[ELAY]

I think there is a grammar thing happening here, in that some of us are getting tripped up on the article in front of photographer.

I wouldn't hesitate to identify myself as "the" photographer, as in "who's the photographer who took this shot?" I think I would pause for a while, though, if somebody asked me if I were "a" photographer, as in "who here considers him/herself a photographer?" Some days I might put up my hand, some not.

As for what goes into my determination of what "a" photographer is, I'm not sure I can pin it down. I think many of us (me included) make an unconscious assumption that anybody who pulls $1000s worth of gear out of a bag must be "a" photographer, and maybe that somebody who is holding their P&S out at arm's length and looking at the LCD is not -- but of course that is ridiculous snobbery and I fight it (and hey, lots of high-end camera folks probably don't think a D40 owner like me is "a" photographer). Is it a quality thing? Again, hard to say -- some people work hard at it and just may not have a very good eye (again, me included most days). Does this mean they are not photographers?

I wonder why we all want to draw a line, and put some people on one side and some on the other?