Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Exam: Should You Do It??
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Are you thinking about taking the Certified Professional Photographer exam with PPA? If you're becoming a professional photographer or just want learn how to improve your photography skills, the CPP exam might be the perfect thing to do.
In this video, I go over the cost of the CPP exam, how long it takes to study for the CPP exam, what to expect with the the image review and requirements, and finally the GENIUS way that I studied with other photographers so we could all pass the exam at a PPA convention.
Watch all the way through to find awesome ways to use the process of studying for the CPP exam for marketing on Instagram and Facebook too.
More about the image submission process here:
www.ppa.com/be...
To join PPA, use this link and you get $35 off your first year of membership. Put my name (Heather McKay) as the person who referred you and I might get compensated too, so thank you!
bit.ly/PPAmckay
The other video on the 13+ reasons I'm a PPA member is here: • 13+ Reasons Why I'm a ...
You are ready to switch from digitals based photography business to a product-based business, which increases your sales 50% or more. You CAN do this with your current/past clients. No need to wait or re-invent the wheel.
|Related videos you may enjoy:
📹 • how to order holiday c... Photo Holiday Cards Examples
📹 • 17Hats vs Tave: Softwa... Client Management Software Review TAVE vs. 17HATS
📹 • Sales Averages for Eac... 4 Business Models for Photographers
Who is Heather McKay? I’m a location-independent business mentor for photographers who struggle to sell products. They know they need to value their time and work by raising their prices and stop giving out digital files but worry about scaring away customers. I help them confidently attract the right clients so they can sell with ease.
🌟 My specialty is in helping you streamline your In-Person Sales so you can easily create books and tangible items for our clients! Albums are my jam! I looooooove creating and selling albums.
💙 If you get value out of this channel and want to buy me lunch, great Karma is sent your way. Donations of any amount can be made here (note UA-cam donation in your message):
www.paypal.me/...
🖥 Affiliate Links for Tools I Personally Use In My Photography Business:
DISCLOSURE: I may be compensated when you join using my links
|| Flodesk Email Marketing Newsletters: flodesk.com/c/...
|| ConvertKit Online Marketing & Email: convertkit.com?lmref=8gmDFw
|| Later Social Media Scheduling: bit.ly/mckaylater
|| Professional Photographers of America (you get $35 off!): bit.ly/PPAmckay
|| Elementor Wordpress Page Builder: bit.ly/mckayele...
|| Tave Client Management Software: tave.com/join/...
|| Shootproof Web Galleries: bit.ly/shootpro...
|| MileIQ mileage tracker app: www.mileiq.com...
|| Square credit card processing: squareup.com/i...
|| Podia online course creation platform: www.podia.com/...
📲 Find me online anywhere you hang out:
mckaysphotogra...
twitter || Facebook || Instagram @mckaysphoto
Pinterest: / mckaysphoto
This is a big motivator. Fellow member. Thank you!
That's Clark sleeping on the bed while I recorded this. He was so supportive and a great brainstormer :-)
Is Clark a Brittany?
I like the fact of just doing this for myself. I don’t shoot weddings but the idea of giving me more confidence is extremely appealing. I’m already a PPA member. I may need to look into this further. Good information Heather.
Oh yeah, if you're already a member then you can start poking around the PPA website and going through the content alone. It's a great way to reconnect with the technical side. Glad you liked it!
Like the vid. I'm currently halfway through the CPP. I've passed the written and I just finished up shooting my images for the practical image submission. I've got to say that shooting the images in RAW and looking for very specific values in tonality and framing is a challenge in itself. There's a part of my that likes it for the uniformity in the testing and the exacting nature of it, but then I think that maybe the traditional image submission would be easier (if a bit more subjective).
Joshua Meadows I’m not going to lie, I was happy I did mine when I did. Especially as a wedding photographer. Either way, it does make us level up.
Just wanted to say thank you! I wasn't very sure what the process of CPP was.
So glad it helped. Let me know how it goes for you.
Thanks for putting this together. Not sure about a study group for my situation, but am definitely considering doing this for myself.
Glad it was helpful! You can certainly do it alone. Let me know how it goes.
Hey thanks for the realness here I felt the same way about leveling up
Thanks for this video, awesome and very helpful!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Heather, I really enjoyed your video expounding on this! I’m jumping into photography and am basically half way through my second year. On one hand I'm towards the end of starting up my own business and putting the front end work on the business side of things (obtaining an EIN # and website and all that jazz) but I’m also in the hiring process with a wedding photography company that is wanting to put all the potential candidates through the cpp exam to make sure everyone knows their stuff (I definitely dont know my stuff...) and I’m pretty pumped about taking the class! Hearing a little of your experience made me much more excited about the process to get to the exam since it seems like the process I’m going through will be similar to yours with your group of 6. I plan on studying my butt off but was also wondering with your experience and rubbing shoulders with other photographers new and seasoned, if there were any particular subjects or topics that you saw that consistently tripped up the newer photographers taking the exam?
WOW, I have to say that I'm super impressed/excited to hear that a wedding photography company is making you go through the process. Typically with companies, they don't really care much for the client's experience, etc. Yes, it sounds similar and I can't wait to hear how it goes for you all. The topics that we seemed to need to practice a lot were balancing outdoor ambient light and using fill flash (VITAL for weddings), reading the histogram, and always color theory. With photogs editing their own work most of the time, color theory is vital and most people have no idea how bad they are at editing their own work (which is why everyone just throws a Lightroom filter on everything! LAZY!).
...not to mention, if you get good at seeing color... you can get it RIGHT inside the camera, which greatly reduces the need for much editing. This is the key to a profitable business and less time sitting behind the computer all summer long.
@@HeatherMcKay Wanted to follow back up on this. Thanks for the response and encouragement. I ended up passing the multiple choice part of the exam and just got my results from the image submission portion of the exam this morning and passed that as well! Super excited to have that under my belt but also this whole process opened my eyes up to how much work I actually still have ahead of me haha. That scenario with mixing outdoor ambient light with flll flash is for sure a killer for white balance! Recently just bought some flashes for myself so I can practice at home and get it down!
Anyways thanks again for your helpful content!
@@tkASAP Congratulations!!!
I'm currently going through NYIP and once i am done, I am going to go for my PPA. The part of leveling up is what I love. I am always looking for progression and this may be what I need =) thanks for the info.
You can do it! I absolutely agree. That's what's fun about photography too... always more to learn and improve upon. Good luck!
Thank you for this awesome and honest video!
Just finished the NYIP program and the CPP Study guide videos on PPA. Just curious if you can do the technical aptitude test before the written test? The timeline for the technical test started today and ends in two weeks and I wondered if I could do it first.
When I did the exam, you could do them in any order. I’d reach out to PPA and check there for any updates. I’m sure someone has had the same wish as you and the first place I’d look would be in The Loop message boards inside the PPA portal. Yay! Good luck!
Hi Heather!.. Loved you approach and atitude to the subject. New to the channel! As I have been going over several topics and one of them is to get some sort of certification. My journey is at the point of not having a full professional business, but I’m not an amateur for sure. This is just to give you an idea, as I profoundly respect both terms. I do travel to NYC often and even thought to enroll in a course with NYPI and while searching crossed over your channel. I do have a question that the answer might “kill” one of the possibilities towards my certification endeavor. To apply to a CPP, a US citizenship is required?
Thank you for the friendly atmosphere and very much down to earth on the channel! Looking forward for future content! Brilliant! Cheers/ Carlos
Hey Carlos! Welcome to the club. That's a GREAT question and I'll have to look into that. I believe you would need at least a US address for membership and therefore certification. Yet, as I say in the video, just going through the process is also helpful all by itself. Maybe reach out to PPA directly to ask them. I'll look it up too.
@@HeatherMcKay thank you ever so much for your reply. I’m in a stage of not being in a hurry, however, an issue that is ongoing for me and want to find out. No worries, I will look it up myself. Next time in NYC I’m planing to schedule a visit to NYPI, maybe a good starting point. So happy for your feedback! Cheers
I know this is an older video, so I don’t know if you will see this question, but do you know if there is an international equivalent of PPA? I’m from the us, but I live in the uae. Can’t really find any good info…or feedback on images for that matter. Thanks again for the info. 👍🙂👍
I don't know of an international specific certification, however, check with WPPI. And this certification from PPA is still pretty solid so might still be worth the effort.
Do you think photography jobs will appreciate having a CPP when applying for them?
Any credentials will assist traditional job searches. So, yes I do.
Just so you know: The volume on this video is too low. I can hardly hear it with everything turned up 100%. And, I can't understand anything when the furnace is running. I am a little hard of hearing. But it's easy to turn the sound down, but I can't turn up what isn't there.
Oh, interesting. It sounds ok on my end and I wasn't near the furnace. Lucky for you, I only recorded a few videos in this location as I was in Utah staying with friends. Audio is the most difficult part of UA-cam videos, so my newer ones should be much better. Thanks for the input. Do the subtitles help? I have those on for this reason.
Ah yes, we all were "natural light" photographers when we were beginners LOL
Would like to know the steps I think you said you submit your candidacy then get the information eduction to take the tests? Or can you review before submission?
Yes, that's right. I know a lot has changed since I got my CPP though, so I'd log into the PPA portal as a member and look at the CPP tab. All the info and guidelines are there. If you aren't a member yet, you can start by brushing up on all the things ahead of time, like formal lighting styles.
What do you think of the new york institute of ohotography.. is it any good , or just a waste of time and effort.
I don't think anything is a waste of time if it helps you grow. That being said, PPA is a national and long-standing organization (watch my video about why I'm a PPA member) and the certification is a legit 3rd-party verified certification. Many 'schools' are just successful photographers who have started teaching. So, whatever it is, just make sure you find it has what you are looking for. I definitely did not need a BFA in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology even though that's the top photo school in the US. Money could have been spent by interning as a photographer assistant for a few years instead.
Is the cpp certified nationally and internationally?
it's a national organization.
Is there any studio practice test that I can get?
Yes. PPA has tons of resources on their website and also a little googling will result in a lot of practice tests available online. Just make sure it’s the newer version (not 10 years old).
I'm already a member of PPA. I live in NYC. Would you recommend me to go for NYIP first or the CPP?
Well, that's a long answer. CPP is a proper certification and is technically independent of PPA (which gives it a bit more universal validity). Many people commenting here have gone for the NYIP, but as a pro photog for decades, I hadn't actually heard of that one before recently. Either one will be great for your confidence and proficiency as a photographer. So, it depends on your preferred outcome. What I like about the CPP is that PPA has resources for you to market your CPP to your clients. What I don't love, but is actually better anyway, is that the CPP has to be re-certified every 5 years. This ensures that you're staying up to speed as a photographer. If you're already a PPA member, then the CPP would be a great asset. Ultimately, your choice though.
Theres a degree in photography
yes, PPA has several degrees that can be earned. Other organizations do as well, however, they tend to not be as far-reaching. I have a BFA in photography, however, I don't find that's necessary.
@@HeatherMcKay im proud of you, even though i don't even know you,ill sub anyways
I would love to know more about photography from you , im still new in photography and also i am saving up for new gadgets ...ill check on your videos for motivation
@@chaileeportraits thanks! everyone needs a cheerleader, including me ;-)
@@chaileeportraits I'll be back to regular programming over the winter. I took a break the last few months to take care of family/clients. Let me know if you have any requests!