What is a professional photographer?

Professional photographers in a broad sense refer to those photographers who have a certain photographic foundation, master certain photographic skills and are keen to participate in various photographic activities. In a narrow sense, it refers to people who specialize in photography and take it as their profession. The qualification certificate issued by China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security divides the professional qualifications of photographers into five levels: junior photographer, intermediate photographer, senior photographer, photographic technician and senior photographer.

A professional photographer must first have an aesthetic foundation and be proficient in composition and color. For photography, composition and color are the most fundamental foundations. The selection and control of composition and color is the most critical to stand out among many similar works.

Secondly, a professional photographer should be very familiar with the development history of photography technology. It is necessary to understand the significance of photography to people's production, labor and artistic life, what kind of photography works are popular with people, what kind of photography works can catch people's eyes, and what kind of photography works are meaningful and intriguing.

Then there is the mastery of photographic equipment. Familiar with common photographic equipment, especially your own camera. Only by knowing how to use the combination of aperture and shutter of the camera can we get the desired exposure effect, know how to guide the subject to pose a natural action posture that meets the aesthetic requirements, know how to arrange the light and set the scene, and make rational use of the depth of field and the scene, can we get the ideal light and shadow effect.

Finally, as a professional photographer, you must have professional ethics. Know the minimum professional ethics and master the relevant legal knowledge. One is the respect for the photographer, and the other is the protection of his own photographic works. In addition, if we can do a good job of sorting out and archiving photographic works, we will gradually accumulate rich historical records, which is very useful for analyzing and studying people's aesthetic changes and fashion trends in different historical periods in the future.