We see photos everywhere, on posters, on sidewalks and in the sides of lorries and automobiles. They are so ubiquitous that we often don't even see them. It is the very success of photography that means that it is often overlooked and always undervalued. Yet every one of those photographs has been considered, photographed and then positioned with care and attention. Whether it is a soap powder commercial or a shot of last night's basketball game, every picture is designed to tell a story. The fact that we don't need to read the copy, or in some cases even know the context, just shows how tuned into photos we really are.

Yet with the introduction of the camera phone and low cost digital photography, it appears that anybody can snap a fabulous photo. These amateur photos flood social media sites, are loaded onto thousands of emails and help to create peoples' public personas. Any public event is awash with iPhone, iPad and camera phone coverage. No website or facebook page is complete without showing these grainy, out of focus, often meaningless images. The simple truth is that basic photography is now more accessible than ever before - and relatively inexpensive. The camera phones that are around now could compare easily with the professional digital SLRs from a few years ago and are a lot more forgiving. So does is all this photographic technology and these budding photo-journalists really spell the finish of professional photography?

The phrase "Got an iPhone - now I am a photographer" strikes fear amongst the photographic industry, as professional photographers watch their incomes wither and their commission rates slashed. It must be hard to hope that professional photography has any future at all. But it must be remembered that the Facebook photographers are often just recording what is in front of them, rather than creating photos. Their grainy, out of focus pictures represent their memories of the event itself and are just as short-lived. If they want an image to last for years and still make them smile, or they need a picture to engage with people outside their clique, they will need an image that was designed, considered and shot with the highest quality in mind.

So is the profession of photographer mortally wounded? You might think so if you read their forums. Editorial photographers in particular have taken a beating as print media try to cut expenditure and rely more heavily on PR content. They can now access any number of image sources on the internet and download exactly what they want straight away. The need to hire a professional to photograph a stock image, or to send a photographer to an event 'just in case' has disappeared.

Advertising and commercial photography are also suffering as companies contract and are able to access stock photos from the web. However there are niches which, whilst suffering from the economic pressures, are otherwise healthy. Wedding and family photography, special event photography and even animal photography still have the potential to earn a photographera living - because a client will always want quality when it involves something that is really important to them.

It is unfortunate to see that many editorial photographers still belittle this kind of photography. These are the people who have been the most adaptable over the years - not just in terms of their jobs, but also in adapting the new technology and requirements. They switched from film to digital from dark rooms to photoshop and from wire machines to laptops in what seemed to be a blink of an eye. Now they need to summon their energies once more to track down - and in some cases create - new demand for their skills. They may need to spread their craft across stills and video making, photograph weddings and kittens, and provide CDs or downloadable versions, to keep up with what is expected, but there are photographers out there who are offering these services and they are prospering. The Profession of photographer is not dying, it is evolving and the fittest will survive.