It's just a shame a seemingly large portion of 'professionals' go the opposite way and start out with $15k worth of equipment thinking it'll make their images, and then wonder why the 580exII they just bought for $650 from Paxtons, which they're using pointed directly at their subject from on top of the camera produces the same looking images as the pop-up flash they once had on their 550D did.
I just got home from shooting a wedding at Caves Beach in Newcastle, where I witnessed another photographer shooting a separate wedding, photographing his post-ceremony location shots of the bride and groom with the pop-up flash on top of his 7D. We had amazing light and a stunning location and this kook was using his thousands of dollars worth of gear and the trust of a whole bridal party to shoot what I'm guessing would've been shithouse photos. I also had the displeasure of working with a wedding cinematographer who spent the whole day filming with a 5DII and 70-200 f/2.8L IS who quite clearly didn't understand the concept of minimum focus distance, and who spent the whole day trying to work out why she couldn't get the camera to focus while at 60cm from the bride and grooms hands during the exchanging of the rings. She also came up to me during the reception and said "Tristan, why is my ISO button no longer working?", which I replied to with "Do you always shoot in Tv mode?", to which she responded "What's that? The button just won't work anymore...by the way i've never used one of these before..."
I think there should be a rule that every new photographer looking to make it in business should be confined to one body and one prime lens for at least 12 months beforehand, and if they can produce reasonable results with these limitations then the world of gear will be opened to them. I'd much prefer to see someone using their equipment to it's absolute maximum potential, and who can actually justify spending the thousands of dollars on gear than to see what we're currently experiencing (much like any hobby/profession that has the ability to cost lots): an absolute raping of the industry by every Tom, Dick and f*cking Harriet who thinks spending a few thousand dollars on gear will get them up to the standard of all of those talked-about photographers they see on the interwebs.