PPA - Credentials

“You don't take a photograph, you make it” – Ansel Adams

I know how to change out a light fixture in my home, does that make me an electrician? I know how to change a faucet in my bathroom. Does that make me a plumber? Would you hire me to do any of those things? Probably not. Well, hopefully not. Why? Because I don't have any credentials. I may be able to change the faucet for you IF you have a fixture I am familiar with and nothing goes wrong during the process. Is that a risk you want to take? Well, photography can be the same thing. Imagine this, you hire someone based on their work. Mind you they only post their very best images. And maybe someone helped them with those images. No way to tell. You spend days planning out your family's outfits and where these should be taken. You spend a few hours getting ready. Your husband is cranky about the process, he hates pictures. The kids are complaining that they don't want to wear the clothes you picked out. After getting all of them together and fighting that uphill battle, you have to get yourself ready. And you're not particularly fond of getting your picture taken either! As you are driving to the session, the photographer calls you and says the weather doesn't look great, can we reschedule. Or you get there and he has a problem with his equipment and can't figure out why the images don't look as good as they did the last time. Or the kids aren't doing what he/she wants and he/she starts getting frustrated at them. Or the session goes well and you later find out the images got lost or damaged because he didn't have the proper back up system in place. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. That's why you should hire someone who has some credentials, some initial thingies after their name that tell you, this is a person I can trust will do a good, professional job and see it through to completion. And if he/she doesn't, you have someone to report them to. The Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is one of the organizations that can offer you that.

PPA is an international professional organization that consists of about 35,000 members across over 50 countries! As such it is the largest nonprofit professional photography organization in the world. I have been a member of the PPA since 2011.

One of the main functions of PPA is to educate and distinguish photographers. Through certifications and honorary degrees, the PPA gives a roadmap towards improvement and a means of measuring these milestones in their career. PPA also provides the public an online resource for locating certified photographers in their area.

The first classification awarded is the Certified Professional Photographer designation. In order to achieve this certification you must take a written and practical exam. The written exam covers all areas of the photographic process, from exposure, composition, color, digital storage and printing. I achieved my certification on 4/27/2022.

In addition to becoming certified, PPA offers a couple of honorary degrees that are awarded based on merits. There are a few different types of merits. Exhibition merits, these are awarded from entering images into PPA's monthly Merit Image Review. Images are evaluated by a panel of trained and certified judges. The judges place the image in one of 4 categories; No Merit Low Potential, No Merit With Potential, Merit, and Image Excellence, which is the highest award it can get. I explain more about the MIR process in this blog here.

1. Master of Photography - This is exactly what it seems. In order to get this degree the recipient must have 13 exhibition merits and 12 other merits (speaker, exhibition and/or service). This is the degree I am currently working on. I have all of the service merits I need and 6 of the 13 exhibition merits. I am hoping to finish by the end of the year.

2. Photographic Craftsman - This degree is about service and education. It requires 25 merits. 13 speaker merits and 12 other, speaker, exhibition, or service.

3. Master Artist - The focus of this degree is art. Most of the people who earn this degree do a lot of digital painting and composites as well as restoration. For this you need 25 merits, 13 in the Artist Exhibition category and 12 other merits.

4. Master of Wedding Photography - Well this is self explanatory. Again, you need 25 merits, 13 in the Wedding Exhibition category and 12 others.

A few things about merits; They can only be applied once. So once you use a merit towards a degree, you can't reuse that merit toward another degree. Merits really equal involvement in the field. If you attend a class, seminar, or conference, you earn merits. If you teach one of those things, you earn merits. Take outstanding images, you earn merits. Volunteer to help the organization is any way, your earn merits. Merits are a yardstick, a way of measuring your involvement and, hopefully your professional growth. It's very difficult to earn all of these merits and not become a better photographer. That's really the whole point. To improve yourself and get better at your craft.

I used to believe that this was really a bunch of hokum. That this was for people who were retired and to give them something to do. I spent my first 10 years or so in business, working on my preschool business. Trying to make it grow and sustain my business partner and myself comfortably. I didn't believe I had time for this. Then I started working on my certification. Most of the written stuff I knew. I had been playing with cameras most of my life. But, lots of others told me that it wasn't that easy. I took some classes and boned up on my technical knowledge. I am not sure how or why it happened, but somehow my photography got better during this year. Just working on my certification. I was clearly better. My partner, my friends, my wife all saw it. They all came to me and said that it was noticeably better. I had taken a quantum leap in that short period of time. The other thing that happened to me was my social network became a lot bigger. I became friends with lots of other photographers. These people have been a resource and a support to me on this journey and I wouldn't be the photographer I am without them.

This organization, along with the state organization I also belong to, The Professional Photographers of North Carolina (PPNC) give you the path, the structure and the tools to grow. They put initials after your name that says to other professionals and to the world at large, we have worked on this and earned these things because we have skills. Can you be a great photographer without these organizations, absolutely. But without them how does anyone really tell the difference between someone who just got a camera, watched some YouTube videos and stated a business and someone who really works on it and has been tested and evaluated by other great photographers.

So when you are looking for a photographer, look for someone who has some type of initials after their name. Maybe these blogs will help you understand what they mean. (There are a lot more than I have gone over here), but even if you don't, you can at least know that they stand for something that probably means they are a true professional photographer.