with RAW, you can shoot without a care in the world, from WB to exposure. with photoshop, you can remove that pimple or phone line in the background, or that stain on a shirt.....

This is ridiculous. Technical know-how has never even been half the job of a real photographer.

RAW and Photoshop are not what goes into good photographs. There is more to taking a good photograph in the instant before the shutter is snapped than everything that happens afterwards. If someone doesn't know this then they're just an arrogant and/or ignorant chap with a camera.

Back in the day, a group of people known as Photographers had to know how to operate every function of the camera in order to get it "just right"

In 2013, with RAW photography, you pick up the camera, shoot away, and make adjustments when you get back to your computer. I understand that low light situations will require some minor camera adjustments, but other than that, it's just shoot until your finger hurts.

I know multiple old school photographers who have gave up on their professions because the digital era has continued to make it easier for anybody to do. For every old school photographer that has "gave up" I know 10 digital camera photographers that have "became photographers"

Even if you take RAW out of the equation, Photoshop has also made it possible to make nothing look like something. I have witnessed my wife (she is much better with Photoshop than I am) take a picture of an older lady with quite a bit of wrinkles & no make up and transform the lady in the picture to look 20 years younger, wearing every form up make up that a woman would wear, make her teeth whiter, and remove every wild hair on her head.

When I find time, I'm going to find a kid in the age range of 6-12 and have them take a few pictures with my camera as an experiment and see what happens. If I consider it a failure, I will look for a 13-17 year old.

this conversation stems from my opinion of what TRULY takes more skill, photography or videography.

this is my...personal-view, what's yours?

@GravitateMediaGroup

If you wish, you can make something in Offtopic with title "RAW makes absolete all your skills", will be good flame. Here it is offtopic.

@vitaliy_kiselev is it bullshit? how can you assume this without seeing 1 picture i've taken?

@vitaliy_kiselev i'm gonna make a wild guess and say 80% of the weddings now days are shot on a 5d, I doubt either one of us could find an actual number. but if you do a quick "wedding video" search on vimeo or youtube you will find tons of "shot on 5d" in the description.

and most wedding photographers are people that "own a dslr" and any family member with a rebel can run around shooting pictures of a wedding. not everyone owns a "big camera" that you speak of.

I am NO photographer, but I bought a 6d for low light, and have used it for pictures 99% more than video. With raw photography...ANYBODY can be a photographer. I have taken pictures that you would not be able to tell if I took them, or somebody with 30 years experience took them........thanks to raw.

It's to the point, where I have taken probably 1000 pictures in the past 2 months (with my 6d), I've taken several more than that over the past 10 years. and for somebody to charge $2 or $3k to be a photographer is a joke. Almost to where I feel like i'm in the wrong field. lol