Is there a point to professional photographers anymore?

Sometimes I wonder, is there a point in professional photographers anymore?

There are a number of developments recently which have increased the quality and availability of images. Now that nearly everyone has a smart phone in their pocket it certainly make photographs easy to take, and in most cases the quality is pretty decent as well.

But does this increase in quality actually mean that professional photographers are now superfluous?

One of the biggest hits to the professional photography industry of the last few years has been the increase in quality and availability of digital cameras, and in particular digital SLRs. In fact a recent study from Mintel has suggested that as many as 80% of consumers own a digital camera. When we think about that in pure numbers that means that the number of people who own a digital camera in the UK is in the region of 51 million.

However, this number is likely to pale into insignificance when the projected market for digital cameras is likely to fall to ￡523 million next year (down from its peak of ￡843 million back in 2006). One of the biggest, if not the biggest, factor behind all of this is how accessible smart phones with cameras are now.

I mentioned above that nearly everyone seems have a smartphone these days, which means that more quality pictures are now taken than ever before. I want to back that up with a couple of statistics that might just blow your mind. There are now more people on the planet who own a mobile phone (4.8 billion) than people who own a toothbrush (4.2 billion).

The second and potentially even more amazing statistic is that every two minutes we now take more photographs than were taken in the entirety of the 1800’s. I really feel that these two staggering statistics indicate quite how far digital photography has permeated into our every day lives.

So there are a lot more cameras, and a heck of a lot more images around now. Undoubtedly the quality of images and will have increased over time as technology improves so that what we capture is crisper and more real to life than ever before. But, does an increase in the quality of images necessarily mean there is an increase in quality of photography across the board? I’m not so sure.

This is why I still believe there is an important place for professional photographers.

The thing is that when you do business with a professional photographer, yes you are buying their images, but you’re also buying much more than that. You’re buying their expertise and an assured quality of their work. Like many other service-based businesses you’re buying an experience, and most of all you are buying their trust.

I would liken it to choosing to employ an accountant to take care of your tax returns for you. You could absolutely choose to dig through all of your own receipts, bank statements, invoices and everything else. Then plot it into spread sheets and fill in all of the forms yourself. But in your heart of hearts, are you confident in what you have done and what you have achieved?

Your accountant who does this stuff day in and day out would be able to do this in a fraction of the time and with ten times the quality. The accessibility of online forms to do your tax returns has made it easier for people to do their own taxes, in the same way that the more easily accessible digital camera has meant more people can take good quality images.

It doesn’t necessarily follow that if you have a good quality digital camera that you’re going to be the best photographer to capture a wedding or business promotional shots (much in the same way that being able to fill in a tax return online doesn’t make you a qualified accountant).

In The Guardian, Antonio Olmos suggests that it’s the photographers in the middle who are facing the squeeze. When people have friends take pictures at their wedding with a digital camera or a camera phone. However I wonder what we lose with that?

Certainly a level of quality is gone, but for me what is also lost is the ability to tell a story with a photograph. Along side this; you will also miss the expertise of a well-practiced professional who knows exactly what to do with their subject to capture a truly magical image.

Yes, technology has certainly made it easier than ever to take a good image – but that doesn’t mean we don’t need photographers any more. Not by a long way.

Do you value trust and expertise? I’ll be expanding on these areas in my upcoming photography eBook. If you’d like to find out how high quality photography can impact your business in a positive way sign up here and be one of the first people to receive it once it is released.