Quote Originally Posted by 87 Turbo II
To add to the debate of the $500 photographer, is that noobs come along, buy a DSLR, and steal jobs from people who have dedicated their lives to photography. It's these people undercharging, that cause everyone to lower their prices, even the people how ONLY get money from phtography, because these noobs who have day jobs, are just "making change on the side...
Welcome to free market economy dude. theres nothing in the rulebooks that says if im almost as good, as good, or better than someone else, that i have to charge more than they do

I mean if someone comes to me asking for pictures of something, I'll ask if they are going to pay a little something to make it worth my trouble, MUCH less than what a professional would charge, but if the event they want me to cover is serious, I advise they just skip me all together and go to a professional.
Contradicts what you said above

Like I said in another thread. There are too many "pro photographers" (not naming names)bitching and complaining about what people can and cant do and what this is and what that isn't, with their "Holyer than thou" attitudes. I see too much negativlely driven critisizm and patronizing than positive constructive encouragement. Instead of wasting all your energy making threads about what and who a "photographer" is, or what a "photoshoot" isn't, geared towards belittling the people who post pictures they took of their car, or the woods behind their house with a point and shoot, use some of that energy and make a thread on how to IMPROVE your images with a flash, or how to take stunning infrared images.