My Journey to Becoming a Certified Professional Photographer
It’s hard to know where to start the story - to know the exact moment that I fell in love with photography. It was so much a part of my childhood. My mother always had a camera, and had a darkroom in the basement of our house. My sisters and I were always perfect subjects for her. We all treasure the photos of the four of us. So that’s probably a good place to start, because it was my kids that inspired me to learn more and to take my photography to the next level.
When my first two kids were in early elementary school, I left my supply chain management job and we moved from Connecticut to Maryland. My husband bought me my first DSLR camera - a Nikon D80. I brought that camera on every family outing and to every soccer game or whatever sport or function the kids were into at that time. I realized quickly that there was so much I didn’t know or had forgotten, so I endeavored to learn as much as I could. I did in-person workshops and took online classes. Soon our family of 4 became a family of 5, and the photo ops increased! Now there were more soccer games, track, cross country, dance recitals, you name it.
We moved once again up to Syracuse, NY. It was while we were there that I decided it was time to take the next step and start my own photography business. I started with high school seniors because I had kids in that age group and I was really comfortable with them. A workshop with Elena Blair was my “ah ha” moment - the moment that I realized I loved lifestyle photography.
Syracuse winters were really hard for me to deal with, but the photography group I stumbled upon - PPSCNY (Professional Photographer Society of Central New York) was amazing. This was an affiliate of the PPA - Professional Photographers of America. There were monthly meetings with educational programs, and plenty of workshops to choose from throughout the year. For me, learning is a lifelong pursuit and I truly valued the hours spent with this group.
Fast forward to 2020. We moved here to the Charlotte, NC area, it is COVID, and there are no in person workshops. To keep myself occupied and informed, I joined the PPA (Professional Photographers of America). PPA is the photographer’s go-to resource for elevating their craft. It provides online education, live classes, business assistance, and it is a great source for news and info about the industry.
The PPA provides classes for photographers, and they also run an intense certification program for professionals. The first step in this process is a written exam. The categories covered in the written exam include equipment, exposure, lighting, composition and post production. The second part of the exam is the image submission. Everyone must submit photos of the same subject matter. There is a kit to purchase which includes a 12” wooden figure, a sharpie, a box of crayons and a styrofoam ball. Each photographer must submit 3 photos with very specific requirements for each. I passed the written exam the first time I took it, but did not pass the photo submission at first. I was so excited about nailing the exposure that I did not notice that the focal range for one of my photos was outside the specs. I redid it and passed!
I am proud to now be part of an elite group of professionals. My next stop is heading to the annual conference, Imaging USA, being held in Dallas later this week. I’m heading out early in order to take some preconference classes, then it is on to the main event. I’m looking forward to meeting up with some old friends I’ve met along the way, and meeting new friends too.