rant

ok, a woman who writes a blog i read keeps one of those lists of things she wants to do in a set amount of time. that's not irritating in itself; it's a quiet little meme that does nobody any harm and some of the lists are very amusing.

what's annoying about this particular list (and no, i will not link you to it) is that one of her items reads "learn to use my camera in manual mode" and another reads "get my photography business up and running."

this latter item she has emended to read that this is already accomplished since she has ten "bookings" for photo shoots.

there seem to be a lot of people out there who fancy themselves professional photographers just because they have nice cameras and indulgent friends.

i'm sorry, but if you cannot use your camera in manual mode, you are not a professional photographer, no matter how many of your friends agree to give you money to shoot portraits of their families.

every bozo with a new DSLR camera and a good eye for composition is not a professional photographer, even if they have friends willing to pay to have them take pictures.

here are two items from professional photographers that i find interesting, though:

WTD?

the iphone fashion shoot

the camera i use, by the way, is a little canon powershot. it takes very nice pictures, is lightweight and can be used one-handed.

granted, sometimes i wish i could set it for a longer exposure than two minutes, or that it had a cable release, or that i had a little more control with it at the far ends of its performance range, but on the whole i'm very happy with it, for three reasons:

1) i can get some really nice pictures out of it.
2) it's easy to use, even in manual mode.
3) it's lightweight, sturdy, and inexpensive, so i can take it everywhere with me without worrying. this includes long road trips, winter hikes, boating days, rough weather, and rough terrain.

i am not a professional photographer. i just take nice pictures.