Twitist Forums
Qualifications for a Professional Photographer? - Printable Version

+- Twitist Forums (http://twitist.com)
+-- Forum: Facebook forums (/forum-14.html)
+--- Forum: Facebook Pages (/forum-13.html)
+--- Thread: Qualifications for a Professional Photographer? (/thread-13906.html)



Qualifications for a Professional Photographer? - Sam - 10-15-2012 08:55 PM

I have a professional SLR camera, (Im 15 btw.) I love taking pictures, and its usually of horses/horseback riding at my barn and at shows/ riding competitions. Im taking a photo class in school this year but its ridiculous because it way too basic for me...
Also I made a page on Facebook with all of my photos and stuff so that my friends can see the pictures I took of them.
my page: https://www.facebook.com/SamLBranchPhotography

Okay so, everyone at my barn, even adults keep asking me if I'm a professional photographer...
What are some of the qualifications to be a professional photographer? Is it just that you can just call yourself one? Or do you have to take classes or something?

Please no rude answers, I paid for my camera on my own.
Thanks!
Also are there any other qualifications for becoming a professional equine photographer?


- deep blue2 - 10-15-2012 09:03 PM

A professional photographer is one who makes the majority of their salary from photography. It has nothing to do with the quality of the images, as some so-called 'pros' are atrocious, whilst other keen amateurs are exceptionally skilled.

Your images are very good - but there are some exposure issues - some look a little over-exposed to me.


- Tim - 10-15-2012 09:03 PM

You only need two qualifications to be a professional photographer:


1) Access to a camera

and

2) A client willing to pay you for your work.


Thats it. Once you earn money for your work, you are a professional.


- fhotoace - 10-15-2012 09:03 PM

The first qualification you need is to be able to shoot any camera, under any conditions, any where and produce marketable images on demand

And you need to be able to make a living from your services. To do that, you need to either be a staff photographer or have a photography business that makes a profit after all your expenses are covered.

What expenses?

http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/cdb/cdbcalc.cfm