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Conventionally, a "professional" earns more than half their income from whatever it is. I guess semi-pro (a modern term) is someone who earns part of their income but not the majority, as opposed to someone who casually sells a few pictures still being an amateur.
Just having a qualification doesn't make you a professional, nor does calling yourself something arbitrarily.
From Ade...if you sell bricks, you are just someone who has sold bricks. Not a professional brick seller until you do it consistently and earn most of your money from it.
Does it change the way you take photos? Personally, I think doing it professionally does change things...the business comes first, the ability comes second. Plenty of poor photographers make a decent living, but not many good ones without the business ability.
Nick
Pro makes majority of income from photography, semi pro has regular extra income from their photography and seeks to maintain this, Amateur might make occasional sales. Retired also might make occasional sales or more but is not really seeking regular income.
Part time amateurs like me hope to get lucky here and there while they have fun practicing.
As said though - what's really in a name.
God knows what it all really means
Professional is more than just making money
it's an attitude
it's your approach
it's how you deal with people
it's how well you deliver according to a breif
it's reacting to difficult situations and producing the goods
it's all that kinda thing....
money's a kinda by product ?
Quote: money's a kinda by product ?
I`ve never yet met a pro that looks upon money as a bi product 
Quote: I agree and disagree! Conventionally, a professional is defined by making most of their income from the job.
Being 'professional' about it is different and includes the things Ade lists.
That's how I see it too.
Ergo, how can you be semi-professional? You're only doing the job part time?
Quote: Ergo, how can you be semi-professional? You're only doing the job part time?
Nope, it's about whether you do it full or part time for money.
Collins defines semi professional as "engaged in an activity or sport part-time but for pay"
if you're not "professional", you are "unprofessional" - who'd want to be that?
Quote: Collins defines semi professional as "engaged in an activity or sport part-time but for pay"
I thought that that was what I said.
You asked "how can you be semi-professional? You're only doing the job part time?" Suggesting that you think the two are mutually exclusive. Unless you mean something else by that?
Quote: if you're not "professional", you are "unprofessional" - who'd want to be that?
I am not a professional photographer, but I do the job professionally.
It's semantics, and it seems like you are deliberately confusing my usage of 'professional' as an adverb rather than a noun.
I suggest that a semi professional works for money, repeatedly and consistently, as opposed to an amateur that sells the occasional picture, but still doesn't earn enough from it for it to be their main income. In my case, I have been in and out of these categories for years, though I am an engineer by profession. I have never had photography as my main income, but there have been times when I have worked consistently as a photographer in the past, with a regular but small, income.
Although I have, in the past, been paid for thousands of images that were published (mainly in magazines) I never considered myself as either pro or semi-pro. I was purely an amateur hobbyist who sold a few images on a freelance basis and used the proceeds to pay for my hobby.
Those days are gone. Magazines that, in the 1960-1990 period would pay me anything from £5 to £250 for a photo now get their illustrations for pennies (literally) from online image libraries. Fortunately the opposite has happened with the written word and I now get far more in royalties for my books being sold as e-books and Kindle editions than I ever got for the hard-print versions. So my freelance income from my hobbies still pays for my hobbies. But that does not make me a pro or semi pro. My household income still comes from my pension, just as it came from my salary in the olden days.
Quote: if you're not "professional", you are "unprofessional" - who'd want to be that?
I think that's a good point. We all know that experienced 'amateur' photographers can sometimes be just as skilled, creative and capable of a top quality job as those that earn full time income from photography (no disrespect to hard working full time togs intended but it's the reality of the situation). However, I'm convinced that the term 'amateur' implies 'unprofessional/inexperienced/unskilled' to some people and that 'semi-pro' is just confusing outside of the photography community.
Maybe 'part time pro' would be a better description for earning a part income from paid photography work.
Partly professional....
Sometimes professional....
Weekends professional
Profession...ish
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