Buying a camera doesn’t make you a professional photographer

It seems that buying a good quality camera is accessible to everyone these days.

Now more than ever it is easy to run over to the closest electronic store and pick up an SLR camera. With improving technology, mirrorless cameras are becoming more popular and even better quality at a lower price.

Having a hobby of photography or being an amateur photographer and being a professional photographer are two very different things with distinct skill sets. While I am in full support of you purchasing a good quality camera and capturing moments, please do not label yourself as a professional photographer without the appropriate training.

I cringe when hearing somebody say, “Oh my uncle has a camera, so he is just going to take our wedding photos.” Professional photographers are labeled as such because they have professional experience. There is plenty of reasoning behind it. A camera doesn’t make a person a photographer — it is the person behind the lens and what training and experience they have that makes them a photographer.

If you’re an aspiring photographer, please learn and train before offering to shoot a once-in-a-lifetime moment for clients. Professional photographers hold many workshops and online trainings to teach new photographers the necessary skills. Taking classes and simply reading up on photography is going to help you gain more knowledge.

If you’re a client, please make sure your photographer has the required skills before booking with them just because they are cheap. A professional, good quality photographer will never work for free.

If a photographer doesn’t know how to shoot on manual, they aren’t a professional photographer. If a photographer hasn’t established a business, they aren’t a professional photographer. If your photographer is an “iPhone photographer,” they aren’t a professional photographer. There is a fine line between amateur photographers and professional photographers. While neither are bad, as a client you should want to hire a professional photographer.

Take this example. I like playing basketball, but to be honest I’m 5-foot-2. I alwats knew my career wasn’t going to go too far. Now let’s look at LeBron James, 6-foot-8, drafted into the NBA in 2003 who has played hundreds of professional basketball games. Who would you be willing to spend money watching? Me or LeBron? I’m sure all of you would pay money to come watch me as long as I was cheaper, right?

Point being, photography is just like any other profession: you hire professionals not amateurs.

Of course every photographer has to start somewhere, but that time and place should not be a special day you can’t get back. New photographers bring some great qualities to the table. Younger photographers also offer a different eye than those who in the business for many years. New photographers are less expensive than established photographers with a large clientele, the difference being they are not “cheap.”

Being more expensive does not simply make a photographer better. Experience and training do. So don’t assume that paying a lot of money will get you a great photographer. Understand the difference in high quality and low quality and where prices fall regarding that.

I know we all love our uncles, but don’t hire your uncle — or LeBron James for that matter — as your photographer just because he owns a camera.

— Kylee Larsen is a junior majoring in marketing with a minor in art from Idaho Falls, Idaho. She can be contacted at kyleetlarsen@gmail.com.