Reply To: They can't take friendly competition!

[fstopper89]

I probably could not get a press pass unless I worked for the press… isn’t that how that works usually? I used to call myself semi-pro due to not taking much of my income from it, but amid discussions on this site people said there really is no semi-pro… you’re either pro or not. Being that I charge and advertise for my portrait photography, use high-quality equipment, and can deliver a quality product, I would consider myself a pro in that sense. Like we’ve discussed as well, there are “professional” photographers using a point-and-shoot just as JimC said. And, some of those (scarily enough) probably make most of their income with it (the $20 and free disk type).

I wouldn’t want to be getting awards from the judges just because they liked me or I had some kind of clout. That’s why they hire judges who live outside of the county so there is less chance for favoritism, and they’ve had different judges each year that I’ve entered.

I think, considering most of what I enter isn’t even portraiture, that the skills I have learned in school and through the experience I’ve had and through all the reading on the subject I’ve done, that I am still playing fair. Nothing is stopping the others from attending school, taking photography workshops, practicing, or reading up on it.

That being said, if there was a distinction in my county saying that anyone who advertises online for their photography services can’t enter, then I would not, but our county doesn’t have that rule.