Professional or Amatuer?

[Mpulsive81]

Over the past few months I've found myself more and more interested in photography and have been learning about the basics. My gf and I have a Canon S3 IS that we bought for a concert about a year ago so I figure I'm going to start with that until I get more experience under my belt.

I've looked through this forum and I am amazed at some of the pics you guys take! So now I'm curious....how many here are amateurs and do this for fun and how many of you guys actually do this for a living? And for the those that actually sell their work, is it more of a side job or have you been able to successfully run a business off of your art?

 

[VegasPhoto]

I am a semi-pro photographer but I don't make a living from it. It's a side job for me.

 

[anubis]

I am a semi-pro photographer but I don't make a living from it. It's a side job for me.

Same for me.

 

[ThunderRobot]

For me it's another string to my bow.

I'm a graphic designer and when we hire photographers it costs around £800gbp a day.

With the current economic climate I'm putting myself in a position where I can increase my value to my boss by saying we don't need to spend that money and I'm a more versatile employee, meaning should our company be forced to reduce staffing levels (unlikely at the moment, but you never know), I'm more likely to be at the end of the list.

Added to that, it's a hell of a lot of fun.

 

[Hmac]

In 30 years of photography, I've never made a dollar from it.

 

[JNB]

I've been a shutterbug for oh, at least 45 years now, never sold a thing. I do "work for hire", as it were, sorta semi-pro stuff that's work-related, but still am not compensated other than the minor bit of pressure to improve my skills.

"Pro" or "Amateur" are so misunderstood and misused as a descriptive terms. There's many a pro out there who are talentless hacks, while some of the most beautiful and creative works are from those that do it out of nothing but pleasure.