Professional Photography Career Guide

Professional photography career guide - Artistic vs. technical talents as a professional photographer (inspiration vs. perspiration)

There seems to be two different types of talent that matter in the world of professional photography; artistic talent and technical talent. If God blessed you with both, you have it made. If He didn’t, not to worry, you can still make a good enjoyable living as a professional photographer. I know, because I’ve done it.

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I consider artistic talent to be that intangible ability to know and produce things that look good. I call it a “good eye”, for lack of a better term. All of us have some ability to compose and recognize good light, but some people are born with an “advanced degree” right from birth. Those are the people that have the greatest potential for success in this business. All they have to do is learn about the business of photography, have a decent personality, and master the technical end of photography. All doable things… These are the people that make it big and end up being the ones all the rest of us slobs look up to. These are the people that make the really big bucks in the industry. I’d say that about 1% of all professional photographers are gifted with all these talents. And don’t forget that I’m talking about all the existing professionals, not including all the people that tried to be professionals and failed.

Don’t worry though. Even if you’re not one of the artsy / gifted ones, and even if you don’t consider yourself to be artsy at all, you can probably learn to be a little artsy, I said probably. That’s what happened to me. Growing up, I was never accused of being an artistic child. I couldn’t draw, my clothes didn’t match, and the art world just didn’t interest me at all. The thing that attracted me about photography was the hardware. I still remember fantasizing about that Canon F-1 in camera store window. It was kinda weird actually… But after I got into photography school, things changed a little. I began to realize that many art principles were very learnable and after a while, they just became second nature and then they just became subconscious likes and dislikes. So even if you’re not a born artist, there is hope for developing at least a decent artistic eye. Having said that, I know many from school that never were able to develop that eye. You probably won’t know if you can develop your eye until you give it some time and effort. Make sure the school you choose, has other majors, just in case. :+)

The other photography related talent is the ability to deal with the technical end, or the craft of photography. You need to learn how to make the camera work, the computer work, and the lighting equipment to work. Not only to work, but to do something “interesting” with it. This talent is definitely learnable, but it helps if you posses a certain curiosity and interest in these things. For me, it all stemmed out of that camera shop window. There was something about the dials and buttons on that camera that tripped my trigger. The ironic thing is that I’m not, by any means, considered to be a “handy” kinda guy. Ask my wife… But there is something I like about using my lights to fix photographic problems. And there’s something about computers that attracts me also. I guess I’m lucky in that way.

I hope that I didn’t scare you earlier about mentioning the top 1%. The thing you need to remember is that there is a market for all kinds of photographers, from the really good to the not so good. And most of these can make a decent living as a professional photographer. It’s just that the really good ones find it easier and more profitable. The truth is that there is a market for different levels of photographers because there are different clients with different needs and perceptions. For example, you might love to have you portrait done by Annie Lebowitz (sp?) but you probably couldn’t afford to pay her. So that means you’re in the market for a less expensive photographer, and depending on just how cheap you are, depends on the talent level you’ll be willing to settle for. It’s not only price that makes the difference, but also the perception of the client. There are clients, in all markets of photography, that wouldn’t know superior quality if it jumped up and bit them in the butt. You know that “artistic eye” I was talking about earlier? These people don’t have one. They know that they want or need photography, but to them it’s a commodity. They can’t tell good from bad, but they still have money to spend and there will be some photographer there to take it. So the point I’m trying to make is, even if you end up being just a mediocre photographer, you can still do relatively well.

Grow or die. Meritocracy is never anyone’s goal. Every photographer needs to improve as they continue in the profession. They need to improve all their talents and skills, and they need to keep on developing that artistic eye. If you don’t continue to improve as a photographer, you will find that the guy down the street will be. And soon, you’ll find you market share shrinking along with your bank account. One way I like to do this is to visit lots of web sites and to make it a point to keep up on what’s “hot” at the local magazine shop or book store. Two web sites that are really good for checking out really good photography, are the Blackbook can the workbook. These are ad spaces for some of the top 1% I was talking about earlier.

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