Why do photos taken with cameras at home look different than professional photos

Question:Photos taken by professional photographers seen sharper and flatter the subject more. Some of the most gorgeous celebrities, for instance, only look OK through the lens of some ordinary person's camera. Why is this. Is it the type of camera, or the lenses?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Photos taken by professional photographers seen sharper and flatter the subject more. Some of the most gorgeous celebrities, for instance, only look OK through the lens of some ordinary person's camera. Why is this. Is it the type of camera, or the lenses?

Photos taken with cameras at home look different than professional photos, because "people at home" are taking the pictures. Photos taken by professional photographers are taken by professional photographers. There's your answer – all lifted from your own question.

You could give ME the same studio lighting, backdrop. posing stool, camera, whatever, and my pictures would not match a professional's unless they did everything for me but push the button. I no more know how to set up the lights than they know how to do the detailed tasks of my profession and I'm okay with that.

I'm not saying that YOU did this, but it kills me (and many of us) when someone comes here and asks what kind of camera they need to take "perfessinal pictures," because the choice of the camera has less to do with the final results than the photographer using it.

I would say that there are only two people above this answer who have a real idea what's involved and one of them said that it was just a guess...

It's lighting and the quality of the lens.

it depends on your camera i have one that works just like in a studio... it just depends on the $ you spend..

just a guess, but maybe it's experience

It depends on the quality of the camera. The higher quality ones are more expensive. For example, my uncle is an amateur photographer, but he spent a lot of money on his camera. His pictures always look like they were meant to be published in a magazine.

Flat = longer focal length
Sharp = focus. better cameras and lenses can do this quicker and nicer under more diffcult situations

It's a lot of things... the camera, the lens, the lighting, the person behind the camera... sometimes, even some help from Photoshop as well. It's all about skill!

Lighting.

V

professional cameras, professional photographers, and mad airbrushing.

Its all about the lighting. The camera and lens do matter but at the end of the day its all about the lighting.

Go to the library and check out a few books on portrait lighting if you'd like to learn more.

Composition

Lighting

That's all.

Average people do things until they can get it right. Masters do things until they can't get it wrong.

It's not necessarily the camera, but the expertise of the photographer and processor of the image.

Dr. Sam,

Thanks for having a coherent, intelligent and correct answer to this question.