To cap off a great week of networking and giving, I got the best news! To start, Entrepreneurial Moms of Ottawa‘s first ever trade show was a great success and on Saturday, I donated a session and 16×20 gallery wrap for the Westboro Nursery School auction. It was the first time I was part of a live auction with a professional auctioneer at the mic – what a hoot! I can’t wait to meet the family who won my package!
The icing on the cake? On Friday I got an email informing me that my application for accreditation with the Professional Photographers of Canada was accepted. What is accreditation you ask? According to the PPOC website:
Accreditation is the first elevation above the general membership level, and is achieved by submitting samples of the applicant’s photography to a PPOC Board of Review for Accreditation. Accreditation demonstrates that the photographer is capable of delivering above average quality photography in a chosen category.
In assessing Accreditation Submissions, the judges will consider the following criteria: Impact, Creativity, Style, Composition, Presentation, Colour Balance, Centre of Interest, Lighting, Subject Matter, Print Quality, Technique, Story Telling
A minimum of one Accreditation is required to qualify for Craftsman Award and two accreditations are needed for a Masters Award.
Like in any field, if you call yourself a professional, I think it’s important to show that you have the knowledge, experience and skill to back up that claim. Being a member of a professional association is the first step and meeting their standard is the next. Although it does take guts to put your work in front of a panel of your peers and have them judge it, it also pushes you to ensure what you are creating is top notch quality – and what someone hiring you would expect. There are 84 different categories you can apply for in the PPOC’s Accreditation Program, I got mine in Child High-Key Portrait. I hope to continue to get more accreditations and eventually qualify for Craftsman and Masters Awards. For now though, I do feel a sense of pride being able to write my name with LPPO at the end. Time to print some new business cards!
Below are the 10 images I submitted for my accreditation. A special thanks goes out to Jean Chartrand, CPA, APPO, our local Chapter President for the Professional Photographers of Ontario, who helped me choose the final images I sent in. Always great to have a second pair of eyes from someone who has gone through the process and has so much experience.
