It was a chilly afternoon as the sun went down, thank you both for being such troopers for your photos!

Check out Monica′s shoes, best I′ve ever seen! They′re hand painted with the couple′s wedding date and honeymoon destination, awesome!

Congratulations to you both!

Gwendoline′s bridesmaids surprised her with a limo to take her to the ceremony, this was the moment she realised what they′d done…

Why? Well, I don′t really know.

For me the word photographer was never really a job title. It certainly described what I did at work but I am also very proud of being a business owner. I suppose when I told people I ran a small business it sounded more realistic. It conjurers up thoughts of long hours, commitment, dedication and work. All the things I felt my job was.

When pressed further I would then explain that I was a photographer, working for myself. Funnily enough, I always felt very reluctant to actually explain what I did for a living, I didn′t like being put in the basket of photographer. Let′s face it, photographers are a dime a dozen these days, after all the industry isn′t regulated, you just need a facebook page, a watermark and some snap shots and suddenly you′re a pro photographer. Heck you can even charge $600 a session, who′s stopping you?

Small business owners, well they′re a rarer breed and I liked the way that basket felt. Actually, I still do.

After a while I became more confident telling people I was a photographer for a living. I would get the general questions about what I specialised in and did I enjoy it ect. Then I started getting more and more responses along the lines of “Oh, ok. My cousin/girlfriend/sister/friend/cat is a photographer too, they just started last month. You should check out their facebook page”

At that point, things get a little awkward. I suddenly found myself in a basket with people who had been given an SLR for Christmas and started their photography business on Boxing Day.

That was not me, that basket was the wrong fit. Very wrong.

I tried out “I′m a professional photographer” for a while, it was slightly better but I still felt like my work as a business owner was going completely unrecognised. People were associating photographer with has a fancy camera and takes photos. Yes my camera is fancy. Yes I take photos. I am also the editor, account, receptionist, marketing director, head of sales and everything in between. It′s a business and it′s hard work.

With the rapid rise of the fauxtographer it seems that sadly, the job title of photographer is becoming less and less professional. I have read many posts from photographers (actual real photographers!) about the influx of backyard photography and how it is damaging the industry. Unfortunately that train is showing no signs of slowing down so what can we do? Some feel that industry regulation should be put in place. Others just keep working and ignore it.

And me? Well I′m testing out the “Full time photographer” basket at the moment- so far so good.