EXCITING NEWS!!!

It is my 5 year anniversary this week!  I can't believe it has gone so quickly.  It really has been the best 'job' I could ever dream of having!  It really hasn't seemed much like work to me because you all make it so much fun!  It is great timing that I just got some wonderful news to share with you.  I was just waiting until I got the official paperwork.

Some of you know that I've been working on achieving my certification in professional photography- Well, I am so pleased to share that I made it!  I am officially a Certified Professional Photographer!!  Didn't know there was such a thing?  Why is it important to you that your photographer is certified?

Certified Professional Photographers is an affiliate of Professional Photographers of America (of which I am also a member).  Their mission is "To acknowledge and validate a consistent standard by which professional photographers can achieve and maintain a recognizable mark of excellence."  I started this journey about 2 years ago with some intense studying followed by even more intense studying with a good friend via Skype.  We would quiz each other weekly on lighting patterns and ratios and equivalent values (yep, there is math in photography- aren't glad that I understand that so you don't have to?)  We took the test on the same day following the Professional Photographers of Iowa convention in 2012 and were shocked that even with all our preparation, the questions still seemed very difficult.  But we both passed!  And that is really saying something because many of our photographer friends (some of whom have gone on to receive their Masters of Photography among other achievements) had to take the written exam more than once and for some, the third time was the charm.  Thank you, my friend, for your encouragement.  I know that without you, I would have waited much longer to take the plunge.

As daunting as the test was, I still had to submit images for critique {YIKES!}.  The images had to consist of 6 compulsory skills- to be sure that I can put into practice what I know in my head- and 9 other images that 9 different clients hired me to create- to be sure that I can create quality, sellable images on a consistent basis.  I have spent the last year collecting images for my submission and a few of them are below.  The images are sent to several Certification Liaisons (other certified photographers) for critique and they all have to approve the collection in order for the photographer to become certified.  There are now 7 Certified Professional Photographers in the Cedar Rapids area, 65 in the state of Iowa, 3% nationwide and I am so happy to be among them.

So why is all that important to you?  When you hire professionals such as contractors, hair stylists, accountants, nurses, doctors, real estate agents, do you hire just anyone or someone who has the credentials that say they know what they are doing?  Life is too beautiful NOT to capture it, to preserve those moments that mean so much.  Those moments that are so short-lived and fleeting.  Those moments that define our lives, shape our families, that are milestones for our children.  Why trust those to just anyone?  They belong in the hands of a trusted, trained professional.

I want to thank you all for that trust over the last 5 years, for helping me to grow and encouraging me to continue on.  It has been an amazing journey!  I've made wonderful friends and shared some incredible moments with really special people and it has been my great pleasure to capture them behind my lens.  I'm looking forward to many more years of 'working' with all of you and meeting lots of new people and capturing so many more of your moments!