Wedding photographers have called them “Uncle Bob.” Indeed they’re a plague to us. Folks sometimes say, “Oh, we’ll just ask so and so to shoot for us, it’ll be fine.” The concept of Uncle Bob has evolved over the years as DSLRs and other interchangeable lens cameras have become more popular and everyone begins to try their hand at photography.
For the site’s reviews and tutorials, I often shoot actresses, actors, models, and mix in some paying clientele. But they’ve all talked about a specific type of photographer that they call “The Guy with the Camera.” When they get a new look, their agents always tell them to get new photos done. In some situations, their agents say, “Don’t you have a friend with a camera that can do it for you?”
Said friend is looped into the Guy with a camera–which here in NYC has been shortened to GWC. Some of them are people that are trying to make themselves look like photographers and don’t have specifically curated portfolios and in many cases little to no social skills or professional business sense. If you listen to models tell their stories, you’ll hear about photographers who try to sleep with them or that never respond back to emails on top of never delivering images.
Don’t be this guy.
Why?
It makes the rest of us look bad and makes the market overall tougher for the photographers who make it their job to provide for their families (or even just themselves) through their artwork. While everyone may be a photographer, not everyone is a professional photographer.
Professional photographers carries themselves with dignity and has confidence in their own work. They can produce excellent images that a specific type of client will hire them for because these clients care about the way that the work is presented. They know how to sell and think twice before even considering potentially ruining their career. Professional photographers are polite, efficient, and provide a service that you can’t get from the guy with a camera.
Don’t be just the guy with a camera.