We see images everywhere, on posters, on sidewalks and in the sides of trucks and automobiles. They are so common that we often don't notice them. It is the very success of photography that means that it is often taken for granted and always undervalued. Yet all of those pictures has been considered, shot and then placed with care and attention. Whether it is a soap powder advertisement or a picture of last night's baseball game, every photo is created to tell a story. The fact that we don't need to read the copy, or in some cases even know the context, is evidence of how tuned into photography we really are.
Yet with the advent of the camera phone and low cost digital photography, it now appears that anybody can manufacture a fabulous photograph. These amateur photos flood media websites, are uploaded onto thousands of emails and help to define peoples' public personas. Any public event is festooned with iPhone, iPad and camera phone coverage. No website or facebook page is complete without showing these grainy, unfocussed, often meaningless photographs. The bald truth is that basic photography is now more accessible than ever before - and cheaper. The camera phones that are on the market now could compete comfortably with the professional digital cameras from a few years ago and are a lot more flexible. So does is all this photographic technology and these budding photo-journalists really spell the nemesis of professional photography?
The phrase "Got an iPhone - now I am a photographer" strikes fear throughout the photo industry, as professional photographers watch their incomes wither and their commission rates butchered. It must be hard to think that professional photography has any leif left in it at all. But it must be remembered that the Facebook photographers are often just recording events, rather than creating photographs. Their grainy, out of focus images represent their memories of the time itself and are just as ephemeral. If they want an image to last for years and still make them smile, or they need an image to strike a chord with people outside of their immediate circle of friends, they will need an image that was designed, contemplated and shot with the highest quality in mind.
So is the profession of photographer doomed? You might think so if you read their forums. Editorial photographers specifically have had a hard time as media try to cut costs and rely more heavily on reader generated content. Newspapers and magazines can now access any number of image sources across the web and download exactly what they want straight away. The need to commission a professional to photograph a stock image, or to send a photographer to an event 'just in case' has disappeared.
Advertising and commercial photography are also suffering as companies cut expenditure and are able to find stock photos from all around the world. However there are niches which, whilst suffering from the economic pressures, are otherwise healthy. Wedding and family photography, special event photography and even animal photography still have the potential to earn a professionala living - because a client will always want high quality when it involves something that is really important to them.
It is unfortunate to see that many editorial photographers still sneer at this kind of photography. These are the people who have been the most adaptable over the years - not just in terms of their jobs, but also in adapting the new technology and practices. They flipped from film to digital from dark rooms to photoshop and from wire machines to laptops in what seemed to be hardly any time at all. Now they need to summon their energies once more to find - and in some cases create - new demand for their profession. They may need to spread their craft across stills and video, photograph weddings and horses, and provide CDs or web downloads, to keep up with what is industry standard, but there are photographers already out there who are offering these services and they are prospering. The Profession of photographer is not dying, it is evolving and the fittest will survive.
Yet with the advent of the camera phone and low cost digital photography, it now appears that anybody can manufacture a fabulous photograph. These amateur photos flood media websites, are uploaded onto thousands of emails and help to define peoples' public personas. Any public event is festooned with iPhone, iPad and camera phone coverage. No website or facebook page is complete without showing these grainy, unfocussed, often meaningless photographs. The bald truth is that basic photography is now more accessible than ever before - and cheaper. The camera phones that are on the market now could compete comfortably with the professional digital cameras from a few years ago and are a lot more flexible. So does is all this photographic technology and these budding photo-journalists really spell the nemesis of professional photography?
The phrase "Got an iPhone - now I am a photographer" strikes fear throughout the photo industry, as professional photographers watch their incomes wither and their commission rates butchered. It must be hard to think that professional photography has any leif left in it at all. But it must be remembered that the Facebook photographers are often just recording events, rather than creating photographs. Their grainy, out of focus images represent their memories of the time itself and are just as ephemeral. If they want an image to last for years and still make them smile, or they need an image to strike a chord with people outside of their immediate circle of friends, they will need an image that was designed, contemplated and shot with the highest quality in mind.
So is the profession of photographer doomed? You might think so if you read their forums. Editorial photographers specifically have had a hard time as media try to cut costs and rely more heavily on reader generated content. Newspapers and magazines can now access any number of image sources across the web and download exactly what they want straight away. The need to commission a professional to photograph a stock image, or to send a photographer to an event 'just in case' has disappeared.
Advertising and commercial photography are also suffering as companies cut expenditure and are able to find stock photos from all around the world. However there are niches which, whilst suffering from the economic pressures, are otherwise healthy. Wedding and family photography, special event photography and even animal photography still have the potential to earn a professionala living - because a client will always want high quality when it involves something that is really important to them.
It is unfortunate to see that many editorial photographers still sneer at this kind of photography. These are the people who have been the most adaptable over the years - not just in terms of their jobs, but also in adapting the new technology and practices. They flipped from film to digital from dark rooms to photoshop and from wire machines to laptops in what seemed to be hardly any time at all. Now they need to summon their energies once more to find - and in some cases create - new demand for their profession. They may need to spread their craft across stills and video, photograph weddings and horses, and provide CDs or web downloads, to keep up with what is industry standard, but there are photographers already out there who are offering these services and they are prospering. The Profession of photographer is not dying, it is evolving and the fittest will survive.
About the Author:
Andy James has worked in the photography industry for over twenty years. He has a particular interest in the evolution of digital photography. To learn more about the new Nikon D7100 click here. The site will also have information about the Nikon D7100 release date and offers great advice about how to Use Nikon DSLRs.
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