A curious conversation with a professional photographer

ampimagedotcom · Jul 31, 2025

photolando said:
I was very fortunate when I first started. My first job was assisting one of the best commercial shooters in the SE of the US. He had some pretty well known clients. Olive Garden and Red Lobster just to name a few. I'm from Orlando where their HQ is. John shot everything LF. Sinar be precise. He did own an Mamiya RB and an Olympus OM. We did use the RB on a few jobs that had people in them. But that was rare...

About 6 months later I got a job at a med size ad agency in Nashville the had it's own custom built studio. Beautiful space. Wish I had photos. Anyway, yeah, I'd say 95% of those jobs were shot LF. We shot mostly high end auto and motorcycle stuff. Did we need to? Maybe not. But I loved it. Again, mostly table top products. A few car shots. Mostly studio. Rarely on location.

Interesting - and yes it would be nice to see some of the stuff you shot back then, to 'help complete the picture' and all that.

photolando said:
I really didn't start using MF until I stated shooting portraits in 94. And then used that until digital was good enough for portraits. That was 2001 when I got a Nikon D1X.

I started shooting stuff like this with the MegaVision S3 digital back attached to my Bronica SQ-Ai camera at the start of 2000…

(Nuala Meenehan - image was produced in the studio on the 4th of January 2000 for The Hat Shop)

(Sue Brew from UFI - taken in her office on the 7th of January 2000)

(Inside one of the Unifi manufacturing plants in Letterkenny - taken on the 12th of January 2000)

(Taken in Robinson Interiors showroom on the 15th of January 2000 for their advertising & marketing material)

(Julie Anne Bailie from McCann-Erickson advertising with their 1999 IPA Area Awards for the 'slow down boys' ad campaign - taken on the 24th of January 2000)

(My daughter, Chloe - taken in the studio on the 25th of January 2000)

(Taken at the Hilton Hotel in Belfast on the 29th of January 2000 for their advertising & marketing material)

.. which is when I reckoned digital was good enough for portraits, etc... just so you know.

photolando said:
My buddy and me (standing) shooting a helmet for Bell Helmets at the agency studio in 1986. Custom built 12'x4' "hard"box. This image is from a Polaroid 55 set up shot I found. Good times.

Love that image - that I would definitely frame.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

Jacques Cornell · Aug 1, 2025

seliMcc said:
photolando said:

And no, you cannot create "the same" images I can with your iPhone. I have one too, I love it. Takes great images. But I know its limitations. People hand me their iPhone right after I take mine. They rarely, if ever, look the same

Click to expand...

You have this odd habit of telling me what I can and cannot do, who I can know and cannot know.

It’s not about YOU. It’s about what is possible with a phone camera vs what’s possible with an ILC. Do you really think there are no differences?

I’ve been an event pro for 25 years. I’ve been on DPR forums for almost as long. I’ve known photolando here for quite a while and always found him to be a personable, reasonable and informed writer. You would do well to give him the benefit of the doubt and a modicum of respect, as one might hope would be your baseline approach to everyone on the forums.

--
Event professional for 20+ years, travel & landscape enthusiast for 30+, stills-only.
http://jacquescornell.photography
http://happening.photos

Jacques Cornell · Aug 1, 2025

seliMcc said:
photolando said:

seliMcc said:

photolando said:

Flip flops and an iPhone. Seriously? That's your comparison? Thats pretty lame. No professional will ever do that.

Click to expand...

Right. So then gear does make a difference or not? A camera is a camera, right?

Click to expand...

That's just being sarcastic and stupid. But thanks for playing.

Click to expand...

I’m merely making a point

that’s been made a thousand times before

seliMcc said:
they shoot movies with iPhones, see 28 years later as an example. It’s not the camera that matters but I can assure you that turning up with an iPhone would not go down well, even though I can create the same images on one as I can with any camera.

Gear doesn’t matter but impressions can matter a great deal. Not sure what thanks for playing means, are we playing some sort of game that you think you have won?

This is highly simplistic. I know for a fact that I could not make the same images with my phone as I make with my ILCs. OTOH, I could, and did, satisfy my clients with a Micro Four Thirds kit for many years. OTOOH, I can now make some images, or achieve better IQ, with my 35mm-format kit that I couldn’t previously.

Gear matters until it doesn’t, or doesn’t matter until it does, and most of the argument over this is sophomoric point-scoring.

seliMcc said:
seliMcc said:

But if you still don't think it's the gear and not the photographer...

https://petapixel.com/2020/06/25/shooting-an-entire-wedding-day-with-the-iphone-11-pro/

His images are as good as a lot of wedding shooters. It's not the gear.

Click to expand...

I never once said anything of the sort, I never said it was gear. More so I never said it was anything other than an aspect that may or may not help one’s business.

.

Jacques Cornell · Aug 1, 2025

photolando said:
seliMcc said:

photolando said:

Flip flops and an iPhone. Seriously? That's your comparison? Thats pretty lame. No professional will ever do that.

Click to expand...

Right. So then gear does make a difference or not? A camera is a camera, right?

Click to expand...

That's just being sarcastic and stupid. But thanks for playing.

Friend, I like and respect your contributions to these forums, but this was not your finest moment. In the interest of not subjecting us all to yet another rehash of “gear matters/doesn’t matter” chest-thumping, maybe you could bury the hatchet with the newcomer?

photolando said:
But if you still don't think it's the gear and not the photographer...

https://petapixel.com/2020/06/25/shooting-an-entire-wedding-day-with-the-iphone-11-pro/

His images are as good as a lot of wedding shooters. It's not the gear.

ampimagedotcom · Aug 1, 2025

photolando said:
seliMcc said:

.. but I definitely wouldn’t want to put into practice a test - for example turning up in flip flops with an iPhone to shoot with.

Click to expand...

Flip flops and an iPhone. Seriously?

The 2nd photographer I think was using her iPhone to shoot video at the same time as the 1st took pictures...

.. during the 'cutting of the cake' shot, which they did shortly before the guests arrived at this 5 Star resort.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

seliMcc · Aug 1, 2025

Jacques Cornell said:
seliMcc said:

photolando said:

And no, you cannot create "the same" images I can with your iPhone. I have one too, I love it. Takes great images. But I know its limitations. People hand me their iPhone right after I take mine. They rarely, if ever, look the same

Click to expand...

You have this odd habit of telling me what I can and cannot do, who I can know and cannot know.

Click to expand...

It’s not about YOU. It’s about what is possible with a phone camera vs what’s possible with an ILC. Do you really think there are no differences?

I’ve been an event pro for 25 years. I’ve been on DPR forums for almost as long. I’ve known photolando here for quite a while and always found him to be a personable, reasonable and informed writer. You would do well to give him the benefit of the doubt and a modicum of respect, as one might hope would be your baseline approach to everyone on the forums.

I’m just saying that gear can have an effect on the person who may potentially hire you, or not. As is the point of this thread if you read the first comment. I said from the start that it’s not definite, but no one can know whether it does or not. I used the iPhone as an example because no one in their right mind would turn up to a wedding (which has always been obvious that I was referring to that in my replies) and shoot with one unless that was the point of the shoot. I specifically mentioned the iPhone rather than a lesser ‘proper’ camera because the iPhone has been making waves and has been used to film some high profile movies. My point was that gear potentially makes a difference to an onlooker who may hire, not that it makes a difference to the photographer or the images he or she produce. I can indeed produce great images on par with what I can produce with any camera - as can everyone here no doubt. Technically not the same of course, but photography is as much about art as anything else. My point is valid. I have been shooting weddings for over 20 years, and have been professionally shooting for nearly 30. Just because I am new to commenting on these forums doesn’t mean a thing. I am allowed to make a point if I wish, and I am allowed to stick to my guns just as much as those that disagree with my point are.

I have not been any less respectful than others are to me. English isn’t my first language- but I didn’t think that was a rule. I would suggest others read and reply with care to people if I am to be demanded the same.

photolando · Aug 1, 2025

Jacques Cornell said:
photolando said:

seliMcc said:

photolando said:

Flip flops and an iPhone. Seriously? That's your comparison? Thats pretty lame. No professional will ever do that.

Click to expand...

Right. So then gear does make a difference or not? A camera is a camera, right?

Click to expand...

That's just being sarcastic and stupid. But thanks for playing.

Click to expand...

Friend, I like and respect your contributions to these forums, but this was not your finest moment. In the interest of not subjecting us all to yet another rehash of “gear matters/doesn’t matter” chest-thumping, maybe you could bury the hatchet with the newcomer?

When the discussion is more about "why" someone hires you, and then someone makes comment about showing up with an iPhone and flipflops, it just tells me they didn't read all the responses.

I never said gear doesn't matter, as he stated. What the whole conversation was about is hiring you solely on the bases of you shooting with a certain camera. Where does seeing someone with an iPhone come into play in this conversation? The OP wrote about why a photographer wasn't shooting mirrorless now. I responded that it doesn't matter. Meaning DSLRs are still very capable of doing the job. And that no one hires you whether you shoot dslrs or mirrorless. It's a moot point.

Everyone at an event has an iPhone/cell phone. Why would anyone even think to hire any of them? They are obviously not the official photographer. The response makes no sense but it's like coming into the middle of a conversation and not having all the facts.

My original reply was to say that if someone hires you at an event, there is about 100% chance that YOU, with the big camera and flash going off and directing people and also the fact that you ARE the photographer is why someone would even come up to you and ask you for your card. I don't think they would turn around and walk about if you were shooting a DSLR and not a mirrorless camera. Which is what started this whole debate to begin with.

Teila Day · Aug 1, 2025

ampimagedotcom said:
photolando said:

seliMcc said:

.. but I definitely wouldn’t want to put into practice a test - for example turning up in flip flops with an iPhone to shoot with.

Click to expand...

Flip flops and an iPhone. Seriously?

Click to expand...

The 2nd photographer I think was using her iPhone to shoot video at the same time as the 1st took pictures...

.. during the 'cutting of the cake' shot, which they did shortly before the guests arrived at this 5 Star resort.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

I'm glad that you posted this. It is beyond me, how professionals either honestly do not know, or act like they don't know, that cell phones are often used in professional work in various capacities in stills and or vid clips in real estate, journalistic pursuits, weddings, and glamour/bridal or boudoir sessions.

Thanks for posting what I hope is obvious to anyone with a finger on the pulse of the pro imaging industry.

--
Teila K. Day
http://teiladay.com

ampimagedotcom · Aug 2, 2025

Teila Day said:
I'm glad that you posted this. It is beyond me, how professionals either honestly do not know, or act like they don't know, that cell phones are often used in professional work in various capacities in stills and or vid clips in real estate, journalistic pursuits, weddings, and glamour/bridal or boudoir sessions.

Thanks for posting what I hope is obvious to anyone with a finger on the pulse of the pro imaging industry.

I used mine when reccing that place beforehand, as you can see…

.. which I then showed to the client before I took these images...

(Inside the Marquee that has been set up for a wedding reception)

(The dance floor inside the marquee that has been set up for a wedding reception)

.. with the Hasselblad system that I would mainly use when doing that type of work, because they usually want to use the images in multiple media for a number of years - which I'm pleased to say they did in the end after seeing the final results.

So yes, 'horses for courses' as they would say.

-
Creating images to tell a story... just for you!
Cheers,
Ashley.

TJ Olympus · Aug 3, 2025

photolando said:
They really are not impressed by gear. I think you may think so but after 40 years of shooting professionally I can assure they couldn't care less. And if that is in the back of your mind when it comes to running a business you will be surely disappointed.

I shoot with Fuji. Small camera. Small lenses. Why? Walk around all day with a FF with FF lenses and then walk around all day with a lighter Fuji with lighter lenses yet the quality of the imagery is just as good. I work all the time. Im not saying that Fuji is better. I am just telling you I shoot with what some consider not professional gear yet I work all the time.

And again, if someone I never knew or ever talked to looked at my gear and never approached me for a job, why would I even care? We have a saying in this business. They are just not my clients. That's ok.

A lot of photographers don't get work because, well, they suck. And they DO have high end gear. Because they think that's what they need to make money. Nope. Just because you use Profoto lights does not mean you light better than someone like me who currently uses Godox. As they say, the proof is in the pudding.

I don't shoot Sony or Canon or Nikon. I shoot Fuji. I don't use Profoto or BronColor. I use Godox and before Paul Buff. I shoot for some very well known companies. I shoot headshots for KPMG at least once a month. I do headshots for Sherwin Williams every year. I just got back from Charleston shooting headshots for the general managers of the local private country clubs in the Carolinas. Why would I care if some ignorant person doesn't want to hire me because of my gear? So what? I have plenty of work.

Yes. Dress professionally. Shoot with confidence. Direct with confidence. I agree 100%. THAT will get you more jobs than the equipment you use. Trust me.

People seeing you at a friend's wedding aren't wanting you because they saw you shooting with a latest and greatest gear. You're shooting their friend's wedding. THAT carries more weight than anything else. Then maybe they see the album. That will also convince them. Or not. But what you shot with? No. They weren't even looking. Nobody gets hired to do a wedding based on the gear they used. Nobody.

Flip flops and an iPhone. Seriously? That's your comparison? Thats pretty lame. No professional will ever do that.

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A curious conversation with a professional photographer

ampimagedotcom

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Jacques Cornell

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Jacques Cornell

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Jacques Cornell

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ampimagedotcom

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seliMcc

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photolando

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Teila Day

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TJ Olympus

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