If you want to do something interesting, go on a sponsored photowalk sometime or take a photography class and notice how many of the people there are already professional photographers.

While it may be a little depressing if you’re just starting out, it points up several important aspects about photography.

We All Stand On The Shoulders of Giants

Just like in the field of magic, where there are few modern tricks that are not variations on an older illusion, there are very few photographic styles that are actually unique. Everyone in photography, just like everyone in magic, is standing on the shoulders of giants. Nowhere does that become more apparent than in continuing education, which is one of the foundations of professional photographers.

It’s An Investment

Photography is a huge field with a depth of knowledge rivaled in few professions. With modern digital cameras set on auto, anyone can take decent pictures. But the creativity, the depth of knowledge that separates amateur from professional is no accident; it is born from a lifetime of continuing education and study.

Professional photographers don’t consider continuing eduction a necessary evil, it’s a lifestyle. And the photographer that attends a class this month may be teaching a similar class the next. In the field of photography we all feed off one another and all take our turn giving back. » Read more: Continuing Education For Photographers