saw. It makes me smile.
 
A

Anco

Senior Member
That's a very loaded question and not easy to answer. We could argue semantics for as long as you want but at the end of the day if you take photos, you are by definition a photographer. It doesn't really matter if you do it on the latest gear or a 30 year old relic or even a phone.
The issue I believe you're getting at Scott is how do people personally define when someone earns the right to be called a photographer. For me, I can't really pinpoint it. I see some amazing work on this forum and think to myself, when I can produce that, I'll be a photographer. But the better I get, the more that line blurs and moves. I'm just a guy that takes photos and hopefully some people will like some of them, that's all that matters.
 
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