Reply To: "Real" photographers are dumb

[fstopper89]

Thank goodness that photographers and doctors aren’t really in the same realm, though I’ve used similar arguments in the past to get people to think. I prefer the nail salon argument. Smaller scale, but a person who files nails must be health-department certified. You might get someone who slops on nail polish and doesn’t clean their tools and you end up with a fungus on your nails, because they’re doing it for a bargain, and not certified, etc. Still a fauxtographer isn’t *usually* putting someone in harm’s way (well, unless you’re talking those faux hanging newborns from tree branches because they have no idea it’s really a composite) but you’re generally going to get low-quality work for a huge bargain, maybe 100 photos on a disk for $25, and yet none are aesthetically-pleasing enough that you’re proud to make a 16×20 print for your living room wall or to send in Christmas cards.

I will speak on the degree thing. No, I do not have a photography degree, and actually no college degree at all. I was on the path to a degree but it didn’t work out at the time. However, having three years of college with much of that covering multiple courses in photography, art, graphic software, advertising, and some business, I will attest that those courses were VERY valuable to me and I believe they have helped me immensely. Some people may not feel the same, but that’s how I feel. And I believe if you have the chance to take these kinds of courses and want to further yourself in the photography field, you will find them to be a great help as well.