Certified Professional Photographer

Professional Photography
This Professional Photography course reflects a comprehensive mix of scholarly and practical information. It covers every aspect of photography, from capture through to output, both digital and analogue. There is an emphasis on explaining the 'how to' of photography, but also includes in-depth coverage of the fundamental principles that govern the art, such as how light behaves, optics, and the basis of exposure. This course ensures that the student comes away with not only a good grasp of photographic technique, but also an in-depth understanding of the fundamentals that will help them to better understand how great photography is made. As such, it functions both as an excellent course for students of photography, and a great primer and reference for amateur enthusiasts.

Start Your Own Photography Business
Do you love taking photos? Or do you carry your camera everywhere? Our course will help you realize your dream of working from your home at something you enjoy, a home-based photography business. Our students will receive information on every aspect of setting up and running a thriving home-based photography business. You will learn how to estimate your start-up costs, outfit your home studio, market yourself and stay profitable once you are in business. Whether you want to earn your living as a portrait photographer, photojournalist, or product photographer our course will give you the tools you need to prepare for an exciting new career.

Create Stunning Digital Photographs
As a new photographer you’ve got to start somewhere and our Create Stunning Digital Photographs course is great place to start! The goal of this fun and informative course is to provide you with an introduction to digital photography and get you started on the path to becoming a great photographer. You’ll begin by learning the fundamentals of digital photography including composition, lighting, exposure and using your camera’s manual mode. Next, you’ll learn how to transfer pictures to your computer and how to use online sharing features. Finally, photography troubleshooting tips are provided, as well as advice on accessories that will make your passion easier and even more fun!

The Art of Photographing Nature
Learn to see nature in a new way! Our “The Art of Photographing Nature” course will focus on teaching our students the art of composing beautiful photographs of nature. We will cover classic concepts of composition including isolating the subject, framing, perspective, color, design, and light and advanced creative options like depth of field, shutter speed, and the use of filters that will create more visual interest in your nature photographs.

Communicating Face-to-Face
Much customer service is done when service workers are helping customers face-to-face. For customer service workers to provide exceptional customer service in the fast-paced, competitive business world, they must be able to gather information appropriately by asking and answering questions. Having this skill allows them to better understand a customer’s needs, which leads to a higher likelihood that they will be able to fulfill this need. Solid face-to-face communications skills is an essential for every customer service worker. This course discusses face-to-face customer service.

Financial Management for Lay People
Finance is the discipline of evaluating investments and raising capital to fund those investments. Financial decisions are everywhere in our lives, and it is important to understand both how to make those decisions as well as their impact. This course covers the basic principles of finance for the lay person in order to be able to apply them in their daily life.

Effective Professional Communications
Communication is a process of transferring information from one person to another. Communication is the cement that holds workplaces together and ensures that organizations are productive, profitable, and successful. People tend to think of communication as only the words they say or write, but it is so much more than that. Communication includes the environment it is used in, how words are said, non-verbal and cultural aspects, and how the communicator’s personality affects their style. To be an effective professional, workers should understand the various elements that make up communication.

Social Media Marketing
Social media is an online phenomenon that lets people communicate and interact virtually. There has been an explosion of growth in popular social media platforms, and many believe that the era of social media has just started. The need for businesses to engage in one or several social media platforms will just grow over time; leveraging social media platforms allows companies the chance to interact with customers in their own backyard and from the whole world. This course discusses social media marketing, how to engage with customers online, best practices for using social media platforms, and ways to measure the return on investment.

Enroll through one of our accredited university or college partners today!

Module 1 - Professional Photography
• Identify the basic principles of photography and camera anatomy
• List the steps involved in processing photographs
• Recall digital photography techniques, including composition
• Recognize the basics of establishing depth of field, perspective, and lighting
• Define techniques for improving your photographs, including corrective elements and special effects

Module 2 - Start Your Own Photography Business
• Recall the steps need to get established as a home-based photographer
• Recognize the financial and legal aspects of owning your own photography business
• Identify a business plan and how to track expenses
• List how to manage and market a photography business

Module 3 - Create Stunning Digital Photographs
• Identify how composition, shutter, aperture, lighting, exposure and image file type affect a digital photograph
• Recall how to troubleshoot and correct your own digital photography files
• Recognize different techniques for shooting people, places, events, and animals using auto and scene modes
• List techniques and fixes for common photo flaws

Module 4 - The Art of Photographing Nature
• List isolation and composition techniques
• Recognize perspective and color of the subject
• Recall the elements of design and different types of lighting
• Identify creative options available for the photographer

Module 5 - Unforgettable Digital Photography
• Define basic compositional techniques for photography
• Recall how to see like a photographer and how to tell stories through photos
• Recognize the technical aspects of photography
• Identify how to look beyond your subject by using props and backdrops

All required reference materials are provided with this program. Technical requirements:

Internet Connection
• Broadband or High-Speed (DSL, Cable, Wireless)
Hardware Requirements
• Processor - 2GHz Processor or Higher
• Memory - 1 GB RAM Minimum Recommended

Software Requirements
• Operating Systems - Windows 7, 8 or 10; Mac OS x 10 or higher
• Microsoft Office 2007, 2010 or 2013 or a Word Processing application to save and open Microsoft Office formats (.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx)
• Internet Browsers - Google Chrome is highly recommended
• Cookies MUST be enabled
• Pop-ups MUST be allowed (Pop-up Blocker disabled)
• Adobe PDF Reader

The Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Certification from PPA is included and assures potential employers and clients of a photographer's knowledge, experience and continuance to develop new skills and techniques. It is a declaration of your professional competence! Being a CPP is like quality assurance because certification is a credential consumers and businesses understand. More importantly, it provides you with a tool for telling the world—and all those potential clients—why they should call you rather than a competitor down the street.
Getting your CPP is a simple 3-step process.
• Declare your candidacy
• Pass the CPP exam
• Successfully complete the image submission
Each state may have additional licensing requirements, be sure to research your states requirements for employment by visiting your states occupation board.

This class is an independent-study course. Students will have all the resources needed to successfully complete the course within the online material. A student helpdesk is available for technical support during the course enrollment.