I love Cargo One base but it's very hard to find here. I've heard very good things regarding the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser (also Chanel are quite known for good light bases) and it does contain spf. As you said though, spf can cause flash back with flash photography, this is the light from the camera flash reflecting off the titanium dioxide used to give sun protection, which is how it does its job, reflecting back the sun's rays. Personally I don't wear base with spf, that's my personal choice and preference. I would recommend a good spf first, such as Lancaster or Clarins. You're unlikely to use enough foundation to actually get the proper spf rating otherwise. You can always sheer out your favourite foundation with a moisturiser and see how that goes. I'm all for customisable coverage and tweaking things to perfection!
In regards to the professional only recommendations: with mua it is a bit of a moot point. mua very rarely retail, their job is to make people up. A therapist who also offers make up is not the same thing. Almost all make up brands are available to everyone. Pro brands such as Kryolan, Ben Nye etc can be bought by anyone who walks into PAM or Charles Fox for example. These pro brands are also designed mostly for studio work and not day to day wear. Chanel, MAC, Illamasqua, are top brands used by pros around the world. And can all be bought easily on the high street (except for Mac Pro). Bourjois also owns Chanel and is my personal daily wear foundation brand of choice (healthy mix gel serum). To my knowledge, Chanel does not give a pro discount does it? It is a high end high street brand, not pro and yet used and beloved by mua around the globe.
Sorry for the essay! But i find the whole pro only thing tedious. It is one thing to tell people not to mess with chemicals that you need training to understand and stay safe with, ie hair colourants, l & p, gel, etc, those are things that are for trained professionals. It is a whole different thing when we can't name certain brands of tinted moisturiser. I love salon geek but it's the one thing about this site that drives me bonkers, rules being taken far too literally.