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A Weekly Column By Mike Johnston
© Mike Johnston 2002
The little three-letter word "pro" (it aspires to be a four-letter word but comes up a bit short) has the longest "legs" of any marketing term ever used in photography. Why? What's so important about being a "pro"?
The way I look at it, most professional photography is very competent. On a ten scale, professional work averages in the 8 range, sometimes achieves a 9, and seldom falls below 7. Okay. Fine-art photography and working photojournalism, on the other hand, can sometimes sink to the 4 to 6 level‚ when you take more risks, you fail more‚ but they also give us most all the 10s.
I've never really understood the eternal appeal to the amateur of the three-letter word.
Pro Quality
After having thought about the matter for two decades, here are the first principles of whatactually, in my opinion, distinguishes pros from the the rest of us:

They shoot a lot more.
They edit a lot better.

This...

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