I was wondering if there was a significant defining event or occurance in your photography where everything just came together and your images finally took on that "pro" or "rockstar" quality? Was it just shooting over and over, or a particular workshop that finally popped your eyes open, finally getting a grasp on post processing, or something else? Care to share?

I became a pro when people started writing me checks to shoot for them.

From the first Kodak Instamatic 104 I ever picked up, all of my photographs were of "rock star" quality. It wasn't that way for you?













Just kidding.
I guess ever since looking at good photographs and trying to emulate the photographers, my images have been salable. Whether they're "pro quality" or not is up for debate.

OH man, what a great question! I have a few moments in my life. I also have a bunch of band dudes walking in the door. I'll come back to this one. Quickly though...

This shoot....



Was a defining shoot for me in my career. It was a test shoot for the model in the photo.

Cheers,
Zack

+1.

Also, I think a lot of what being a "pro" means is being consisent. To me the biggest difference between amatures and pros is consistency and "knowing" how things are going to turn out.

Amatures often great great results, but they can't do that consistently day after day. It doesn't mean you never have an "off day", but your results are always at least acceptable to you and your clients.

That comes with just shooting a lot. It's sorta a what came first, the chicken or the egg kinda debate. When you shoot a lot you get consistency. When you turn pro you end up shooting a lot.

I think legally you are a pro when the profession is 50% or more of your income!

For me, just one day I said, Ok i'm a pro now! I called myself a student for a long time!

That's a great way of looking at it. I never thought of it that way. I know I am still an amateur and strive to get consistent results but know that I still have a lot to learn. I often have an idea in my head and most of the time I am able to translate it through my work but it is still very inconsistent.

Thanks for making me ponder that for a bit!
Trevor

I've said this in a thread before but I think it's funny so I'll repeat it...

Here's what a well-known professor/director of photography (many books published with his images) told me in the beginning:

The difference between an amateur and a professional is that the professional gets paid. Being a "professional" doesn't mean you're good. Prostitutes are professionals; they get paid for what they do.

Seriously... I know.

Mike,
Probably won't be too many agree with this, but my images took on a "pro" quality when I acquired "pro" equipment. I know there's a huge aspect to the art side and to actually learning to see light in a way that's going to turn out awesome imagery, but it helps SO much when I know I can reach into my bag and pull out a 1.2 or a 200 2.8 IS or a 300 2.8 IS or mult 580's or a 16 2.8L ...or a 5D or a ....you get my drift. It wasn't until I acquired the equipment that I started REALLY learning the boundaries of what can be accomplished with it. And I haven't even goten CLOSE to the boundaries..and, of course, I still have a LONG way to go and I will never stop learning.

Please don't misunderstand me, I know that really awesome images can be captured with a cell phone, it's just I really dig the capabilities of my hi-end stuff!
Cheers!
michael

I think it was the day I got a phone call from a guy who claimed to be my images' agent, he said they no longer appreciated our working arrangement and there were going to be some major changes or they'd just plain leave me.

I think that's when my images turned pro.

I think it still took me a while to consider my self a pro even after I was totally self employed with photography. I am my biggest critic, and always want better. Even with all the raves and compliments from clients, I never felt that way. With the internet and blogs out there, you can see everyones work. I am blown away by others work and post processing. I was consistent as a fim shooter. i think now I am striving for better results with post processing. Photoshop is a beast, and I am always learning something new all the time. Even though I consider my self a professional, it still has a wierd feeling to it. i have been self employed for quite a while now too.

As far as specific events go, it would be the time I brought home my first DSLR from the store. The other time that someone told me thier step daughter was getting married and if I could do the wedding. I did that wedding for free and sold 600 worth of prints from it. I think right now is another defining time for me. I've booked more weddings the last 7 days than I have in the past year (that's not saying a lot though). I also have more meetings lined up next week. If January keeps going like this, I will be able to quit my full-time job, and my life will be really different!

These are all great responses folks!! I really like the consistentcy thought. Not going to sell much without being consistent. Builds a lot of confidence when you see a high percentage of usable shots from a shoot.

Equipment I think does help! It certainly did when I was playing musical instruments. It has with my 5D and a couple lenses. And LightRoom has made a difference in getting a look I like without the complexity of PS.

Being a pro...well attitude is everything. There was a thread here not too long ago where someone said when do you starting calling yourself a pro? IF you keep calling yourself an amateur you will stay one. When some asks "are you a photographer" (pro), I now say yes!

Zack, nice shots! I would love to hear more about why this shoot was such a defining moment for you!

Anybody else? Any defining moment that you can put a finger on that clicked in your mind "I just moved up a level", where your imaging stayed at this level consistently until your moved up another level?

Thanks gang!!

Actually for me it was while I was in college in florida. I was taking a ton of science classes and had decided to take an elective to ease my 15 hours of science (after all one can only do organic chemisty, physics and microbiology so many hours a day:)

so I took a photojournalism class.... I was the only non-major in the class and I kept ace-ing the assignments and my prof liked one of my collections on the local firefighters so much he showed it to a friend at the paper and all of a sudden I was getting published (they did a whole series on this) and asked me to shoot more events...... before I knew it I was shooting part-time (seniors and other paper stuff) throughout college. I still love it to this day and probably always will..... not sure how I ended up doing weddings but the photojournalism side always drives the weddings I shoot.

L lenses

Interesting question. In college I worked about 15-20 hours a week at a newspaper. I was playing golf one day and a guy I was playing with asked me what I do for work. I said "I, uh, I work for the paper taking pictures." he said "so you're a photographer." It never really hit me until then because I was part time and very lowly paid and kind of just did it to have fun. Honestly though, I didn't feel like a pro until my first real paycheck. Not for the money but for the knowledge that someone felt my ability was good enough to pay $2K for a day of using my cameras.
As far as my images looking pro I think that is a different issue. I always noticed that my favorite images were very refined and simple whereas mine were a bit too busy. I worked for a long time to get the look I like and it wasn't until then that I really felt like I was at a pro level.

Jim! You have finally resurfaced!! Been missing your input here!!

I dont disagree about "L" lenses. Image quality - color, contrast, sharpness, low-light ability makes a big difference in the look and feel of the image.

I also think that getting a DSLR has made a big difference. Certainly the instantaneous feedback of digital imaging has sped up the learning curve. Also, learning to deal with a diminished dynamic range has made a difference. And having to "be the lab" through digital development lets you analyze every part of an image, picture after picture after picture.

Wish I were joining you for Elevate. I would be willing to bet that a G$ workshop would push things to another level (as well as a few other workshops that I can think of).

Boredom!

(and that's a good thing)

Marc

One of the benefits of retaining one's "amateur status" (regardless of whether or not you are paid, have high end gear or capture awesome images with consistent regularity) has to do with your motivation to shoot. Of course, I'm not talking about being naive or doing dumb things where people mumble "amateur" under their breath. I'm more pointing to the Olympic Athlete who can't not compete even if they tried.

I'm someone who shoots professionally but will continually fight to be motivated not by getting my next gig but for the love of the game. I just love shooting and I hope it stays that way my whole life! I'm not sure it's wise to race to "turn pro" at the cost of forgetting why you got into this thing in the first place. Even greats like Joe Buissink embody this mentality!

Mike,

2006 was huge for me. I was shooting $800 - $1,500 weddings with film, putting all the prints in a flip album and scanning the negatives.

March 2006 - Pictage PartnerCon. Saw DJ's website and went to check it out. Met DJ, listened to Denis Reggie, got inspired.

April 2006 - Spent 4 days with Denis Reggie. Major turning point in my life. How I looked at what I was doing, switching to digital. Dropped some serious funds on 30d and L lenses, new computer, Photoshop CS, etc.

August 2006 - Launched my new BluDomain website with the weddings I shot digital May - July. Huge confidence boost. Seeing my images in that format actually made me believe. The brides going crazy over it, booking 18 out of 18 weddings even while drastically increasing prices. Best $800 spent as far as return.

September 2006 - PartnerCon LA. Met Davina who I had been emailing and who I respect tremendously. Mentored with Jules Bianchi and decided that I did like flush mount albums - Jules rocks on the albums! Met Mark Adams and Davide Greene. Presentations by Mike Colon, Me Ra Koh, etc.

November 2006 - Booked my first $5,000 package thanks to Laura Kelley and Julie Ambos sending some OSP love my way. Pictage asked me to start a PUG in NC out of over 100 other photographers.

The next chapter is the LaCour workshop in February and hopefully a Mike Colon workshop when he announces the next one.

You already know the power of OSP and ShowIt, which was my first step. I would highly recommend either Denis' workshop or LaCour's April workshop for you. You are right there in Atlanta and wouldn't have the additional hotel/travel expenses that others do.

peace and happiness!
regina

Ask me this about animal photography and I could tell you. About weddings - no idea. But then, I don't think I'm a "rock star" yet. That's why I'm not charging rockstar prices. Some day I will, though.... So I fully expect to become a wedding photography rockstar. With patience and more practice. Ha, ha!

I agree that consistency and being able to predict shot outcomes is huge. So is the fact that people are even willing to pay for your work. I think that says a lot.



Completely +1-ing you, RBothwell! I feel the same way. I'm self-employed (split between photography and sculpting) and it still feels "not right" to call myself a professional, mostly because I feel like I still have SO much to learn before it really "flows" easily for me, without having to stop and think hard about shots.

Awesome way of putting it Dane. For me, it's when I started losing sleep because I just couldn't wait for the next day so I can start shooting again. I was photographing anything and everything, then eventually I fell in love with photographing moments between people. And before I knew it, I was getting paid to do what I fell in love doing!

the Digital camera and photoshop!!!! With the digital camera I just took some manyshots....I worked the subject until I started to know what angel looked professional and what angle looked like a snap shot.....and then adding
a photoshop action to the image just makes it look beautiful!!!!!

Great responses everybody!!!

Regina, thanks for the timeline, looks like you had an awesome year! I think the workshops are extremely important - so much inspiration, life altering at times. Yes, LaCour is on my list of futures (they are such a great group!), as well as 3 or 4 others I think are "gotta attend". I learn visually, so for me workshops are important!

Love that one Marc - boredom - man isnt that the truth!! Nothing like boredom to give you a quick kick in the rear to try to pull yourself up to the next level!! Love of shooting - I dont think I could do this if I ever lost the love of shooting and the quest for that next beautiful image!

For me, one milestone that took my images to the next level was improving my post processing. Also discovering Kubota's PS actions. From that point I could efficiently tweak my images to a quality that could be somewhat comaprable to commercial art.

Fe

Fred, I totally agree with this. I am certainly no PS guru, and dont have years to figure it out, so actions can be a big help in getting the polish on the image. LightRoom has made a big difference in just getting basic adjustments done quickly. I would love KK actions if for nothing other than magic sharpen.

Michael, I agree with you! I think that the quality of your equipment so much to do with whether or not your images look professional. I also feel that you can be considered a professional when you are being paid, but I have always felt that without good equipment, your images really can't be THAT great. I think BOKEH has a lot to do with professional-looking images, too.

After being a serious aspiring fine art photographer for many years I had the good fortune to meet and hang with Ansel Adams. I soon learned from Ansel and the many other legendary artistic photographers that I met that being a passionate fine art photographer has it's drawbacks:

1. It doesn't pay very well. The galleries make far more than the artist. When Ansel's "Moonrise" prints were selling at auction for $25,000 each all Ansel was paid for the prints was $900 or less.

2. Being discovered by the art world stifles your evolution as an artist. You become known for a particular type of image. With Ansel it was landscapes. With Uelsmann it was using multiple segments of different negatives to print collages. Unlike the common thought from the outside looking in, if the artist evolves (as all true artists do) and decides to go into a different direction or subject area the public and especially the galleries from which he depends for his livelihood will not respond favorably.

So, I did commercial work and kept my personal work just for myself and friends. I never tried to become a name on the gallery scene.

Consequently, I can decide today to pick up my camera and for myself shoot anything I want. It's both liberating and very therapeutic.

As for when I turned "pro." It was when I could visualize the image I wanted and knew in my mind that my camera would record my vision as I intended.

Rick

Kinda late reply but well said Dane!

I for one am driven by passion - I just love photography and love the community surrounding it.

There is something about "capturing the moment" ....

It is like nothing else, and I think photography attracts just nice people for the most part.

We all live for the moment that we all can touch someones emotions just in a photograph of that single moment in time.

By the way, I am really a newbee around here as of about a week or so, and so far love it here!

Cheers to a fantastic 2007 for all of us.

Dave Safley

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