The Society of Photographers’ Qualifications

Photographers can gain meaningful qualifications and distinctions for their work through The Society of Photographers.

Gaining a photography qualification/distinction gives these benefits:

• More self-confidence,
• A feeling of achievement,
• Improvement of your financial future,
• Reach higher goals,
• Higher profile within the photographic industry,
• Unlimited motivation
• and much more…

Based upon imagery supplied in a formal submission, members can achieve:

Licentiate

Images must show be of good saleable work consistent with standard professional practice. Judges are looking for a good use of skill and technique in most applicable elements (see What are the Judges looking for? For a full list of elements) in a minimum of 16 out of the 20 images submitted. For this level of qualification we require a minimum of four different commissions/sessions to be included in each submission, to achieve a good use of skill and technique over a variety of sessions shows the consistency we are looking for to award Licentiate.

LSWPP – Licentiate of the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers
LSISLP – Licentiate of The Society of International Sport & Leisure Photographers
LSINWP – Licentiate of The Society of International Nature & Wildlife Photographers
LSITTP – Licentiate of The Society of International Travel & Tourism Photographers
LSIMPP – Licentiate of The Society of International Media & Press Photographers
LSICIP – Licentiate of The Society of International Commercial & Industrial Photographers
LSISEP – Licentiate The Society of International School & Event Photographers
LSIFGP – Licentiate The Society of International Fashion & Glamour Photographers

More details about Licentiateship

Associate

Images must show be of good saleable work consistent with standard professional practice. Judges are looking for above average skill and technique in most applicable elements (see What are the Judges looking for? For a full list of elements) in a minimum of 16 out of the 20 images submitted, with the remaining 4 images reaching the requirements of Licentiate level for the panel to be passed. For this level of qualification we require the images ‘sit together’ as a body of work representative of the photographer’s unique style, creativity and skills.

ASWPP – Associate of the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers
ASISLP – Associate of The Society of International Sport & Leisure Photographers
ASINWP – Associate of The Society of International Nature & Wildlife Photographers
ASITTP – Associate of The Society of International Travel & Tourism Photographers
ASIMPP – Associate of The Society of International Media & Press Photographers
ASICIP – Associate of The Society of International Commercial & Industrial Photographers
ASISEP – Associate The Society of International School & Event Photographers
ASIFGP – Associate The Society of International Fashion & Glamour Photographers

More details about Associateship

Fellow

Images must show be of excellent saleable work and be above the standard expected with professional practice. Judges are looking for Excellent use of imagination, skill and technique in most applicable elements (see What are the Judges looking for? For a full list of elements) in a minimum of 16 out of the 20 images submitted, with the remaining 4 images reaching the requirements of Associate level for the panel to be passed. For this level of qualification we require the images ‘sit together’ as a body of work representative of the photographer’s unique style, creativity and skills. Fellowship Qualification submissions are usually a personal project shot by the entrant specifically for the purpose of presenting the images for assessment.

Whilst we accept Licentiate and Associate submission’s both digitally and in the form of printed panels, Fellowship panels must be submitted in the form of 20, 20×16 inch mounted prints. Please contact Terrie Jones to enquire as to the next Qualification Assessment Day.

FSWPP – Fellow of the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers
FSISLP – Fellow of The Society of International Sport & Leisure Photographers
FSINWP – Fellow of The Society of International Nature & Wildlife Photographers
FSITTP – Fellow of The Society of International Travel & Tourism Photographers
FSIMPP – Fellow of The Society of International Media & Press Photographers
FSICIP – Fellow of The Society of International Commercial & Industrial Photographers
FSISEP – Fellow The Society of International School & Event Photographers
FSIFGP – Fellow The Society of International Fashion & Glamour Photographers

More details about Fellowship

Meet The Society of Photographers Judges

*Printed Qualification submissions terms and conditions.

All bookings/qualification submissions are final. Refund Policy – No Refunds

How do I apply?

Firstly, read the following pages and decide which level of qualification you wish to apply for.

You can apply for any qualification at any time, and there isn’t a requirement to start off at Licentiateship.

If you are not sure if your work is up to any of the required levels, simply utilise the benefits of the Mentoring Programme, details of which you will find below.

Please note: This advice does not guarantee success, but is intended to let you know if your work is in the right ballpark.

Guidelines for printed submissions

The images must adhere to the rules stated below in addition to the following:

1. Each image must be mounted.
2. All entries must be 20×16″ inches inclusive of the mount.
3. Within the mount each image must have one side of at least 10 inches (254mm)
4. The print and mount combined must be no thicker than 6mm thick

Guidelines for digital submissions

To try and avoid any confusion in submissions for Qualification please follow these guidelines when submitting your images for critique.

The submission must take the form of 20 Images in .jpg format, sequentially numbered 01.jpg to 20.jpg
The images must be of one genre i.e. all Wedding, all Portrait, all Events, all Sport etc.
Files may be up to 4mb in size.
The 20 .jpg files should be placed in a single folder and compressed (zipped) prior to submission.
We require the zipped folder to be named as follows: firstname_surname_qualification_membershipnumber.zip

Once you have prepared your files for submission please fill in the Qualification application form, once completed and the appropriate fee has been paid you will be transferred to our MailBigFile upload facility which will send your images direct to The Society of Photographers Qualification Team for review. submission will then be forwarded for considered by three Fellows in the case of Licentiate and Five in the case of Associate and Fellow.

Qualification Submission Rules

1. All Qualification panels must be submitted in the form of 20 images of a single genre.
2. Entrant must have solely captured and created the original photographs, this includes all composited elements within an image.
3. All digital manipulation must have been performed by the entrant.
4. Any images that violate copyright, trademark or any other applicable law will be disqualified.
5. The entrant’s name, or any other distinguishing marks, must not appear on the face of the images.
6. Images submitted for Qualification must have been captured within 36 months of the submission date. Exceptions may be made in the case of composite images, where elements of the image were captured by the photographer outside of the 36 month time period.
7. No entry will be eligible that has been made under the supervision of an instructor, in collaboration with another photographer (not including mentoring), or as a class assignment.
8. No exact same image may be entered more than once in the same submission but exact same images may be used for successive submissions, such as resubmissions for the same qualification or a new submission for the next level of qualification.
9. Any images which do not follow the category definition will be automatically disqualified.
10. Any entry which has been reproduced from an existing photograph, portrait, graphic or any other artwork produced by another person is a violation of the rules and will be disqualified, this includes stock images and digital backgrounds.
11. Entrants agree that any photograph entered may be used by The Society and or Professional Imagemaker in any of the publications, printed materials, or electronic media. Also the image may be used for promotional use by The Society, unless otherwise agreed.
12. Images entered for SWPP under the genre of wedding must be from commissioned weddings where the entrant was the principle professional photographer and must have been taken on the day the register was signed.
13. Qualifications are a benefit of membership to The Society of Photographers and any successful submissions can only be advertised for as long as the entrant remains in membership.
14. We reserve the right to: change or modify the rules without notice.

Printed Qualification submissions terms and conditions.

All bookings/qualification submissions are final. Refund Policy – No Refunds

Apply Now

Apply for a qualification in Wedding and Portrait photography.

Apply for a qualification in Commercial and Industrial photography.

Apply for a qualification in Fashion and Glamour photography.

Apply for a qualification in Media and Press photography.

Apply for a qualification in Nature and Wildlife photography.

Apply for a qualification in School and Event photography.

Apply for a qualification in Sport and Leisure photography.

Apply for a qualification in Travel and Tourism photography.

Where to start – Mentoring

Our Mentoring Programme for photographers is part of our Continuing Professional Development initiative and is utilised by many of our members. Through this invaluable programme our dedicated team of Fellow, Master and Grand Master Photographers provide one to one appraisals of work and advice for progression through written reports. The Mentoring Programme is a designed to be a cycle, with free, unlimited access available to our ‘Professional’ level members. It is a process of submitting images for critique, receiving written reports from the allocated Mentor, and then applying the new knowledge gained to produce further images to submit. We advise that all members go through the Mentoring Programme before submitting for Qualification.

How do I become a Judge? Judging School

The Society of Photographers photographic Judging School continues to be popular with photographers.

During this unique and informative two-day school, the course will cover:

• The qualities we look for in professional judges
• The rules and procedures of panel judging
• The 10 Elements
• Etiquette and elocution
• The importance of positive judging
• The specifics of print quality

In addition to the above topics photographers will also get the chance to take part in the ‘mock-judging’ of both physical prints and digital images.

To register your interest for the next Society Judging School, please email terrie@thesocieties.net