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Have you met one of these types of photographers?

foc said:
So what do you do if you are (among other things) a retail clerk and a professional photographer?
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Back in the pre-internet days, my local pro shops were gathering places for photographers, both commercial and fine-art. Almost invariably, I'd run into people I knew, and we'd find time to grab a cup of coffee nearby, sharing stories and talk about what we were working on. It wasn't unusual for me to get a call from a friend telling me they were heading to the store the next day to pick up film, paper, or a rental lens. It often caused me to head there for the same reason, and lunch with a friend. The "retail clerks" were knowledgeable, practicing, accomplished photographers, fully capable of offering advice and information. They knew us by name, knew what we did, and were extremely helpful and forthcoming. I miss those days...
 
Somehow, I think that in the days when I was both working as a "retail clerk" and doing professional photography, I would have dreaded encountering jtk while doing either of those things.
I found both roles incredibly satisfying, as well as definitely frustrating.
I get more joy from photography, and do better work, since I decided to look to a "truly" professional vocation for a living.
 
Sirius Glass said:
Just like the comment that led me to posting that comment.
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oops, reply made to a comment that was out of context, please accept my sincere apology, i didn't see the post foc was responding to ... my ignore function was in full working order, sorry, and please carry on ..
 
I really don’t think it’s a bad thing to have a lot of high quality , expensive gear, even if you are a beginner and don’t really know what you are doing. I’d take that any day over being a beginner with cheap and poorer quality gear. And it really doesn’t matter what the quality of images you take, or how many or often. It’s all about enjoyment, at least for me.
 

One can be sad while poor or one can be sad while rich, the latter being more comfortable.
 

Do you think pros have time to "hang out" in retail stores with clerks? Maybe our definition of "pro" is different.
 
jtk said:
Do you think pros have time to "hang out" in retail stores with clerks? Maybe our definition of "pro" is different.
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My definition of "pro" includes "active full time. That's different from wannabe and (like me) former. That doesn't diminish the cosmic importance of amateurs, pros, or retail clerks.

These aren't "types of photographers" btw. They're not "types" at all...they're people who are engaged in ENTIRELY different business, like plumbers and butchers and politicians.

I don't remember those glorious days of yesteryear when "pros" had time to sit around in pubs, jawing with retail clerks, back when they all had spare time.
 
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fwiw, I think that in the natural order of things, retail clerks move along in life...becoming mothers, dentists, professional photographers, fanatics in monasteries, homeless mothers, and opera singers.
 
jtk said:
fwiw, I think that in the natural order of things, retail clerks move along in life...becoming mothers, dentists, professional photographers, fanatics in monasteries, homeless mothers, and opera singers.
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... engineers, programmers, rocket scientists ...
 
jtk said:
My definition of "pro" includes "active full time".
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The ones I referred to are/were full time working pros, many working on national/ international ad campaigns, for major magazines, and for well known architects. They're not slackers...
Maybe your "pros" should have charged higher day rates, so they could afford an hour, or two, with friends and colleagues.
 
Sirius Glass said:
Just like the comment that led me to posting that comment.
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Even in your imaginary old times they graduated to full time truly professional photography and developed more rewarding social lives.
 
What’s your definition of “truly professional”? I guarantee these people have been working professionals for decades, making good livings from the work they produced. Do you always judge what you know nothing about?
 

The joy of professional photography had, for me, to do with personal growth and risk taking. In fact, that's also the joy my "friends and colleagues" sought when they left low paid salaried "jobs".

And, of course, we ate in better bistros and pursued more interesting lovers.
 
I must admit that I did spend some of my 34 professional years sitting around in local bistros and cafes with fellow photographers and photoshop clerks, discussing photography, composition, lighting and art.
In fact the highly intelligent discussions often carried on into the evening when we had to adjourn to the local pub.
Then digital photography arrived and ruined everything.
 

But we were told that professional photographers and photoshop clerks would not spend time sitting around in local bistros and cafes! Now we are in a quandary!













Oh, I think I know! It must be illegal in the imaginary parts of Santa Fe New Mexico for professional photographers and photoshop clerks to spend time sitting around in local bistros and cafes! Good now we can be assured that the world is in balance and we can safe sleep at night except in Santa Fe!
 
jtk said:
Do you think pros have time to "hang out" in retail stores with clerks? Maybe our definition of "pro" is different.
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Pros buy things. I sold them.
I also worked in a two person business that provided customized lab services to pros.
I also did professional work of my own.
All three overlapped with each other.
In the lab, we could and did refuse to deal with some of the pros that we dreaded dealing with.
But in the retail environment, I really didn't have that choice.
 
I belong to a 5th group!! Lomo cheap cameras, out dated film as it is cheap and a boot fair and eBay hunter for £1 cameras. Do my own bw processing, colour great local shop.

Of course it is all rather spoilt when someone then chucks out the old K1000 in my direction!

Finally there are those pin hole pictures.

No Leicas here ( but I live in hope one is thrown my way)
 
 
Well, this thread prompted me to poke around on YouTube and I "discovered" a whole world of Nikon vs. Canon vs. Sony videos etc... most of the content doesn't seem to be much concerned with how I think about photography, but some of the videos are okay, eg. this one on the Fuji GFX 100 camera - they actually talk about image making rather than just lens specs etc.
 
A professional photographer may photograph kids in a shopping mall, shoot the Pirelli calendar or take autopsy shots for the police. Each has a value to the client.
 
  • KenS
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