![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Photo-with-Off-Camera-Flash_323.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I have stared at this post for days realizing that I really need to hit the publish button, but also realizing that what I say may not fall on welcome ears.\u00a0 Sometimes though, your conscience just eats at you and you realize that you will probably think about the post and it will bug you like someone tapping the same piano key over and over again.\u00a0 Did I mention I have an out of tune Baldwin in my house?<\/p>\n
Last week I got a phone call from a woman named Faby.\u00a0 The conversation started out as usual, \u201cHi my name is Faby and I need help with something.\u201d\u00a0 My response was, \u201cSure Faby, what can I do for you?\u201d\u00a0 Her voice started to get a little bit shaky and she asked me if I could edit some photographs for her.\u00a0 I asked her what she meant by that.\u00a0\u00a0 She sounded like she was about to break down in tears as she relayed the story of her wedding photos, which were just given to her recently.\u00a0 She asked me if I could brighten up dark reception photos because she couldn\u2019t even see her guests’ faces in them.\u00a0 I explained to her that it\u2019s difficult to bring up really dark photos from jpeg files and even raw files it\u2019s hard to do without it looking bad.\u00a0 Not to mention it wasn’t my work to edit and I couldn’t.\u00a0 As she went on to talk she explained that she hired a woman and in her words, \u201cShe called herself a professional photographer, so I trusted her.\u00a0 I thought she knew what she was doing.\u201d\u00a0 My heart sank as I understood why she would think this woman knew what she was doing, after all she had a web site, her photos in natural light looked good and she had professional photographer by her name.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it, we are in the age of camera phones, instagram, and every imaginable filter you can slap on a photo.\u00a0 With this inundation of photography happening all of the time, 24\/7 it begs the question, what qualifies a person as a professional photographer?<\/p>\n
Did you know that the definition of a professional photographer is someone that is paid to take a picture.\u00a0 That is all.\u00a0 If you can find someone who is willing to pay you $5 to take your picture, you are now a professional photographer.\u00a0 Scary thought right?<\/p>\n
To be a professional photographer you do not have to go to formal training, attend photography school, get a degree in photography, or have a certain number of hours photographing weddings before you can do it on your own.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know of any other profession today where people can pick up some tools and start working right away and claim they are a professional at it.\u00a0 While this is all very disturbing, I do have a point to this.<\/p>\n
Most crafts or trades require proper training and apprenticeship.\u00a0 Some jobs require that you get a certificate in that field to show you are qualified.\u00a0 Photography is a little behind the 8 ball on this.\u00a0 There is a test that photographers can take called the CCP exam but it is not required in any state I know of in order to license a photography business but perhaps it should be.\u00a0 And now it\u2019s not enough to know how to take a good photo, but you also need to have photo editing skills in this digital age.\u00a0 Even beyond that, there are many photography businesses now that are simple start ups and they don\u2019t bother to license themselves with the county, state, or the IRS.\u00a0 Why does that matter?\u00a0 Well if you have your wedding captured and the photography business you used wasn\u2019t even a legitimate business, good luck with any recourse if something goes awry.\u00a0 There are plenty of ways to find out if the business you are working with is legitimate and one way is through looking them up on your state corporation commission web site.<\/p>\n
Is this post getting long or what? Usually I post short posts.\u00a0 Hang with me a little bit longer \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
I am one that believes that everyone should pursue their passion and I don\u2019t want you to mistake my thoughts on this as discouraging others from pursuing this path because that is not at all what I\u2019m saying and if you take it as such, you are missing the point.<\/p>\n
My point is simply this, capturing memories for others, especially wedding memories, is a huge deal and a very large responsibility.\u00a0 Picking up the most expensive DSLR will never make anyone a professional photographer.\u00a0 Many photographers, like myself, are self-taught and often go to workshops or take classes from professional photographers in our industry.\u00a0 This is helpful and I encourage everyone that is pursuing photography to find your areas of weakness, know them, and seek out ways to learn everything you can about it so that you can master that weakness and make it a strength.\u00a0 If you want to photograph weddings but you know that you don\u2019t have the skills to photograph with flash photography, then learn about it.\u00a0 Offer to second shoot for a photographer you respect.\u00a0 I can promise you they will help you in your areas of weakness.\u00a0 This is an industry that wants to help up and coming photographers.\u00a0 Is this a competitive industry and will you find those that don\u2019t want to help you?\u00a0 Of course, but the same could be said for any field.\u00a0 At the end of the day, most photographers just don\u2019t want to get calls from regretful brides like Faby, who can\u2019t go back and get those photos redone.\u00a0 They were pictures of her guests and she deeply regrets that decision to hire the \u201cprofessional\u201d photographer.<\/p>\n
If you are an aspiring wedding photographer and you know you don\u2019t know everything you need to handle any kind of photography situation from a dark church, to photographing large groups, to handling the wedding day timeline, then do your future brides a favor and work first to gain that expertise and once you are adequately skilled, then offer your services.\u00a0 Have respect for this craft of photography that so many have worked so hard to learn and love.\u00a0 We do photography not because we think it’s a fast way to lots of money because it isn’t.\u00a0 We do it because we can’t imagine doing anything else.\u00a0 Think about the people you are serving.\u00a0 Think about the importance of these memories and have the humility to turn down work you know you aren\u2019t qualified for until you are qualified to do it.<\/p>\n
There is nothing wrong with admitting you don\u2019t know everything and still have more to learn.\u00a0 Guess what?\u00a0 We all have more we need to learn.\u00a0 That\u2019s what life is all about, learning and improving.\u00a0 We all need to start somewhere and that\u2019s okay, I get that and I’ve been there too; we\u2019ve all been there.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid of your weak areas.\u00a0 Be willing to acknowledge them and conquer them; confidence will be yours and the clients you desire will be right there with you.\u00a0 It\u2019s empowering to know you can handle any situation that comes your way.<\/p>\n
And with all of that off my chest, go and have a great weekend!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have stared at this post for days realizing that I really need to hit the publish button, but also realizing that what I say may not fall on welcome ears.\u00a0 Sometimes though, your conscience just eats at you and you realize that you will probably think about the post and it will bug you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[243],"class_list":{"0":"post-8748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business","7":"tag-photography-business","8":"entry","9":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8752,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8748\/revisions\/8752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dujourblog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}