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These are also the ones who attempt to take pictures in dark halls and rooms from a distance with their point and shoot cameras loaded with ISO 100 film. They then wonder why their photos look so dissimilar to what they remember the event to be like after picking them up from the one-hour processor at their grocery store while doing their weekly shopping. Some in this group actually own SLR cameras. They either received one as a gift, or bought one from a fit of compulsive shopping. Perhaps they even had good motives for buying something a bit more complex than a point and shoot camera, such as the birth of a child or other special event that seemed to call for a more “quality” camera. Unfortunately, they buy cameras like the Canon Rebel or Nikon F55 (or the entry-level Minoltas and Pentaxes that I have no freakin’ clue about) and never take them off Program Auto mode, so it just becomes another dumb point and shoot. They use the slow kit lens that came with the camera and the built-in flash unit. They load a roll of film in the camera on December 25 and finish the roll of film the following December 25. The films they use tend towards Fuji Superia or Kodak Gold Max, but just as often, they buy the cheap grocery store house brand. They wonder why their photos seem to look little better than their friend’s point and shoot derived photos.
The newbie reads voraciously, every book, magazine and web page he or she can access to is processed by the desire to become the next Ansel Adams or Galen Rowell. The newbie buys magazines that have but a mere mention of their dream camera or lens. Brochures collect on the desk with various how to books. The eagerness of the newbie is enough that the person may get a few good shots here and there, but nothing resembling consistency; however, that will not stop the newbie from posting to various free web galleries and magazine contests, their rough and fledging products of their creativity. This stage varies in length based upon the time the newbie has to take photographs. The more the newbie shoots and gains experience the better and more consistent the photos will be. On average, at least a year or two before the newbie progresses to the next stage. Amateur – the amateur has read enough and photographed enough to understand all the basics. Their photos are more consistent in quality. They become discriminating in terms of what they will photograph instead of haphazardly taking photos of everything under the sun and moon as the newbie does. The transition from newbie to amateur probably coincides with the discovery of slide film and how direct and vital his subjects appear on that backlit piece of film. Instead of cataloging negatives, the amateur starts to catalog slides, but at this stage, the newbie is not quite discriminating enough to toss the losers into the waste bin and instead keeps everything for posterity. Although proficient with the basics, there are still lapses in judgment, such as using a polarizer on an ultra wide-angle lens, or in eschewing the use of a tripod whenever quality is required. The amateur probably wonders why his handheld enlargements never seem to match the quality he sees from other serious photographers. The amateur is in a transitory point as well, for he or she is good enough to take a few competent photos with the decent kit accumulated. Enough so that friends and family may put the poor amateur into a potentially difficult position of requesting a wedding shoot. Some amateurs do the wise thing and run away screaming (think Monty Python and the Holy Grail), while others remain steadfast and refuse on the basis that doing so may ruin a long-term friendship. Others are foolish enough to actually take on the job and risk it for a new experience. Some even enjoy doing wedding shoots, very obviously being imbalanced individuals who desire to inflict pain upon themselves. The equipment choices reflect a growth from entry-level cameras and lenses to solidly mid-rank equipment from the brand of choice. The amateur may even delve into the brand’s professional grade camera and lenses, usually as a result of a fit in trying to go beyond a plateau of creativity. This is dangerous ground to enter into and only the most dedicated and disciplined soul should venture into the game of “if I only had that super matrix, ultra fast firing brick of a pro camera, or that ASM lens with VISR, I could be as good as the pros.” Very dangerous to fall into this trap for it means graduation to…
No accessory is too useless to not try and then throw into a junk box later on. The junk box is probably worth more than most general amateurs’ entire kit. The single photo bag that served them well as an amateur is no longer large enough or specialized enough to do the multi-tasking photography the serious amateur wishes to do. Backpacks, waist packs, shoulder bags, vests and other assorted carrying devices are bought, sold, bought again, upgraded and tossed into a closet for some possible future use. The serious amateur almost always carries a tripod except when shooting snapshot events such as a wedding. The serious amateur is usually afflicted with scintilla nervosa, the desire to obtain a ridiculous amount of detail from a photograph. This is often a result of misleading information from certain gurus residing on top of various cyberspace peaks, who claim astonishingly high-resolution figures in their test photos. Our serious amateur, who really should know better, then believes such figures are achievable under his or her real life shooting conditions, disregarding certain things such as noted guru lives in a lab and uses films no longer available, or perhaps never were available to the general public. Other trite conditions such as microscope lenses and room size tripods and heads do not seem to factor in either. Unfortunately, serious amateurs also tend to suffer from another condition called dermis anorexia, which causes them to lose objectivity and enter into the madness of subjective thought that then compels them to put down photographers who choose to use a different brand of equipment. Dermis anorexia is often the root cause of the Nikon versus Canon, PC versus Mac debates found scattered throughout cyberspace. A related condition is penile defectus, which obviously is an affliction suffered by male photographers, who feel compelled to describe in excruciating detail, how large their cameras and lenses are and how wonderful their photos are. Penile defectus can also cause a baffling desire to wear clothing emblazoned with the brand name of their choice. The two (or three for the males) disorders combined may cause our serious amateur to become a most dreaded category of photographer, the collector. Collectors tend to like exotic ostrich or alligator skinned cameras of Germanic origin. The cameras and lenses cost as much as a current entry-level Toyota and in unadjusted dollars, could buy a house in the 1950s that would be home to an average family of four. The ostrich skinned cameras themselves will never be used, merely to live their expensive lives on the shelf of the collector. Some collectors take it to the extreme and never open the box and wrap it all up in air-sealed plastic wrapping. The various afflictions suffered by the hapless serious amateur usually lead to delusions of grandeur that they can and do produce photos equally as good as professional photographers. This may in fact be true, but more on that in our next category. The unfortunate aspect of these delusions is that reality comes back and takes a bit bite out of the serious amateur’s gluteus maximus. Instead, the serious amateur is reduced to doing nothing more than offer his, ahem “wisdom” over the Internet via his own dedicated web site to photography. All the while thinking, if only National Geographic would call, I’d shoot ‘em all and let God sort out the slides. Rich Bastard – this is a rather enigmatic category because certain amateurs have the means to seek out and purchase the very finest photographic tools available and then never bother to understand how the equipment works or even the basics of photography. Typically doctors, dentist and lawyers, but really, anyone making enough money that they can purchase a Leica M camera and lens with their pocket lint. On occasion members of this group graduate to Amateur status because they actually do desire to become photographers rather than country club show offs. Unfortunately, most are just uber consumers. Update: Other related categories (inspired by readers comments):
There are some serious amateurs who dare to call themselves professional photographers because they have done the odd commercial job or wedding, but this is most assuredly inappropriate. A professional is a person who derives the bulk of their income from their photographic pursuits. A professional usually has good business and marketing sense because the industry can be merciless for those without the heart and tenacity to make it. It is sometimes the case that professional photographers are not actually the best photographers and that some amateurs can and do produce work that is as compelling and artistic as a professional. Usually, this is with landscape photography, because with a little bit of vision and a whole lot of drive and desire to get there, an amateur can produce some stunning images. Amateurs tend not to do so well in commercial photographic endeavors because of the high cost, time and creative output required to satisfy clients. However, the serious amateur can actually create a little niche in part time pursuits in weddings and other social events, for which the real professionals become shrill banshees decrying the amateur undercutting their professional prices. It is unfortunate that certain of these professionals are that in name only and produce work that do not rise beyond the level of Amateur, but are still able to charge fees equivalent to the cost of a Yugo with all the quality of said vehicle. The best professionals are artists. They capture a slip of time in a manner that provokes thought and discussion regardless of the tools they used to capture the moment. These images can be landscape/wildlife in origin, or commercial, or wedding, or still life, anything in fact. Instead of aspiring to be a “professional” amateurs would be better served to pursue artistry in their photography. Reality comes back and kicks the mighty gluteus again, because just as all Cognac is brandy, not all brandies are Cognacs and that is true of photographers too. If it were not, we’d all be da Vinci’s and Picassos, or Adamses and Westons. Reader's Comments:
Read that one a while ago and after I wrote my piece, I realized that maybe I was setting myself up for plagiarism, even though, and I swear by this, that my piece came to me as a basic, unrelated idea that turned into what it did when I started typing it out. Perhaps Rockwell inspired me in a subconscious manner :-) |
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Correspondence & About this website Copyright © 1998-2008 Edwin Leong |
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Edwin's
Vignettes -
Classes of Photographers (strictly tongue in cheek)
Consumer – people who gravitate to the simple, press this button, point and
shoot camera (digital or film). These people have no interest in photography
as a craft or hobby and simply want the easiest method of obtaining
family and vacation snapshots.
Newbie – a phase that every aspiring photographer must go through, a rite
of passage that marks the shift of the individual from mere consumer
to budding photographer. This person knows next to nothing except
to buy an SLR, unfortunately, because the person knows next to nothing,
he or she probably bought a Rebel or F55 camera with a kit lens and
is struggling to learn how to use it.
Serious/Advanced
Amateur – the most neurotic of the group. The one who spends gross
sums of money in pursuit of photographic perfection. There are those
who progressed through from the various stages mentioned previously
and then there are those that were rich enough from day trading to
be able to buy all the good gear they’ve lusted over in one shot and
quickly dive into the craft.
Professional
Photographer – the hallowed ranks that so many amateur photographers
aspire to. In some rare cases, some actually do make it from their
day jobs and weekend warrior photographer status to full time professional.
Unfortunately, many professionals have to whore themselves by selling
a mish-mash of accessories and services because a lot of times, photography
does not pay as well as first imagined. 