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# When Pros Attack
- URL: https://www.cjchilvers.com/blog/when-pros-attack/
- Published: 2012-07-16T07:46:36.000Z
- Updated: 2012-07-16T07:46:36.000Z
- Author: CJ Chilvers
- Tags: going amateur, photography, gear, art, iPhone

I got the feeling there was a coordinated attack on Lesser Photography this week.

It started with a poorly researched article on Yahoo, [More Americans Becoming Serious Photographers](http://news.yahoo.com/more-americans-becoming-serious-photographers-193239546.html?ref=cjchilvers.com), which equated buying more lenses with becoming a more serious photographer. It was [parroted](http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/12/more-americans-becoming-serious-photographers/?ref=cjchilvers.com) around the web, but [not everyone took the bait](https://twitter.com/chrismarquardt/status/223676888890093569?ref=cjchilvers.com).

The truth: Acting like a pro and buying pro equipment does nothing to improve your photography. True improvement comes from learning and creativity. **Buying prime lenses only makes you a “serious” photographer in the sense that you’ve just spent “serious” money to solve a “serious” problem that you probably haven’t even defined yet.**

Then, this quote from [Zack Arias](http://zarias.tumblr.com/?ref=cjchilvers.com) (supposedly - the sourcing is vague) really took off:

> “You know where iPhone photos look amazing? On iPhones. That’s where.”

The pro-centric blog, A Photo Editor, posted the quote under the title, [The iPhone Isn’t Quite There Yet](http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2012/07/13/the-iphone-isnt-quite-there-yet/?ref=cjchilvers.com).

The truth: **It’s the photographers who aren’t there yet, not the iPhone.**

The most important photos of our lives were taken on cameras far less intelligent than an iPhone. They’re the photos we’d grab running out of the house during a fire. They were captured on 110, 127, polaroid and disc cameras.

When you view photography through the lens of a pro, you can end up trying to solve problems that only apply to pros.