to me, photography is the skill and not the tools. expensive cameras and smartphones are just tools. The person who shoot will value him/herself by the picture outputs. No matter he/she use whatever tools to make photos.
No, photography is not dead. I agree 100%. Camera phones have changed photography for the better. Buying a point and shoot might be dead, but the modern camera and lenses are still miles ahead of camera phones. I probably us my phone more frequently for photography, but as a hobbyist there isn’t anything like a regular camera with multiple lenses.
Photography has been "dead" for 20 years. Smart Phones meant the "end" of professional photographers and SLR's(which have evolved into full fram mirrorless...same family for this discussion) 15yrs ago when I picked up a 1d for the first time. There are more "pro" photographers locally now than existed back then. And yes, the tech is necessary to make the picture, but the latest and greatest is not always necessary for the latest look/technique. You still are better off buying better glass first than the top of the line body.
Great video. I agree, the art of photography is nowhere near dead however, if you want to stand out in the industry whether you are making money or not, you need to find a niche. Telephoto and candid photos are very hard to recreate with smartphones. Wedding photographers will continue to have a hard time because most people are satisfied with smartphones being used by multiple people as the only source of photos.
That’s true, but I would also say that, if someone is satisfied with wedding photos on smartphones, they were never going to be a good client for a wedding photographer. That’s just not what they are looking for. So what kind of photography do you typically shoot?
The single, biggest issue within “photography” is the explosive influx of UNEMPLOYED ANGLO kids trying to appear as employed, professional, busy and having a life.
Many people fail to understand that we can customize our own picture taken from a special angle. In a smartphone, the computer system is responsible to modify the picture by itself. This is not art at all. Art is when you shoot raw and customize everything. You are wrong my friend, photography is not dead.
Uh oh… someone didn’t watch the video 😳 like showing up to class and you didn’t do the homework, but try to lead the discussion anyway. I appreciate your confidence though 👍
I'm not a professional photographer but I am an enthusiast. I think photography for income would kill my genuine enthusiasm for the art more than a smartphone ever could. That said, maybe the popularity of smartphones is the reason why I gravitate towards fast telephoto lenses. I hate using my phone for pictures so I only use it when I'm in a pinch.
Yes, doing photography professionally creates a very different relationship to the art vs doing it professionally. Strangely enough, now that I do it professionally, I actually use my smartphone for almost everything that isn’t paid work. I used to shudder at the thought of that, but I guess it just kind of feels like more work now
I plopped down $2000 for a Sony A7 setup w/ sigma lens, all the accessories, etc. The workflow is just too time consuming for my use case of posting IG pics of my hikes and backpacking trips. I never use it, mostly use my phone. Also when traveling a bunch of places you will get stared at for having a giant camera on a lanyard, but gopros and iphones are fine - weird hypocrisy there
I agree... to a small point. I have an iPhone 12 and the pictures look great... ON THE PHONE. But as soon as you try to bring them into a computer they look like crap. But photography isn't just about photos, it's an experience. People hire me for shoots because I give them an experience, as well as images/memories.
@@JustinMyersPhoto Exactly. To me, cell phone cameras are the 110 film cameras of the 80's. Everyone has them, nobody really knows what they're doing with them. And for the most part people just fill up their memory on the cameras because they don't even know how to unload them. I really pity the person that allows their wedding or special event to be photographed with a cell phone.
@@tbgtom well, it’s all in what people value too. If people don’t value having quality photos of their event, it’s not going to be worthwhile for the photographer or the clients if they do hire a pro photographer
Hey man nice vid, I was zoned in as if I were in conversation with a friend. You could’ve easily made this a long video and I’d still be engaged, especially on this topic. I’m attempting to just process the universe I just stepped into where I’m wanting to be a professional photographer with my own business 🤯
99% mass production of cliche picture taking or making we call nowadays photographic art meanwhile 99% of picture takers don't even know what photography means.
Well, that’s another thing to consider. There is very little barrier to entry into taking pictures now compared to the past, so yes, more people will just be taking pictures without any education or background in photography
Definitely. Larger sensored cameras are still capable of producing better images. But given the right scenario, smartphones are capable of taking photos that the average non-photographer won’t be able to distinguish from a larger sensored camera. And, with very few exceptions, clients will typically be non-photographers
Yep, good point. I guess we should start returning all the income that we’re making as photographers too, you know since someone on the internet said it was dead and all
@@JustinMyersPhoto if business was so great, you wouldn’t be making this video. I’m just telling you the obvious. I know is not easy to hear but you’ll thank me later. You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out. The more and more people use their phones for photography and call themselves professional photographers, the less value it adds to the profession and therefore it becomes less profitable. There will only be a few professional photographers in the market but they will spend a lot time justifying their prices to their clients. And just like you said, the regular person can’t tell the difference. Unfortunately the regular person are our clients. I know this because I do commercial work and wedding films as well. I know many professional photographers that have jumped to the video market because they’re having problems booking clients. The industry has changed and if you want to be earning a good living in the future, you have to adjust. Sorry but that’s the reality. Don’t kill the messenger.
@@oliverb5798 Yes, that’s another good point, people never make videos talking about a different side to a discussion unless they aren’t making enough money. Hard to argue with that. I know that the industry has changed. That was my main point. The people who are jumping ship are doing so because photography isn’t the same as when they started. So, rather than shift their business plan to meet the needs of the current photography market or improve their skills to a level slightly better than smartphone AI, they just give up. But the actual reality is that there are more people making more money from photography right now than at any other point in history. The difference is the bar for professional photography is not “just owning a nice camera” anymore. That’s actually reason that people, who don’t want to grow as photographers, “jump ship” to video. For videography, there are still a *few* years left where people can get away with just having a nice camera and using someone else’s LUTs and video transitions and calling it “professional”. But I’ve got bad news for you guys: consumer editing software, built in editors in social media apps, and smartphones are going to have caught up in a couple years. So, for the people that just want to complain about how people with smartphones killed professional photography and so now they just have to do video: They’re coming for you! Good luck!
@@JustinMyersPhoto I believe video will suffer the same fate. The problem is the time you spend with your clients trying to justify your prices. Nobody wants to deal with that. Justifying your prices before was very simple, all you had to do was to tell your clients you were a professional photographer and show your portfolio. Today's client has a different mentality. And I'm talking about clients with a 5k to 8k budget. My suggestion is to have two brands. One for your professional photography and one for your Iphone photography type of customer. That way you still have some money coming in while you continue to work on your path as a professional photographer. I've started to do it on my video contracts. I got myself an iphone 13 promax to meet some demands and then for my professional type of work, I use a real cinema camera. This is the way I'm adjusting to the future market which I think is inevitable. Anyways, I wish you good luck on your journey and hope that everything works out for you.
@@oliverb5798 I understand your concern, but as I said in the video: if you have to spend time justifying your prices, the problem is that you aren’t offering the value that client wants. Yes, several years ago the only way to get pretty pictures was to pay someone with a nice camera. That’s not the case anymore. So, for people whose only service was providing pretty pictures: yep, that’s dead. That’s also not photography. The skill of photography is not just clicking a button on an expensive machine. A professional photographer has to accomplish something with their work. Telling a story in a certain way, documenting people, places and events in a compelling manner, presenting a product in a way that is attractive to potential consumers. Learn how to do whatever it is that your market is trying to accomplish with their photos. *Do that* and then you don’t need to justify your work. People will literally pay you to do it for them. Photographers who are unwilling to do more than insist that they need a certain price just because they are “professional” or use a “real camera”, or whatever they’re convinced of in their own minds, have failed, do fail, and will continue to fail. The same thing with videographers. If someone wants to get paid for having the minimal level of skill required to operate in a field, yes that time has passed for photography. It will also soon pass for videography. So, people can either keep jumping from profession to profession without gaining any real level of skill, or just do the work.
Keep doing this. It's refreshing to see people who care about photography and what is actually going on in reality. Not click bait chatter boxes screaming about the falling skies. Photography is dead if you are a simple minded dolt who doesn't understand change. If it doesn't fit their exact definition of what they call photography, it must be dismissed. I'm just a hobbyist. But I have deep roots with this, and I love where digital mirror less is going. My Canon RP is very good for what I do. It could be better but then it would be more expensive. But it's not dead. I thank you for putting yourself out there. Rise above the noise!
