|
Forums >
General Industry >
Do you need to belong...
to a professional organization to be considered a pro. Edit... This is possibly one reason you need to belong to a professional organization. I suppose you could just keep moving along and letting others do the work necessary to safeguard your rights, sort of like the way you watch public television but never pledge money, or see a distaster and not lend a hand. https://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=75809 Sep 10 06 01:05 pm Link nope. Sep 10 06 01:19 pm Link for art in general and thus photography in particular the line between "pro" and otherwise is so arbitrary and indefinite it seems virtually impossible to establish. Sep 10 06 01:37 pm Link [Do you need to belong] Bob Randall Photography wrote: by whom? Sep 10 06 02:07 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: No.....you only need to paid.... Sep 10 06 02:09 pm Link Do you read certificates on the walls? Me neither. I have a lawyer friend who used to mix in humorous "mock" certificates with his professional ones in his office. Those who said anything would comment on how many he had. Less than 1% actually read them to see the jokes. Sep 10 06 03:04 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: Are you kidding me with this?! [I know you're just instigating discussion]. Sep 10 06 03:09 pm Link It might help, it might not. Some sort of proffeciency test might weed out the worst offenders of the word. Maybe not. I like chocolate. Sep 10 06 08:10 pm Link and they say there's no such thing as a stupid question.... Sep 10 06 09:20 pm Link No... but you do need to have big-ass expensive gear. Sep 10 06 09:28 pm Link Nope, at least not in the US. In some coutries there are sets of professional standards involving training, apprenticeships, testing and so forth, but not here. Professional organizations can offer a few advantages, insurance, lobbying for laws and so forth, but in my experience their main benefit is in self marketing and advertising. For example, PPA will hold contests for members and give out a gazillion pretty much meaningless prizes, which provide the opportunity of calling oneself "award winning photographer" and that can be powerful marketing. Some, at least in the past, provided some degree of legal representaion, but I've no idea if that is still available and I've no idea how effective it is (was). Sep 10 06 09:29 pm Link I recall when 100% of my income came from my shooting pictures, developing them, and then selling them (or working on salary.) My gear wasn't as good as the amateurs I knew (mostly well-heeled musicians.) I had Hasselblad and Nikon and the RB67 line. But it wasn't all the lenses and all the bells and whistles. Then I left to do imaging research. At first my income was the same, eventually it well exceeded any expectations I might have had short of starting my own business. But I could now afford better cameras. I just didn't have time to use them. In the long run for the public, a pro is someone who gets paid for doing. To most pros, it is someone who does it well. To the old pros, it is someone who does it right. Sep 10 06 09:35 pm Link what kind of pro. Do hookers have unions? these are the questions people. Sep 11 06 11:15 am Link Curt Burgess wrote: I attended a marketing seminar at Photo Expo. A panel of photo reps suggested that if we did not belong to at least one professional organization we could not truly consider ourselves pros. I didn't think it was a stupid question. I have puzzled over it since it was posed to me nearly 15 years ago. Perhaps I should have used the word boobies in the question or asked if the CEO of the organization was into bondage, then it might have appealed to the lowest comon denominator on the site and been considered an appropriate question. Sep 11 06 04:31 pm Link So. Bob. What's the story here? You've been asking a lot of intriguing questions; many of which could be answered by hanging out and paying attention. Starting out on a new adventure? WANTING to start out on a new adventure? Sep 11 06 05:35 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: So were these "photo reps" or "professional marketers" just trying to scare you into joining a "professional organization" in order to boost annual dues? How does being a member of an organization make you a "professional"? Sep 11 06 05:59 pm Link Pellegrino wrote: Maria Piscapo was one panel member. At the time she was some NYC shooters rep and was building a business as a consultant to photographers. She had no association with any organization besides Spar that I was aware of. Sep 11 06 06:11 pm Link John Valdez wrote: yep! Sep 11 06 06:20 pm Link pw-gii photographics wrote: Plain and simple. I'm tired of the endless debates over how tight I should tie up your tits. I'm tired of blowhards without a scintilla of knowledge ruining quality threads by blasting in, dropping shit and leaving without actually having read any of the thread. Remember "Defend this", not one person got the gist of the thread and I actually posted the answer in the middle of it. I'm going to bend this place to my will, learn something new or leave, but I won't go without trying. My way of trying is to develop threads that contain a very pointed question, won't attract the morons because they don't care about the things I'm asking (well, there will probably be one moron dropping in, she seems to all the time, she thinks she is Chaucer) won't be so long that you lose the answer in the middle some where, and won't elicit endless moronic debate. Is it art is it poop is it my mother or maybe it's my father being my mother which would be art if it could be art all the live long day! I will however be creating threads similar to "Defend this" because they are fun to watch and blow on every now and then. Sep 11 06 06:26 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: Maria Schmaria. She's a marketer. Albeit a very good one. It's just another way for the frat boys to look down their noses at anyone who doesn't bend to their collective will. Sep 11 06 06:58 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: You'll never bend this place to your will. The internet is bigger than any of us. And the thoughtful are dramatically outnumbered. Sep 11 06 07:06 pm Link No but some of the organizations offer excellent perks like 'ommissions and errors" insurance, legal advice and lobbying for your interests. All of which can save your butt when needed. I got the use of a federal level attorney for several months over a client dispute and in the end when I settled a partial refund, the insurance reimbursed me for it. I lost nothing. its not whether your a pro photographer if you belong or not, its about being a profesional business person. I do not really introduce myself as being a pro photographer on sales calls, just a photographer. I figure since the occupation box on my tax forms says Photographer for the last 3 decades of tax returns, thats good enough. Sep 11 06 07:18 pm Link Bob Randall Photography wrote: Bob, if that could be done by simply using your intellect, people would never invent the law. Sep 11 06 07:23 pm Link Also, I admit that I like to read your threads, for a few reasons: -they aren't lasy put together - you are using an "open question" form that creates a good space for discussion, which allows to voice one's biggest concerns while still in the scope of the question. - you put an idea, and lead with your questions to the idea you initially had when was posting vs. just giving out a statement. -they are provocative -they remind me of my mother's way to let me learn. In a big picture while there are a lot of good things and points you have to say, one is always to hear what he wants to hear, not what you have to say. Sep 11 06 07:28 pm Link I like the way digitalkojak put it. Sep 11 06 08:15 pm Link I joined PPA I think that was what it was called, I applyed, I got in, I gave them 50.00 I had burning a hole in my pocket, I think I sould go back to the website and try to actually learn something from them??? No miracal has happened to make me a better photographer... Sep 11 06 08:38 pm Link Pellegrino wrote: So you say. Sep 12 06 09:42 am Link Pellegrino wrote: You know what, in my first response to you I was being polite. You call her a marketer without substantiating your claim. What exactly is a marketer and why does that make her statement invalid. How do you know she is either good or bad. How is anyone a frat boy and why do you think they are looking down their nose at you. You make frivolous statements without any thought process, firing emotionally from the hip and it makes you look silly. Thats what I really meant to say. Sep 12 06 09:52 am Link This is possibly one reason you need to belong to a professional organization. I suppose you could just keep moving along and letting others do the work necessary to safeguard your rights, sort of like the way you watch public television but never pledge money, or see a distaster and not lend a hand. https://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=75809 Sep 13 06 06:22 pm Link |
