What makes a photographer?

You don't need the most expensive equipment to be a photographer. But you do have to know how to use the equipment you have now, and you have to have a talent at being able to see what you are wanting to photograph and how it is going to look, how to edit it afterwards, etc. Even with talent it may take some training to learn how to do some techniques. However you may not have to have formal training. If your talent is good and you have the ability to teach yourself, you can find a lot of online tutorials. Different cameras have different qualities. Experimenting with different cameras, as well as the different settings on each camera will help you along the way. Right now I am using a simple point and shoot digital Kodak EasyShare Z885 camera and finding it has a lot of good qualities and can do some fantastic things. My goal is to get a good DSLR. I have a film SLR right now but film is so expensive to use when you have to buy the film and then have it developed. It is an excellent camera and highly recommended as a film camera. But I am finding that my digital camera can do things easily that I have not been able to figure out how to do on the film camera. Then there is my phone cam. Now that thing surprises me sometimes in that I can take nighttime pics with it such as full moons, etc. and get better results than with the digital. So you see, it's not just about the equipment you have. You are a photographer if you take pictures. Whether you can be a professional depends on how good those pictures turn out to be, and how well you can learn to improve over time, etc. And basically, art is what it is and photography is a form of art. In other words, the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder stands true for photography as it does for all forms of art.

You can take perfectly good pictures with a point and shoot camera and no training. It's all about capturing the moment. Many iconic photos happened because the person was in the right place at the right time. There are a lot of different types of photography, and documentary photography in particular is all about recording what is happening or what exists. These photos become the most important over time as thigns change or we reflect on history. You can do a lot with a disposable camera.

You could get nice pictures using your camera dslr/point and shoot/mobile phone camera as long as you practice. Even professional photographers could still get nice pictures even if their using the cheapest devices. It's the skills, and it's not with equipment. Equipment helps make your photos perfect. Education and training will also help. But there are lots of available tips and tutorials over the internet. It takes time to be a professional photographer, just practice practice and practice. Coz as we all say: Practice makes perfect.

photography is an art... it's actually light painting because you will need light to capture an image. so the question is what makes a photographer... other than the basic composition tips the most and often people forget is to understand the camera that you are using. mean you need to know your camera before you go out and take a photograph. that is why most pro photographer always (that means more than once) read their camera manuals. when you understand the equipment you will have the knowledge now to know what your camera can and can not do. so you will know it's limitations. so when you know what your camera is capable of doing it's easy for you to bend it to it's limits. and as the master of the tool (camera) that you are using you need to understand yourself too. you must know what you want in your shot. what you want to show to your audience. remember photography is a visual art so people will need to look at your photo for them to understand what you are trying to say. if you can't communicate with your audience then you need to do it again. i always tell people that artistry is about creativity and never the tools that you use. it is how to capture people's attention is the most important thing. what separates a snapper to a photographer? photographer communicate with his audience through his photographs.

Some people just have a naturally good eye for photography. I know two and one of them is only 12 years old and got some amazing pictures from a DSI camera. Even though, it will not hurt to have the training. There is always room for improvement and those classes will help you.

Reminds of some remarks my dad made when I got back my pictures from summer camp when I was a kid. He spent a great deal on photography equipment and put a lot of effort into taking quality pictures even if they were only for the family album. On the other hand I bought a really cheap camera second hand at a flea market so that I could take some pictures of my adventures. My Dad said while he was looking through one of the bundles of pictures I'd taken, "You know I'm happy if I get one shot I really like out of a whole roll of film and here looking at yours I see three in a row." There are aspects of art that are independent of the equipment and to some degree even the training. A good artistic eye is hard to teach.

Photography is an art and it is also depending on the type of camera you are using. There are very expensive cameras for the movies shooting and all, I can't remember the name now but I know that there are special cameras for proper photography. thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day ahead.

hi crimsonladybug! I love to take pictures and would love to have a DSLR. For now, I only have a digital camera which I use as often as I could to practice. It's not really with the best equipment but the artistry of the subject taken and how it was taken. But I must say that if we want to have really good output, we need to have those things. God bless!

For me a photographer doesn't need to be trained or learned different stuff like those perspective shot, something like that. For me, in my own persperctive, a photographer is someone who captured things that sometimes looks just like nothing to us. But when he/she do take pictures of it, it become meaningful and full of expression. I know someone who's like that. For me, he is a great photographer because he took pictures of just coins, shoes, matchbox,but when you see it, it so meaningful.