Professional Photography can be simply defined as image making carried out by a qualified and experienced photographer for a paying end user. In practice though, there is much more to it. Professional Photography requires a balance of artistic ability, technical and scientific knowhow and business acumen that relatively few posses.
Artistically it is necessary to have a fine understanding of rules of perspective, basic and complex compositional conventions and an “X-Factor” – a certain something that can’t be easily defined, but is the basis of a professional style. Now, these factors are not the sole preserve of professionals – I’ve met a lot of amateurs who have stacks of talent too.
Then there are the technical skills – these are mostly in the realm of physics, and form the photographer’s tool kit much more than her cameras and lenses do. Here in Western Australia photographers study for three years at tertiary level to gain professional technical skills. Required knowledge includes the Scheimpflug Principle and the (aptly named) Circle of Confusion, among many other subjects. In professional photography these skills are needed to carry out difficult assignments with certainty and finess, and to be able to execute an artistic vision.
Business acumen is necessary not only to make a living, but to be able to provide a worthy product and service to one’s clients. The basis of business, after all, is to truly understand your client’s needs and then offer them solutions. Business skills often seem to be the hardest for otherwise talented photographers to learn and here in Perth are often the barrier which separates a very worthy amateur from a professional.