As the Nigeria joins the world to celebrate the World Photography Day, some photographers say the usage of smart phones to take pictures has affected the patronage of their professional services.

The photographers, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, said however that most of the photos taken with smart phones do not usually come out well as those of the professionals.

NAN reports that the celebration is a day which inspires thousands of photographers across the planet to share a single photo of their culture.

The first World Photography Day was celebrated in 2010 with 250 images submitted reaching over 20,000 people.

NAN reports that in 2015, close to 3000 images were submitted and the social media reach was put at 500 million people based on the hashtag #WorldPhotoDay.

Mr Albert Gyado, a professional photographer said that before the advent of digital camera smart phones, patronage was high with photographers making good money.

“People use to invite us to cover events but these days, they use their camera phones to take photographs including video recordings.

“This has affected our source of income and further driving us to the point of irrelevance.

“Also, when a photographer takes shots before he could go and upload them. Someone with a smart phone would have already done it,’’ Gyado said.

Another photographer, Mr Johnson Bassey said that the cost of photography equipment was out of reach of an average photographer.

He said that the exchange rate had affected the price of photography equipment in the country, adding that they now make use of refurbished and non-refurbished equipment.

“You cannot easily get a D90 Camera to buy; however, there are refurbished ones that are also not affordable, therefore, equipment that will enhance the output of our works are so costly.

“In fact, the high cost of dollars has generally affected photography equipment that some cannot afford and therefore settle for the type that will not give them good output,’’ Bassey said.

Mr Hogan Ikenna, a photo journalist, however, said that a professional photographer with a good camera does better work with better output than a phone.

He said that the photo journalist was still relevant even in the era of smartphones, adding the photographs only needed to send the relevant message to the readers.

“For example, in an accident scene, an individual will just take a snap shot with his or her phone.

“But a photo journalist will try to get a clean shot because he is reporting with his photos and he gets more details than an ordinary phone photographer.’’

He called on Nigerians to patronise professional photographers for better quality photographs that they would be proud of.