Amateur or Professional

by William Lulow

Are you an amateur photographer or a professional? The real difference is only that one makes money from his or her photographs while the other makes pictures because they love it. I recently made the acquaintance of a really good photographer who kept referring to me as “the professional.” He made images because he loved to and always had in mind submitting his pictures to camera club photo contests. He had studied these contests after making many submissions and developed a keen eye for the kinds of photographs his judges liked. But the difference is that I have made a living from my photographic endeavors while he has made an extensive study of photography, almost as much as I have, but decided that he wanted to show his work to these clubs rather than make money from them. Making money from any artistic endeavor takes a lot of work and more than a little knowledge of what running a business entails. And to do it successfully takes a full-time commitment as well. It’s one that I made quite a long time ago. In order to excel at something you have to devote a great deal of time, energy and study to it, no matter what it is.

Make no mistake. We both love the art form equally. I have made a career from it, starting with my own attempts then apprenticeships and working for other professionals, to opening my own studio. I learned what it takes to do photography as a business – from making proper exposures to knowing the various aspects of being in business and running it as an on-going concern. It entailed everything from hiring my own assistants to filing tax returns and keeping books to creating a viable website . There are many things that professionals do that amateurs don’t have to think about.

One of the main things that separate amateurs from professionals is that the latter have to produce salable images EVERY TIME whenever they are called upon to do so. Amateurs have the luxury of submitting their work when they wish, if that’s how they want to show it. Or, they can post their images in photo shows and exhibits like another friend of mine does. Or, they don’t have to show them to anyone but themselves. When I have worked on an image for a while, sometimes I just like to view my own efforts.

The amateur does it just for the love of the process. The professional needs to know enough to run a business, as I mentioned. That usually means having repeat business from multiple clients. So there should be no “lucky shots” from the professional. Everyone gets lucky once in a while. An amateur can possess the same skills, but may not have the experience necessary to produce reliable results every time.

These are professional headshots and portraits I have produced time and again over many years:

It’s the kind of consistency and reliability that clients have expected from my efforts for fifty years or so now.

Professionals also develop an arsenal of problem solving techniques that may or may not be known to amateurs. Here’s an example: I had a company call me to photograph a small dental product sometime last year. Here’s the image I made:

During the shoot the account person (not an actual art director) asked if I could show the small LED lights on this product. I knew immediately how to do it. I cut a small hole in the background and ran an extension cord up to it, then attached the power cord from the instrument. The lights would be recorded on the image only with a slow enough shutter speed and all the room lights turned off. Presto! Problem solved.

It’s this kind of knowledge that professionals must use every day when amateurs don’t really need to be concerned with it. Here’s another example:

I was hired by a bulb company to produce an image for a sales sheet. The art director needed to show the filaments in each bulb as well as a feeling for the glass itself. This was achieved by placing the bulbs on a piece of transparent plexiglass, getting a gradient background and placing it on the studio floor under the glass. This way, I could adjust the spot that would be best to show the bulbs on the gradient. Then I used a CROSS LIGHTING (one softbox on either side of the bulbs) because I knew that it would create a shadow in the middle of each bulb thereby showing off the filaments.

Again, knowledge of problem solving along with a knowledge of studio lighting helped make this an easy shoot.

Amateurs again, make images because they love to (that’s where the word comes from). Professionals must make images when they are called upon to do so. It’s the extra bit of knowledge gleaned from years of experience that usually makes the difference.