Introduction
Welcome to The Wedding Photographic Society (WPS). We’re a network of professional wedding & portrait photographers who come together to collaborate on photographic ideas, thoughts, and information in an attempts to elevate the artistic, technical, and business standards of the wedding photographic community. Membership in the WPS offers many professional & personal growth opportunities via bi-monthly educational meetings, networking, critiques, and general camaraderie during such gatherings. WPS meetings, forums, blog submissions, & web pages are open to any and all professional wedding photographers throughout the world.
The WPS’s origins date back to 2005, when Raleigh, NC wedding photographer Christobal Perez organized quarterly photography meetings in an effort to help build relationships, share knowledge amongst peers, and help create a competitive, yet supportive photographic community. The spirit of Christobal’s movement has grown exponentially since that time and has since evolved into the WPS (which became official in 2009) with the further support of other local photographers, Martha Manning, Stacy Borelli, & Brian Mullins. Leaders & members of the WPS donate their time to organize topic discussions with guest speakers, collaborate on ideas and offer guidance, all without compensation.
Membership
To join the WPS, you need to meet the following minimum criteria:
- Actively pursuing business as a professional wedding and/or portrait photographer (or aspiring to be a professional wedding and/or portrait photographer).
- A professional photography website showing your current work.
- Willingness to share your knowledge with others (we don’t ask for state secrets but a general willingness to be open and help others when possible).
There are two levels of membership in the WPS; aspiring and professional.
Aspiring
An aspiring member is someone who is not yet a professional photographer but looking to gain knowledge in photography, learn about proper business practice and grow as a photographer. Typically these are newer photographers in the field of weddings & portraits. Membership grants permissions to attend the monthly meetings and have limited access to the forums. This insures an open environment to ask questions in without fear of hostility.
Professional
A professional member has all the rights of the aspiring member, but has full access to the forums. A professional member will be actively pursuing business and working in the field of professional wedding or portrait photography.
The review process
Each application is personally reviewed by a WPS board member to determine which classification the applicant will be granted. Any photographer granted “aspiring” status can petition, at any time, for “full” or “professional” standing at which time their application will be reviewed again.
Application
To officially become a member of the WPS simply read the rules and register here.
Meetings
So as you enter into the WPS, you will undoubtedly see and hear about local meetings with some really cool topics and opportunities to network with other photographers in your area. These meetings are the true essence of the WPS and we HIGHLY encourage your attendance. If you don’t have local meetings in your area, then contact us @ admin@weddingphotographicsociety.com to aid in assisting in starting a group local to you.
Forums
The WPS forums are our home away from home. As we started our organization based on face to face meetings, we quickly realized we needed a place to compile information such as emergency shooter lists, buying and selling gear, meeting announcements, etc. You can use them to get help with a sticky situation, help resolving a client issue, to vent or just to network. In the WPS, you definitely get out of it what you put into it so contribute whenever possible.
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the WPS and we look forward to your future contributions to the society.
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