M.W.C., C.P.P. {New Braunfels Photography}

Acronyms define each industry from within. If you're a journalist you know what AP style is and you know that SPJ is a worthy organization and PEJ is leading the field into the next generation. That sentence makes no sense to you if you are not in the media.

Doctors, accountants, truck drivers -- every field has its own list of acronyms that make no sense to most of us, but they are simple and straightforward to those within the industry.

Among photographers there are a few that I'd like to share with you. The first is C.P.P. It stands for Certified Professional Photographer. Just like C.P.A. is Certified Professional Accountant, which I'm sure you've heard.

As of yesterday, I'm allowed to put C.P.P. after my name on my business card. I'm excited about it. It means a lot to me. I blogged about my journey toward certification in the past (also here and here) so I won't repeat all of it now.

Basically, there are fewer than 1,800 CPPs in the country. That's about 8% of all professional photographers. Being certified is a designation that tells the public you know what you're doing. When hiring an accountant, many people look for that CPA designation. It's how they can be assured this person has met certain professional standards.

Now I'd like to introduce you to another acronym in the world of photography, and this one is not so flattering. MWC or GWC. Mom With Camera or Guy With Camera. I hear the phrase repeatedly at the photography conferences I attend as well as online when I peruse the professional photography forums. A MWC is a person (in this case a mother) who picks up a camera and decides "I want to be a photographer," and then hangs out a shingle, so to speak, and starts charging a small (very small) pittance for photographing families. No photographic training, no professional equipment, no knowledge of the use of the "manual" mode on her DSLR. She doesn't use a multi-light set-up (depending instead on her pop-up flash) and often wouldn't know a reflector from a frisbee. I am a Mom with a Camera, but I am not a MWC, and you know what -- so what if I were. There are plenty of MWCs who produce fine quality work -- just as there are plenty who produce crap -- and have no desire to learn otherwise. But who am I to say at what point she stops being a "MWC" and becomes a "professional photographer." Most will never stay in business long enough to advance past a minimum skill level. But for every MWC who closes down, another three pop up.

It's ironic, but I've been called a MWC, by the same men who probably were in about junior high when I was pushing film in a professional darkroom in the early 90s -- before the ease of digital photography and Photoshop. Looks can be deceiving. Mom plus camera does not equal MWC in the derogatory sense. The face of professional photography is changing. It's the MWCs who are standing up and taking charge. It's the MWCs who are learning the ins and outs of the business. It's the MWCs who are leading photography seminars, working towards their CPP, and eventually their M.Photog. (Master of Photography -- there's another acronym for you) or their Cr.Photog. (Photographic Craftsman).

I support these women and I encourage them to get educated. You want to be a photographer and that's great! Take some classes, talk to photographers you admire, learn from them. Get knowledgeable about it. And don't be afraid to get that certification. Yes, it's challenging, but three years ago it was something I thought I would never do.

But I'm not done learning yet. Every single session I come away from I see where I can improve. I see my weaknesses and they frustrate me, but I keep at it. Each time learning from past mistakes. Some day I'll have M.Photog. after my name as well. That's my hope. I have a long way to go. I have a fear of photographic competition and I need to tackle that fear. It's the only way to improve my skills.

I am a mom and a I have a camera. And I use it. A lot.

Lisa On Location Photography

Coming Soon: Me, CPP {New Braunfels Photographer}

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Originally uploaded by lisablaschke

Two years ago I eavesdropped on a conversation between photographers about the Certified Professional Photographer exam. One had recently taken it and not passed and was looking for help on how to pass it the next time he sat for it. The other told him to forget about it, it was too hard and technical and you really didn't need to get that CPP designation anyway. Just keep on doing what you're doing and don't worry about it.

I made up my mind then and there that I wouldn't bother with it. If it was too hard to pass for those guys, I had no hope for it. My weakness had always been the technical side of photography, whereas my love was for the artistic. I put it out of my mind, yet it kept popping up. I attended a photography seminar and the speaker talked about the importance of getting certified, I attended a few webinars and it came up again -- over and over. More and more photographers that I admired were talking about it. I finally accepted that this certification was important to me. To me. Not to those guys I overheard two years ago. It's important to me. I needed to get over my fear of techno talk, my fear of tests, my fear of things that are hard, and take this exam. Wasn't it Kennedy who said "We will go to the moon and do other things, NOT because they are easy but because they are HARD." I didn't want to go to the moon. I wanted to pass this test.

I declared my candidacy last fall. That was the first step, passing that exam, was the second and hardest step. The third step is a review of my work by a board of certified photography judges.

I sat for the exam last month during the PPA convention in San Antonio. I forced myself to learn the things that always scared me -- inverse square law, lighting ratios, formulas, corrective lighting, filters, gels, digital terminology. I took my time on the test. We had two hours to answer 100 questions and I took roughly an hour and a half before I was comfortable handing my test over to the proctor. I did a count of the questions I was sure I got right beyond a shadow of a doubt. It came to 66. Not good enough. I'd have to hope my best guess and my estimates were able to pull me through at least 4 of the rest.

I got my test results in the other day -- a full two weeks before they told me to start looking for them. It took me by surprise and I feared the worst. Imagine my thrill when seeing the phrase "congratulations" in the first graph of that letter. Yes, I passed it! It was hard, and I passed it.

I am now ready to tackle the next phase of this process. I will stand before those judges with some of my favorite images and I will ask them to approve me for certification, not because it's easy, because it's hard. Not because I need to do this to be a photographer, but because I want to. Because it may not mean anything to those guys two years ago, but it means something to me.