The explosion of photography in the digital age has created a revolution in the once sacrosanct world of Leica-toting professionals. In pre-digital days the professional photographer, from hard-bitten newshound to the sleek runway stylist, basically sat center stage solo. The pros worked high-end, corporate accounts while the small-time hobbyist remained content to photograph birds and landscapes.

Digital photography changed everything -- quickly.

Rapid technological advances with still-photography cameras, video cameras, cell phones and even photo-altering software made the film camera a dinosaur and the chemical darkroom a relic. Every innovation among aggressive camera competitors like Nikon and Canon brought the price of digital photography to within reach of all. Moreover, the ease of use of these new technological wonders gave rise to the term "point and shoot" cameras.

The Internet has given rise to Flickr, Shutterfly and YouTube, and the massively popular Facebook may not exist without the easy-to-use digital camera. Everyone has a camera.

But wait! The downside of this amazing advance is now being played out in the business sector. As Corporate America feels the crunch of this distressed economy, decisions are made every day to surrender the work of professionals to digital-camera-toting amateurs.

And, on the surface, it seems to make sense. But dig a little deeper and consider the ramifications. Would you allow your company's message, your footprint, your hard-earned reputation for excellence to be seen on a promotion photographed by Ralph who works in accounting? He has a digital camera and he even has experience -- he shot his niece's wedding. The cost will be minimal. The damage will be expensive.

Not everyone who has a car can drive like Mario Andretti. Likewise, not everyone who owns a camera can make a compelling photograph. It is the essence of photography that makes this so. With all the technical innovations and major advances in lens design allowing everyone to shoot pictures with ease, it is still and always has been, the eye of the photographer that is paramount. The skill with which a photograph is produced depends less on the camera and more on the visual sense, the artistic talent of the shooter.

A photographer has less concern for mega-pixels in the digital camera, a major selling point, than for image quality, a major technological difference. The professional photographer brings creativity, a visual acuity, a sense of scale and an inherent feel for detail adding nuance and complexity where the untrained eye saw none.

And, the pro brings an added quality to the assignment that trumps any cost savings -- patience. A professional knows the value of being patient and allowing the assignment to unfold. In the days of film, it was not unusual for a photographer to go through two or three rolls of film to get but one portrait. A patient photographer gets the great shots.

It's the great shots that, in the end, sell.