Professionalism

I’ll start this particular ramble by saying up front that I’m not a member of the AIPP or ACMP – that’s important, as you’ll find out soon enough. I’m also not a member of the Nikon Secret Society or the Canon Divinity. In all these cases, I meet their entry requirements on all counts except one – I don’t pursue my photography full time. (to be clear though, I’m also a Canon shooter so I’d not want to be a Nikon Pro member anyway!)

The AIPP and ACMP membership requirements are largely the same – both place most emphasis on duration of working commercially as a photographer, although the AIPP does also emphasise ethics and behaviour quite heavily…

Why is all this important? Well, IMHO (and this whole ramble is simply an opinion from my perspective, not a critique of the industry), I feel I belong to a new breed of “professional photographer”, a group of highly conscientious, highly motivated photographers who understand that being a professional and having professionalism relies entirely on reputation and credibility, and has absolutely zero to do with whether I get paid to be a photographer, how long I’ve been commercial for or what industry body I pay a fee to so I can get their tick.

I have a tendency to write rather long rambles that often turn into rants, but we’ll avoid that this time!! But I must say I smiled when I saw that one of the well-known industry commentators, Ken Rockwell has quite a few things to say about the notions of “professional” and “professionalism. So bear with my while I let him do my talking (and I recommend you read the whole articles, they’re not that long and definitely interestin!):

From his article “What is a Pro Photographer”:

Because photography isn’t a profession, different people and organisations define a “professional” photographer very differently.

Anyone can call themselves a professional photographer, and charge you for it.

Most of us would agree that the definition of “professional” is enough to start a flame war! Everyone has a different opinion, as Ken points out in this article:

People bicker over shades of meaning of “professional,” but the real issue is that they’re each discussing different levels. Professional means three different things when applied towards a camera, an occupation or a person’s behavior.

And what does Ken mean in his earlier statement, that photography isn’t a profession?? Interesting… as Ken goes on to say in his article “Photography is not a profession”:

Anyone can behave in a professional manner. Everyone should.

Professionalism is doing what you promise. Professionalism is being on time, following through and always working in the customer’s long term best interests.

One’s demeanor is not one’s occupation. One can act professionally if not engaged in a profession. One can be professional without being a professional.

To be fair, some parts of that article were a little on the satire side, but he does make an interesting point – behaving professionally is quite different to being a professional, per se. I think we’ve all come across our fair share of badly behaved professional photographers, while I personally happily recommend quite a few “amateurs” who conduct themselves with such amazing professionalism that the “pros” could learn a thing or two from them!!

The following statements are really interesting, and perfectly sum up the problem with photography as an industry:

Anyone can call themselves a photographer. Yes, you can have a degree from Brooks or some certification from photography trade groups, but it’s not required and people who might hire you don’t care. They don’t have to, and even if they do care, they’ll keep that to themselves to hire you for bottom dollar.

There are many photography organisations that hand out certifications. These organisations consist of photographers looking out for themselves. Photographers handing out certifications amongst themselves don’t count to people who might hire them.

Surely Ken is not saying that the market for photographers is heavily geared towards lowest price and less towards qualifications or industry memberships? With the advent of digital, it is more difficult for photographers to differentiate themselves when the gear can achieve “middle of the road” as the baseline!! Ken agrees, as the article continues:

As a photographer you need to learn how to differentiate yourself from all the other turkeys out there. Maybe you went to Brooks and that’s great. Clients have no idea about Brooks. It’s your job to educate them.

All salespeople learn to differentiate their product or service from their competitors. Your success is critically dependant on your ability to educate others why your photographs or photography services are superior. If you can’t you’re going to get bottom dollar every time.

{snip}

If you can’t differentiate yourself, you’ll walk into every potential job and believe the standard baloney lines like “we only budgeted this much for the job today, but if we like your work we have another project coming soon for which we can pay you much more.” If you won’t take their lowball offer, the next guy will.

Traditional photographers hate this, the new reality of the industry. High quality digital moved in and became affordable at a speed they weren’t expecting, and their businesses hadn’t planned for. Those that adapted quickly, embraced the opportunities the next generation of technology afforded them, and differentiated themselves continued to be successful. Chase Jarvis gets a regular mention in my posts on this topic – he knows the BUSINESS of photography, as well as being a good shooter. Note that I only said good – sure, he’s better than me, actually he’s awesome, but according to his retoucher Scott in this article, only 25% of Chase’s images would make it through stringent stock photo technical requirements!! But I digress – that’s the BUSINESS of photography…

I think this forum post sums it up best, and highlights how a particular designation/certification/qualification, while interesting and possibly useful, should not be the only data point used when selecting a photographer:

A doctor that graduated last in their class, doesn’t keep current with the latest medical research, and has a lousy bedside manner is still allowed to call themself a doctor.

In conclusion (and thanks for staying with me thus far!) – am I going to join AIPP or ACMP? Not any time soon… Do I care if I can’t get Canon professional service? Not at all. But my photography is extremely important to me, and I approach it with complete professionalism and dedication to my craft. My clients (when I choose to engage on a project) are my priority and get the best service I can possibly provide. And I do it because I’m passionate about it – not because I need to do the bare minimum to get the cash and move onto the next gig!

I shoot weddings if anyone is interested and requires a professional photographer – I’m not cheap, but I stand by my service and results. And that’s what makes me different. If you want cheap, there’s a big pool of cheap for you to choose from!

—

Side note – the completion of ShutterClass Studios is imminent, although the waiting time for things to dry is definitely testing my patience!! Luckily a little warm weather is now working in my favour (although less humidity would be nice!). Once the corner cyc is done and a few cleanup things are resolved, it will be full steam ahead! Just in time for me to return to my day job, isn’t it always the way…