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Professional Photography

Basically, photography is not considered as a profession. So, various individuals and institutions define the term "professional photographer" in varying ways. Any person can say that he/she is a professional photographer and charge the client for his/her services. Some standard definitions are stated below.

Professional Photographer

• He/She gathers cent percent of his/her income from photography
• This definition is essential for entry in the secret Nikon and Canon factory support organizations

Full Time Photographer

• He/She is identical to a full time career professional photographer (described below). However, he/she has failed at some other career. Then, he/she has turned towards his/her hobby (i.e. photography) and tried to make some money
• He/She is not sure for how long he/she would continue photography and when he/she would get a real job
• He/She worries about gear expenses

Full Time Career Professional Photographer

• He/She has been practicing photography for his/her complete career in a full time manner
• Since he/she has graduated from college, he/she has worked each day and for the whole day in photography
• He/She does not care about the costs of the gear. The reason is that the cost of the gear is unimportant as they would be using it for a long time

Characteristics of Professional Photography

The professional photographer

• creates images for commerce
• is conversant with the tools and is successful in generating decent images. However, he/she may fail to capture imagination
• does not worry about his/her camera, unless he/she has to repair it
• expends most of his/her time searching for photography related work and getting annoyed regarding how all the other photographers are plummeting the charges
• spends less money on camera gear in a year then he/she utilizes for film and lab fees in a month
• generally has a day job
• is never a nature photographer

Cameras used in Professional Photography

The two important features of a professional camera are their durability and utility.

Durability implies that it does not have plastic parts that would wear down. Some examples of these parts are as follows.

• Plastic lens mounts
• Plastic rewind cranks
• Plastic filter threads
• Plastic door catches
• Plastic CF card doors
• Plastic battery doors

Utility indicates that there must be instant access to all adjustments and the camera must be easy to use. Direct access is said to exist when it is through a single function button for every adjustment. Access by multi-function button or menu does not mean satisfactory utility. There must be direct access to the following.

• Quality settings
• White balance
• ISO
• Aperture
• Shutter speed
• Exposure mode

The ideal native Flash Sync Speed must be 1/500 or 1/1,000. It has to be minimum 1/250. If there is a slow sync speed, then it is difficult to obtain sufficient flash range. In this case, it is also impossible to stop action.