A lot of people talk about photography as a career and how it is an eroding profession. Some photographers talk about the race to the bottom of the barrel in regards to image and shoot-for-hire pricing. Others discuss the difficulty in finding work when anyone with a camera seems to be in on the act and advertising their services as a professional. Many bemoan the apparent ease with which the general public can ‘play photographer’, and worse, that the old client has the same perceptions, thinking that Matthew in accounts owns a DSLR so he can shoot the next advertising campaign. This is, in case nobody noticed, the negative perception of photography as a career. I’m not in this camp, but I am a realist in the sense that I can recognize that photography has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, and as with all things that change, if you don’t learn to ride the rampaging bull you are going to fall off.
Right now we live in an incredibly exciting period for photography. The equipment that is on offer is unparalleled in it’s ability to finely record detail and tonal range. We can do things that was previously unimagined. Looking back over the last year we see the introduction of a 36mp 35mm format camera that blows away anything that we could have done with film (in terms of resolution with that format size camera). Even the price, which is admittedly high, is still lower than comparable film medium format cameras of the 15 years ago. Then there are the advances in lighting. Going into a studio one hardly sees wired cabling anymore. We can put lights anywhere the imagination gives us whim to. And Photoshop lends an imaginative hand allowing us to craft our visions in ways that were previously impossible. I can work an event now with strobes in each corner of the room and choose to fire all of them, some of them or none of them. I can even adjust their output without physically touching the flashes or even going near them. Then, when I get back to the studio I’m able to transform images from the humdrum into something exciting by pulling and adjusting tones globally and locally, all without visibly affecting image quality. Add to this the fact that the internet allows us to disseminate our work and communicate with others across the globe and the only entrance requirement is access to a computer and bandwidth. That access is allowing us to learn from others without physically making contact with them. The voluminous information available on the internet means that there are more and more photographers who are able to teach themselves the intricacies of the camera and light. But it’s also introduced a growing trend that has influenced the photographic community as a whole; the cult of photography.
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