I find that a lot of times people miss the point of what it means to be a photographer. Most people believe that photography is easy, you simply point and shoot. True, that is the point where the image is captured either on film or any digital media however, that is not what defines a photographer or the photograph.
With the advent of digital cameras taking pictures has become very easy. The constant development of the technology has made digital cameras smaller and more powerful. However, here lies the problem for those who make a living taking pictures; customers now perceive this task as trivial as they take pictures everyday; instant gratification of seeing photos.
Most often than not, the very first thing I get asked is "what camera do you use?" and secondly "how much?" At this point, I clarify what photography means to me. Photography, is an art like painting. Photography is derived from two words, photo and graphy. Photo comes from from photon aka light particles and graphy is drawing or capturing. Hence, in all essence of the meaning, "Photography" means drawing or capturing of light.
The person operating the camera, the photographer, is the artist, keenly observing making measurements, determining how to compose,and finally take the shot(s) all within a blink of an eye. This all happens instinctively as the photographer gains experience. This is the first part of the task, and most of us in this business know, what we see and what we capture are usually different. Camera's do not see the world the way we do and this brings us to the second most important part of being a pro photographer, processing.
The combination of the camera, processing, and photographer experience are what matter the most. This is what you are paying for, the experience and technical know how of how to capture light in a meaningful way such that you can enjoy that moment again and again.
Here is a look at behind the scenes of what goes on, a sample video I made a year ago showing so much is done to get the look you want. I have made dramatic changes to the picture to show case how drastic the changes can be and you wouldnt even know if did not see the original picture.
