99.9% Will never make a living as a photographer.

Ok, now that I have your attention I will explain and qualify my statement. As great of a time as it is right now for photogaphy ,there is no worse time for the business of photography. I see these post on here, and look at people’s facebook pages, some are pretty good and some quite awful. But one common theme I see time and time again is ” I hope to one day make a living doing this. Well I am here to tell you, you will not. The odds are against you. What is even more ironic is that it is because of you that you will never be able to make a living doing photography. First let me say I am not addressing anyone who shoots truly for fun or a hobby. No matter what your skill level I would never label you a fauxtographer. Everyone learns somewhere. Get out shoot and have fun. The fauxtographers are the ones who have a camera and decide, hey I can make some money doing this and before they have any clue about what they are doing or the real expense of photography,or how to price accordingly they are giving away subpar images at pennies per image. What is worse are the ones who have some competence who do this. I do not entirley blame these people. The industry I am in is to blame as well. We will get photographs from people who are willing to give away great photos for nothing more than a by-line. 10 years ago that would not have happened. The public is also to blame in the acceptance of mediocrity, not only in photography but in all aspects of life. But for you fauxtographers out there shooting your digital camera ask yourself this. If you had to pay for rolls of film, keep a notebook of every shot so when you got the developed film back you would know your settings, pay for developing or have your own darkroom. Shoot a manual flash that you have to calculate the distance and actually know your guide number of the flash to get the proper f-stop.  Shoot where you do not get a second chance such as that wedding you are shooting for a few bucks. knowing you have the stress of getting it right the frist time, and not knowing if you got it right until the prints come back. If you would do all of these things and still want to make a living from photography then at least you have real passion. But remember this, when you get to the point where you realize all these things and go  ” hey I need to charge for what I am worth and what my real cost is” there will be another fauxtographer just like you. This is the irony, and the death of photography as a business. Sure there will always be the few stars in photogaphy, but that has more to do with business sense and marketing yourself more than being a great photographer.