One thing I have notice recently on Facebook, is the recent boom in "Professional" photographers. I use the quotation marks due to the fact that honestly, from what I have seen in their galleries is hardily of "Professional Quality."
In saying this however, I do not personally believe that my own images are of professional quality. My judgement of what is a professional image and what is an amateur image is informed by discussions had with fellow "photography amateurs/enthusiasts" and the occasion professional photographer that can actually prove their status by the images they have taken.
I think this boom in self-named professional photographers is due to the current day affordability of photography gear. At the current time here in Australia, one can by a perfectly decent DSLR for ~$500 AUD. This is much more affordable, even compared to just 2 years ago. There seems to be a tendency in people that once they have purchased a DSLR, they have the authority to call themselves a professional photographer.
This is quite scary. Especially when these amateur professionals decide they want to do Wedding Photography from the get-go, without first realising that Wedding Photography is one of the hardest jobs in the photography industry due to the general pressure that the job entails and also the complex and delicately balanced exposure settings required to get a quality image without the wedding dress details being blown out, or the background being under exposed.
One thing I find distressing about these individuals is that they are receiving money from clients (whom expect professional quality images) possibly know little or next-to-nothing about all the capabilities of their camera/s and other pieces of photography equipment. I also highly doubt that half of these individuals are trading legally, with most not having a business registration. This means they are potentially dodging tax payments (illegally excepting cash in hand) and even more terrifying, they most likely have no personal insurance to cover them in the case of client upset over quality of goods.
I'm sure I'll probably add to this post sometime in the future, I'll just do some more pondering on the subject.
