Throw a stick and hit a professional!

K_user

I was randomly skimming the internet, as I do, sticking my nose into whatever forum I happen on, reading whatever thread catches my eye and I came across this post:

Did you know there are over 230 professional photographers seeking work within a twenty five mile radius of Eyre Square.

I haven't verified the statement and I have no idea who the person is that wrote it, but its an interesting stat, if its true.

And its a frightening indicator as to how competitive the business has become.

allydylan

that's alot, i sure hope it's not true

PCPhoto

professional photographers or people claiming to be professional photographers - there could very well be 230 people with cameras willing to do photographic work if you pay them.

its not really impossible - but numbers do look odd.

PCPhoto

PCPhoto wrote: »

professional photographers or people claiming to be professional photographers - there could very well be 230 people with cameras willing to do photographic work if you pay them.

I was going to point out the same thing and say it's a nonsense statistic, but then at the same time, anyone with a good knowledge of photography and a decent DSLR is capable of pushing out professional work.

True; Joe Soap with a camera can't give you a studio family portrait, but he can do just about everything else.*


As I said before, photography is a dying career. I reckon it won't be too long until compact cameras will have some sort of SLR sensors in them, and once that happens, the game is up (and looking at the speed in which cameras are developing - harhar - the technology is on the way, Olympus and their Micro 4/3rds are an indication of this).


*Admittedly, I've seen some really terrible efforts from people who've had DSLRs for a while and who market themselves as professionals, but i reckon these people can only get better as time goes on.

superflyninja

Deleted User wrote: »

I was going to point out the same thing and say it's a nonsense statistic, but then at the same time, anyone with a good knowledge of photography and a decent DSLR is capable of pushing out professional work.

True; Joe Soap with a camera can't give you a studio family portrait, but he can do just about everything else.*


As I said before, photography is a dying career. I reckon it won't be too long until compact cameras will have some sort of SLR sensors in them, and once that happens, the game is up (and looking at the speed in which cameras are developing - harhar - the technology is on the way, Olympus and their Micro 4/3rds are an indication of this).


*Admittedly, I've seen some really terrible efforts from people who've had DSLRs for a while and who market themselves as professionals, but i reckon these people can only get better as time goes on.

i dont know about that. most non photog people dont care about getting the right exposure of composition and will never even run the shots through a basic PP.

Paulw

I guess it would lso be a wide mix of "professionals", covering weddings, portraits, sport, PR, photojournalists, etc

Many many now claim to be professional photographers, and try to earn a few extra from it.

DaireQuinlan

Thats almost 2000 sq. miles though, which is one photographer every 9 square miles or so, or a box 3 miles on a side. Assuming they roam evenly within their territory, you'd probably have to identify common routes (pee on lampposts, memory cards placed on territorial boundaries etc etc) and setup hides and traps to actually catch them, it'd hardly be a matter of throwing a stick and hitting one, it's a pretty sparse population.

magicbastarder

actually, that's so sparse as to make me worried about whether they will have a high enough population density to maintain a sustainable breeding population.

K_user

superflyninja wrote: »

i dont know about that. most non photog people dont care about getting the right exposure of composition and will never even run the shots through a basic PP.

Anyone can hold a camera and take a photograph, that has always been the case, but people always need a professional around to get things right.

I can take a photograph, sometimes I can even be happy with the results, but I'm not a wedding photographer. I know how to fix a leaky pipe, but that doesn't mean I won't call a plumber if I suddenly see large wet patches in my ceiling.

Can you imagine a young married couple being happy with contrast-less, flat looking, images in their album?

In saying that 250 still seems alot given a population size of Galway. While I agree that some of those aren't "professional" as such, its still gives an indication on competition.

It would be interesting to know the stats on Dublin, just for comparison.

magicbastarder

actually, i'd like to take issue with DQ's statistical analysis; his assumptions place a significant proportion of these professionals in the ocean.

dakar

magicbastarder wrote: »

actually, i'd like to take issue with DQ's statistical analysis; his assumptions place a significant proportion of these professionals in the ocean.

Nikonos ftw

jpb1974

actually, i'd like to take issue with DQ's statistical analysis; his assumptions place a significant proportion of these professionals in the ocean.

This is plausible... don't forget about advancements in under-water camera housing technology that have significantly improved photography in recent years.

DaireQuinlan

dakar wrote: »

Nikonos ftw

jpb1974 wrote: »

This is plausible... don't forget about advancements in under-water camera housing technology that have significantly improved photography in recent years.

Obviously I had, uh, taken all this into account in my calculations. MmmHmm.

Eirebear

magicbastarder wrote: »

actually, i'd like to take issue with DQ's statistical analysis; his assumptions place a significant proportion of these professionals in the ocean.

"Smile! Uh, what are you doing with that stick? Seriously - why are you throwing it at me? Oh...right, your from Boards.ie? I hate that thread."