I am not too familiar with Mr. Kelby or the debate, but I've certainly felt that same attitude from 'professional' photographers before, and still do to a lesser extent. ; I really started to get into photography, and began really experimenting and broadening my shooting, with an ultra-zoom P&S camera. ; Due to the excellent lens, and range of that lens, I was able to shoot daylight subjects such as wildlife and birds as well and in some cases better than those with DSLRs who had invested heavily into their system and had gone ahead with the declaration of being professional photographers. ; I never once argued that a P&S is the better tool, nor that in the right hands, the DSLR and right lens couldn't run circles around my best effort. ; But what I did find was there were quite a few who seemed to think their professional status was some form of earned right because they had an expensive camera with a big lens, and spent lots of time taking the same types of shots. ; They were immediately offended at someone popping in for a few hours with a P&S that cost under $500, and getting a close-up detailed view of the head feathers of a perturbed green heron from 100 feet. ; It was usually easiest to dismiss me as an amateur who didn't know any better, and that my shots only looked good in small sizes and could never compare to their stuff. ; I've had people tell me to give up, go home, you'll never sell anything, I'm ruining photography...all kinds of comments. ; And the comments kept up even as I'd post shots in large size, heavily cropped, and still retaining detail. ; Even as I actually got published, unsolicited. ; Even as I made money selling prints and getting publication requests. ; Even as I got several paid shoots with the camera.
In the end, it comes down to bruised ego, and deeper down, a lack of confidence. ; All of the carping and fussing from the 'professionals' more often than not results from the fear that the amateur with the cheaper camera actually has a true skill and a good eye, that all of their expensive equipment will never give them. ; Many approach photography as a job the way the typical American approaches their job - slightly ambivalent, a little lazy, and just relying on a standard, rote procedure to churn out assembly line photographs that meet certain standards and rules. ; While good on a technical level, few can actually cross the threshhold to artisticness or creativeness. ; And if someone were to come along and have those things with a much cheaper camera, it threatens their sensibility and their confidence in their job.
With all of the encroachment from amateurs with P&S cameras, or the tens of thousands of unskilled newbies buying DSLR systems, and even the proliferation of cellphone cams, I truly don't see much fear from the truly GOOD professional photographers. ; They know they are better than those amateurs, and are secure that they bring something to the table with their photographs that those amateurs and first-time DSLR users aren't able to bring. ; His skill, eye, and instinct keep him heads above the rest. ; It's the other photographers...the ones not sure of themselves and trying to bolster their confidence with their equipment...the ones who fear their fraud will be revealed, that maybe despite the equipment, all the time they've put into it, and all the jobs they've done in the past, someday it will be revealed that they are just following the path by a set of rules, rather than blazing a new path and forging new rules.
I still get the turned-up noses even since moving to a DSLR...because I still haven't followed the rulebook. ; I didn't buy a full-frame, it isn't a Canon or Nikon, my lens isn't white, I don't wear a vest and spend 16 hours a day in the same spot with a tripod and a camoflauge net over me. ; So obviously, I really shouldn't be allowed to be in the same zip code as the Exhalted Ones.
Personally, I've seen some folks deliver more impressive photographs with pocket cameras than some self-proclaimed 'pros' with multi-thousand dollar cameras. ; The multi-thousand dollar cameras are clearly the better tools for the wider range of jobs, but the person using the tool still matters just a wee bit!
