Photographers, like anyone else in a creative field, have to learn somewhere. Nobody starts out perfect. But there’s an ongoing issue happening where some photographers are still learning and using paying clients as their practice.

Somewhere along the way, the modeling conversation got muddy.

Posting cute photos became “modeling.” Walking in a local show became “professional.” Getting booked once became a “career.” And while there’s nothing wrong with any of that, problems start when we claim that all of it is the same thing. It’s not.