Women in Photography

At the last Texas school I went to, we discussed why one of our opening video's in the student/teacher orientation had only women in it.  Well, in the past, photography had far less women than men in the profession and now times have changed, the camera has changed and there are tons of women entering this profession.  The digital camera was introduced and the image quality it produced quickly started catching up to the film camera.  Stay at home moms who already loved to snap away, taking pictures of their young ones from crawling to sporting events decided, "Hey!  I love doing this.  My pictures look good.  I can make some money out of this!"  The digital camera did all the work for you.  Once you start moving past your rebel, 510, D5000 and coolpix, things start getting a little bit more complicated.  It takes more than a natural talent or an eye for capturing something creative.  If you truly want to bring forth quality work, you will take the time to learn and educate yourself.  I took classes because I remembered basically nothing from what I had learned about film 15 years before.  I started with a basic class and kept going.  I worked for free helping an individual for sometime.  I did jobs for friends for free.  I read books on lighting and digital cameras.  I watch every video tutorial I can get my hands on.  I take classes each year with Texas School of Professional Photography.  I never feel that I know enough!  I always want to learn more and I know that the field is constantly changing and I must change with it.  There are tons of people, not just stay at home moms, who claim to be photographers and will sell you their services for next to nothing.  They are working to continue learning and this is NOT good.  Paid for services SHOULD NOT be the photographer's school.  You do get better through your experiences and time as a photographer, but before you take the responsibility of capturing precious memories from someone's wedding, you need to know enough about the camera that you are holding and all the elements that go into capturing good images than just guess, shoot and hoping for the best.  You should also own a camera that has a manual mode and you should know how to use it.  And that is just the start.  I did my first wedding for a friend at no charge and that was after helping as a second shooter at many weddings.  I did free shoots for our soccer team years ago.  But I did not charge money until I felt that my services were worth paying for.  I know that there are people charging next to nothing for their services and it has made me want to lower my prices to compete.  But you do get what you pay for.  The people selling you an 8 hour wedding for $400 are probably not who you want to trust in capturing a precious memory such as a Wedding, a Bar Mitzvah, a Baptism or ANYTHING!  I have competitively low prices, mine are lower than a lot, but I will not sell my services at the same price as someone who owns a rebel OR even owns a Mark III, and has no education.  I would guess however, if they owned a Mark III, they probably are doing well enough to afford that!  :)  Make this profession unique and worth something again by educating yourself.  That is what will set you apart from the $250 wedding on craigslist.