You may be a professional photographer

From a non-photographer's eyes, anyone holding a big camera will seem like a professional photographer. It's less so nowadays because affordable digital SLR is getting more and more popular. But what really makes a photographer professional. The answer may be shockingly simple.

You can look up the definition of "professional" in a dictionary, but it's really quite simple. If you get paid for taking a picture for some one, you're a professional photographer. Another equally valid definition is that if you are competent and skillfull, having and showing the skill appropriate to a professional, then you're a professional photographer. The latter is a recursive definition. :-) So, next time, when your grandma asks you to take a picture for her, ask for a buck or two for the job well-done and you'd become a professional photographer instantly.

By the above definition, I am a professional photographer. :-) Of course, it's not that simple. On one hand, I know of a lot of photographers who start charging for a job with lousy pictures to show the clients. The amazing thing is, their clients don't think the pictures are lousy. What's that famous saying? "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder!"

On the other hand, there are a lot of amazing professional photographers who do what they love in a firing passion and produce amazing photographs. They are all humble and respect each other's work. They push the frontier in photography. These are the kind of photographer I want to be one day. These are the true professional artists.