07/14/2023
It's not every day you get a gold tube in the mail, but when you do, you can't help but exclaim, "BUT WHAT'S IN THE TUBE!?"
Well, my friends, this here gold tube holds my REcertification for being a Professional Photographer through Professional Photographers of America!
What does it take to become a CPP? First you declare you want to become certified with an application and fee. Then there is a written test covering in-depth photography topics, some math and science, it's probably best to study but I jumped in head first, completely blind to see what I needed to learn and passed 😂 (I do not recommend this method, I had over a decade of design experience that transfers over). The last hurdle is a technical image evaluation that consists of 3 incredibly specific images utilizing a specified equipment list. This part is a doozy even though it's only 3 images, everything about those images must be spot on to pass. This took me 2 tries because I missed ONE detail on one image. I received my CPP title in 2020.
That's great, but this says RE certification. That's right, in PPA you're encouraged to continue your photography education and professional development. To rectify you can redo the technical image evaluation or submit 15 Continuing Education Units. You get CEUs by attending workshops, conferences, and teaching. I did all three of those things in varying degrees.
So, that was a long round-about way to say that I am still a Certified Professional Photographer! At least for the next 3 years...
