Certified Professional Photographer

This week I started the process of applying for the Certified Professional Photographer program. This involves declaring your intention, submitting a portfolio of 20 of your best images for evaluation, and passing a 2-hour exam on the principles of photography. The CPP certification is a mark of excellence in the photographic industry, and a key milestone that all professional photographers should consider on their journey to excellence.

I have been teaching photography classes for some time, and I felt pretty good about the material for the exam.  However I knew I had some weak areas, particularly in the understanding of the color wheel, traditional lighting ratios, and filter nomenclature. I had recently been working with Jaime Rowe, who had taken the CPP exam earlier and lamented at the lack of good study guides and resources available. She has produced some excellent study materials that support the CPP exam effort on her website, www.certifiedphotographer.net. There, she offers videos, tutorials, sample questions, and most important, a CPP exam study eBook at a very reasonable price.

I recently read the book and took the practice exam at the end. It was very helpful to me, both as a refresher and as a tool to help me identify my weak areas and study to improve.

Based on her exam and book, I know where I need to focus for my study activities. I'm planning to take the CPP exam in May of this year, and expect to do well based on Jaime's excellent study materials.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress, both on the image judging and the exam!