Being a photographer can be a challenging but rewarding career, but it is not without risks one should be aware of before they choose to enter it. This fantastic video essay features an experienced commercial photographer discussing some important truths about being a professional that every creative should be aware of. 

Coming to you from Scott Choucino of Tin House Studio, this excellent video essay discusses some of the crucial truths of being a professional photographer. Without a doubt, being a professional photographer comes with risks, a high dose of competition, and no guarantee of finding success and stability. One thing that can be particularly anxiety-inducing for many people is the irregularity of the income. And you will often spend many hours alone. On the other hand, it can be a really rewarding career for the right kind of person. For the fiercely independent person, the freedom to control virtually all aspects of their professional life can be exciting. Certainly, it is not a career you should enter unless you cannot imagine yourself doing literally anything else, but if it’s something you are interested in, be sure you are aware of everything it entails. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Choucino.

In a week where two very different trinity lenses were announced by the two leading camera brands, Sony has stated its belief that “the professional photographer is quite conservative” in discussing its traditional 300mm f/2.8 lens design. 

Less  than a week ago the groundbreaking Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8L IS USM Z was revealed – a lens that I called a “trinity buster” for its revolutionary approach to the predictable f/2.8 zoom lens range. Yesterday Sony launched its much-anticipated Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS – completing its lineup of trinity telephoto lenses. 

Two brilliant lenses, and two very different tacks. Canon set out to break the mold, while Sony set out to fill a longstanding gap in its lineup – one that has existed since Sony’s A-Mount version, released in 2008. Indeed, even Sony shooter and multi-award-winning sports photographer Bob Martin called it “the missing link in Sony’s telephoto lineup.” 

At the launch event in Turkey, we were given the opportunity to quiz Sony execs and engineers. We didn’t get an answer to the question of why the 300mm f/2.8 had taken so long to arrive, but we did receive a response when asked a follow-up question of why the lens wasn’t more daring. Could Sony have done something more than offer a traditional 300mm prime – try something different, push the optical design, add a built-in teleconverter?  

“That’s a good question,” said Yann Salmon-Legagneur, head of marketing for Sony Europe. “In general, the thing is, I think the photographer is quite conservative, and we mean the professional photographer is quite conservative. So it’s always a balance between innovation and the traditional approach in a lens lineup. 

“And you can see that some lenses – I think it was the 20-70 [the Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G] – that we did have some different approach that hasn’t been done. But the priority on this lens, on this particular lens, is really to provide the top of the quality in terms of focusing and resolution for pro photographers. So here, on this particular lens, no off-piste.”

It’s an interesting position. There’s definitely something to be said, after such a long wait, for a 300mm f/2.8 lens with more bells and whistles – whether that’s a teleconverter or a slightly quirky focal length or whatever else. But then again, that’s not delivering the lens that photographers have had such a long wait for. 

As much as I love Canon’s boundary-pushing pro lenses that do buck convention, whether it’s the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 or that new RF 25-105mm f/2.8, I’ve no idea how well they actually sell. Maybe they’re just prestige optics. Maybe not enough people want them. Maybe they don’t justify their R&D cost. 

At the end of the day, pro shooters don’t want cool stuff – they want what they need. And what they need, in this case, is a standard issue 300mm f/2.8. It’s certainly interesting, though, to hear Sony spell things out so clearly. 

Take a look at the best Sony lenses, and see how the new 300mm f/2.8 compares with the best Sony telephoto lenses and the best telephoto lenses from all brands. If you’re looking for seasonal savings, check out the best Sony Black Friday deals and the best Black Friday camera deals overall.

Earlier this year, we spoke to Harry Hall about his penchant for documenting people enjoying some of leisure’s greatest niches. At the time, he was capturing a community of fen skaters in East Anglia, catching them in moments of pause with tender portraits. Continuing on his work rooted in a world of reportage and documentary, Harry has taken his camera to photographing ploughmen and women in competition, making up his new venturesome series, The Sow Must Go On.

With a desire to capture the changing of the seasons, the competition presented the chance for Harry to tell another rural story. “I grew up in Suffolk and now I’m based in London, and maybe [in my personal work] I feel a responsibility to tell stories close to home or in the countryside,” he tells us. After some time traversing The Society of Ploughmans’ website, he became familiar with the competitions for the summer to autumn transition. “From the list I was able to contact some farmers and hosts directly to discuss my plans to create a portrait of a ploughing match,” he adds.

With the nature of close-knit community events, it’s no wonder when members become suspicious of outsiders with cameras, but Harry was adamant on building a rapport on his visit to the East Anglican branch of the Vintage Tractor and Engine Club. “They were really receptive to my interest and I had someone to refer to when I went up to people in the fields and asked to take their picture,” he tells us. “People are quick to see through fake curiosity, genuine interest will always help to build relationships quickly.” Much like his last personal series, The Sow Must Go On isn’t overly busy or trying to depict the technicalities of ploughing. They range from communal to familial with an air of mundanity. In one portrait of two young boys and an older ploughman, you get the feeling of ploughing and competitions as something to be passed down to the younger generations, a choice in documentation that perhaps stems from Harry’s relationship to farming through his grandparents.