If you buy a camera you are a photographer. If you buy a violin, you own a violin.
–Anonymous

If you happened to chuckle at the above anonymously sourced quote, you have my admiration, and my sympathy. Like me, you may well be a photographer who remains a bit conflicted about whether the above statement proffers any wisdom… or is merely intended as a humorous wisecrack. (I tend to think the latter.)

As silly as the above quote may seem to most serious photographers, it does nevertheless surreptitiously reveal one of the more fundamental challenges of being a photographer. The fact is that most people tend to ascribe common sense and logic to the above notion (rather than recognizing the humor in it) because they know full well that most anyone can operate a camera. And practically no one can operate a violin. Or… can they?

Despite my rather extensive musical background I’ve never actually held a violin in my hands. Nevertheless, I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that I’m pretty sure that I could learn how to operate a violin in less than five minutes! Let’s see… first, place the chin-rest thingamajig under your chin. Next, grab the far end of the violin (the end with the curly-q shaped piece of wood with all the pegs sticking out of it) with your left hand. Now, rest the bow (that’s the long skinny stick with a ribbon of horse hair attached to it) on the strings (horse hair side toward the strings, please) and then drag the bow across the strings in a back and forth motion (as though you are sawing off a tree limb at shoulder height). Congratulations! You have just learned how to operate a violin. Making any music yet? (… me neither.)

Obviously, there is far more to actually playing a violin than simply applying the overtly crude mechanics that I’ve described above. And, if I had an extra lifetime and the notion to do so, I’m reasonably confident that I could not only learn how to play the violin with a measure of success, but also develop the ability to use it to produce some meaningful music. But let’s face it, absent a dedicated amount of prior training, practice, concentration, creativity, and then years and years of additional practice (and then some more practice!) I could never, ever hope to be regarded as a violinist. Should being considered as a photographer require any less training, practice, creativity, and dedication than is required of a violinist?
I think not.

(continued below, please scroll down.)