One common factor that people usually use to determine if someone is an amateur or a professional in their field is whether or not people are actually paying them for their services. For example, many would consider a person taking pictures and posting it online for free as an amateur. Whereas a person who gets hired by magazines and events to shoot photos for them is a professional. People even say the second you charge someone money then you need to call yourself a professional.
That is what got me thinking because during these times a ton of people are trying to learn new skills such as photography or videography. Many have the ambition to eventually start making money while calling themselves a professional. In the meantime they will simply try and hone their skills while even volunteering for events to practice and get their name e out there.
With that in mind I actually saw a lot of people clearly advertising themselves as an amateur and beginner but they are still charging people money. Their fees are extremely lower than established professionals as they don’t hide the fact that they are new and are practicing. You can see how it can be enticing where if a photographer would normally charge you $500 for some head shots and this person charges $20 then in many people’s mind it may be worth the risk.
Would you think this is actually a better way to go if you are starting out? Instead of doing it for free just charge insanely low prices? As well, would you keep calling yourself an amateur this case?