Some eye candy before I start my rant… | Order a print of this image.

I have a tough job.

Yeah, yeah.  I know what some of you might be thinking…”hold up, you work at home.  How hard can that be?!!”  Not talking about that part – I actually think that part’s awesome.  I love my job.  The tough part is that I’m in an industry where there is no real barrier to entry.

Every single person who walks into Best Buy (or navigates to B&H Photo or Amazon) right now can walk out with a camera (even a drone these days) and a turnkey system that does what I do (for the most part).  No real barrier to entry.  There’s no test.  No certification.  No actual degree needed.  All of credentials set you apart and certainly improve the chances that you’ll actually make it, but it’s not required to call yourself a photographer or video producer.

Therein lies the issue.  I have to co-exist with everybody these days, because everybody is a photographer.  Everybody is a video editor/producer.  I’m not trying to rain on anybody’s parade.  You can actually become a decent photographer/video producer without a degree, but you have to work really hard at it, maintain it and even then not everybody can do it well.  I’ve got a long way to go and I’d loathe myself if I ever thought I knew it all.  Heck, even the major players (networks and production houses) make continuity mistakes and bad decisions in their productions.

I’ll just continue to try to stand out from the rest and have faith that my potential clients will know the difference and make good choices when it comes to production quality.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”