In a training video ("A Week with Jay Maisel in Paris") that I watched last month, Jay Maisel made what I thought was an interesting comment about photographers. He described three categories of photographers:

Technician: "a photographer who is only interested in the technical aspects of the game"

Craftsman: "a photographer who is trying to do it as well as he can"

Artist: "a photographer who says that once you look at his work you will look at the world in a different way"

Jay's comments challenged me to think about what category might best describe my own photography.

I don't consider myself to be a Technician as I am only interested in the technical aspects of photography to the extent that understanding those aspects will enable me to capture my vision. I don't necessarily enjoy looking at and/or purchasing the latest gear unless I think it will help accomplish my photography goals.

One day, I hope that my photography will evolve to the Artist category. I hope that my pictures will someday encourage others to see the world in a new and different way.

For now, I would categorize myself as a Craftsman as I continually strive to improve my skills in a wide variety of areas within photography. However, besides striving to improve my technical expertise in photography, one of my goals is to create a greater number of images that will evoke more of an emotional response from viewers.

What category do you think best describes you as a photographer?