Photography has always been result-oriented. When we evaluate a photographer, we often talk about how good their shooting skills are.

But how to judge the level of shooting skills? Naturally, it's through the works. However, whether a work is good or not is a subjective judgment, and many photographers think their photos are world-class blockbusters.

Everyone has different abilities to appreciate and evaluate works, so there must be disputes about whether a photo is well-taken. That is to say, there is no fixed standard for the so-called "level of skills", and it is also a subjective evaluation.

I think whether a photo is well-taken doesn't reflect a photographer's skill, or rather, shooting skills are sometimes not that important. What's important is being able to deliver the work, and that's the real ability of a photographer!

This is especially obvious in commercial photography, and commercial photographers may have a deep understanding of this.

In commercial shooting, many times the quality of the work is not controlled by the photographer, but by the client.

A photographer may have no problems with their skills and shooting ideas, and the things they take are at least of a normal level. But the client doesn't understand! They just give random instructions. Or the client has a peculiar aesthetic, insists on taking an unusual path, reverse a decision the photographer's plan, and insists on doing it their own way.

The result is a bunch of inexplicable and extremely ugly things. Can we blame the photographer for this? The photographer is also helpless! They can only unconditionally follow the client's requirements.

So in this case, even if a photographer has real skills, it's hard to exert them. Naturally, you can't look at the pile of ugly photos taken by the photographer and say their skills are poor, right?

Photography is result-oriented, but what is the result of photography? Is it really those few photos taken? No! For commercial photographers, the result is delivering the work and having someone willing to pay for it!

As for whether the photos are good or not, it doesn't matter much. After all, photographers are just doing a job. Commercial photographers are not for creation, but for serving clients.

That is to say, no matter how the client wants it, the photographer just needs to realize it, regardless of whether it looks good or not. This doesn't reflect the photographer's skills either. It's fundamentally different from pure artistic creation.

We often see some photographers who, even though the client has high requirements, take photos that are a mess, even worse than the works of novice practitioners, but they can successfully deliver the work. We have to admire such photographers' abilities.

Of course, there are many factors involved here. For example, the photographer has extremely high emotional intelligence, or uses certain connections, and so on. Different photographers may have their own ways of delivering work. No matter what method is used, successfully delivering the work in the end is also a kind of ability.

In commercial photography, being able to deliver the work is the key. After all, it's for making a living. Being able to successfully deliver the work and get paid is one's own ability.

So whether it's due to the client's own requirements or the photographer's limited level, being able to deliver the work is the real ability. Otherwise, no matter how well you take the photos, if the client doesn't buy it, what's the use?

Of course, most photography enthusiasts don't have clients, so they don't need to deliver work to others. But delivering work to oneself is also delivering work. In the end, if the photos taken can satisfy oneself and convince oneself, that's the result.

There may still be disputes about whether the photos are good or not, but whether one can deliver the work is a visible fact. Whether it's delivering to the client or to oneself, as long as the work is delivered, it can be said that the goal is achieved, and it's a manifestation of the photographer's ability.

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