Well, if you’ve been following my Facebook page, then there’s no doubt you’d have caught the announcement earlier this week that I was successful in becoming an Accredited member of the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography). I’m so excited to be able to grow and develop with the industry, expand my knowledge and create some different work.

I’ve been asked by a few in public, and some in private, why I made such a move to join the AIPP at this point in time. For me, it was simple, but I’ll explain that in greater detail soon. If you had asked me at the start of the year, I’d have been continually ambivalent with my answer.

^ Something new...

For me, this is the beginning of something new. A new direction, but not one to replace the other, merely a compliment if you will. Two streams running together, each for a different purpose. There’s nothing to say that I can’t, or won’t make the works available for the public realm either.

For those that don’t know, or haven’t wandered across to the info section – where I detail where I’ve come from – I was one of those at university, studying the visual arts. I spent years studying trends in art from the renaissance period to contemporary, modern visual and interactive art.  Combine that with nearly an entire degree in Secondary Education (teaching for High School) and here I am. It’s always been an area that has piqued my interest, and I see this as an extension of that. A chance to finally tap into the other skills for art appraisal and education that I had previously dismissed as something I’d never use again.

So here I was.

It was a few months ago when the Pano awards came around to announcing that they were again accepting entries. I remember thinking to myself that I thought I didn’t have much of note, looking at what won last year. Since panorama is not my primary focus, I felt (and still kind of feel) that I have no chance, my entries will not stand up against some of the stuff I have seen my contemporaries shoot recently. It then came back to me, all the money that I had spent on competition entries and gotten, nearly, next to nothing back from them.

Sure I had gotten a little bit of feedback here and there, learnt what other photographers are doing with their entries and seen what is the current trend, but was it making me a better photographer? No, I don’t think it was.

That came from the endless drive to create new work, to visit locations previously unseen by myself, my eye and my creativity. Entering the awards was just a benchmark for how I was doing in relation to everyone else.

I then reasoned with myself, where did I want to be, what did I want to be? The answer kept coming back to the fact that I wanted to take this to the next level, I wanted to imagine that I could become a Master or Grand Master of Photography. To do that, I had to be in the AIPP. What a better way than to start now, where I feel that I am at the best point to learn, use my upcoming trips as learning to see in new ways… I have always believed that if you are closed to the idea then you will never fully realise the potential that you have.

So with that in mind, I put myself forward, up to the critique of existing members, my portfolio of images speaking for my skill, knowledge and expertise. I figure that since I made it, perhaps I am good enough to be here and do this.

So onwards with what I can create…

So as of now, my logo is officially displayed on this site to proudly announce my status as an Accredited Professional Photographer.

It's been something I have dreamed of for years, I'm so relieved to have made it. 

It's the beginning of the next chapter!