Charles L. Dischinger wrote: > Being able to produce a good photograph > under the worse situation is what separates a professional photographer > from a want-a-be.
That's very true on the job (and I'm not just talking about lighting!), but I think the word 'want-a-be' sends the wrong message here to hobbyists. I have fun shooting trains. I was a railfan/hobby photographer long before I was a professional commercial photographer, and I didn't see any major changes in the quality of my RR photography when I switched occupations (if there was any since, it is more likely from the college classes and my previous experience working with customers and listening to what they want - and then selling it to them, paying off), but I do find SPORRS interesting and useful. Actually I think it was the 'quality' of my existing photography at the time that helped give me the confidence to get into the profession, which is not a business with a high survival rate for 'want-a-bes'. In other words, I learned an awful damn lot from continually shooting pictures of trains (and everything else - I've always been a photographic 'nut' though!). I don't think there is such a thing as a professional 'railfan'. What I do for a living has very little to do with my results when I go out to shoot trains (when I have time to do so now!), because for me, I wouldn't be making a living with what I'm doing today if I wouldn't have learned a great deal about photography by continually shooting so many trains previously (I can't think of what else I would have shot so much of!). I do hope that my results while out railfanning now are influenced by my profession in any positive ways because of knowledge that I have gained on the job and in classes, but there may be some other considerations too that may not be so great: > >For a continuing topic of discussion, how do each of you play up the > pitfall of shooting on cloudy overcast days? I usually don't now unless someone is paying me to do so! (Being a studio photographer has its advantages with the weather). :) And to be truthful, at the end of some weeks as I sit there buried in discarded Polaroid paper, film wrappers and various lenses which are either too short or too long, it's sometimes hard for me to get real excited about - going out to shoot pictures over the weekend! Dave Cohen Photographer Action Photographic Webmaster [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/home/ -> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs -> Message © SPORRS® 1998 - All Rights Reserved
