Professionalism is something that comes into question a lot of the time with photography. Whilst some people say you can only be a Professional Photographer if you do it full time, some suggest that you cannot even call yourself a professional photographer, because the word professional has certain connotations around its meaning (wiki it, it explains it!). How you act in your manor, is whether or not you are or are not a professional photographer. Nothing else.
Also. Manners do not cost anything, but the big photography debate of “Expensive Vs Cheap” photographers all come down to whether or not the “Cheap” are professional or not.
Surely how much anyone charges for their services as a Wedding Photographer isn’t attributed to their professionalism. Nor are how many professional bodies they are part of. Or…how many years they have been doing it.
I personally have met some rather rude photographers. Some have come to digital from film. Some have come from past generations of being photographers in the family. And some…think that manners don’t matter. Some of these are members of several professional bodies and are Award Winning and some, I feel in my opinion are just plain horrible and nasty people, or at least that’s how they come across!
The money you charge for a Wedding does not mean that you are or are not more professional than the next photographer. Also if you are part time or full time it does not mean you are any more or any less professional than the next person a long.
I do wonder that if the people who put into the arguments that “X photographer is undercutting me and stealing all my business” really need to look if that is the real reason they are getting all their business. And I feel that if the people who put as much energy into dissing said “part time and cheap photographers” as they do - then their business would be a lot better.
And then that is the other thing. Just because you are a part-time photographer generally doesn’t mean you are cheap. And just because you are an expensive photographer doesn’t mean you are full time. You are what you are. You do what you do. You get the business in. As long as your clients are happy. As long as you are getting the business. It doesn’t matter if you are full time. Part time. Half Time. Weekend Warrior, or whatever other terminology you want to call them. If you are insured. If you are earning money. If your clients are happy. AND, and this is a very big and…you are getting by. That’s all that matters.
Manners and being polite, doing your job to the best standard you can do. And people not feeling like they are getting “ripped off” then that’s great. None of that makes you a professional. It’s how you come across in your business.
I run my business full time. I am the sole photographer and chief, cook and bottle washer. I love my job. And I feel I try and have manners with my client and be as professional as I can be whilst still being friendly and keeping my clients happy.
If I was to win the lottery tomorrow…I would probably still do Wedding Photography. I’d probably happily shoot weddings at £500 a time, for a full day and an album, but limit them to 20 or even 10 per year so they were “exclusive” and why? Because I love my job. And I wouldn’t really need the money would I? It doesn’t mean that my professionalism would go down if I was charging less.
On Christmas Eve I am working for free. I ran a competition to “Win Your Wedding Photography” and the couple who won are getting married on Christmas Eve. Just because I am working for free, doesn’t mean my professionalism should be questioned in anyway. Because not only am I cheap for that wedding. I’m entirely free. ENTIRELY. Does that mean I am going to go about the wedding in an entirely unprofessional manner? No.
So the people who argue that “cheap is stealing my business” and “cheap is unprofessional” it really isn’t. Because we are all here to do a job. And the only people that matters are our clients.
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