Becoming an ILPA Certified Photographer

     Take your photography to the next level and submit your work for peer review to become certified.  Earn professional feedback on your photography.  Upon approval you’ll be recognized by ILPA for the quality of your artwork in a number of outdoor photography categories.

     ILPA certification carries the credibility that a panel of ILPA certification judges have collectively given you “the nod” that your portfolio has achieved the ILPA standard for certification in the category that you submitted too.    

Certification portfolio requirements:

     Submit a 10 photograph portfolio, or 3 videos, in the one of certification categories.  A panel of ILPA reviewers convene quarterly to review certification submissions.  Submissions need to meet the mark of “above average” to qualify for certification.  Once your portfolio(s) are approved you will earn the level of certification in the category(ies) that you submitted your portfolio(s) too.  Then, you’ll then be allowed to promote yourself as an ILPA Photographer certified in (the category you applied for).  

ILPA Certification Portfolio Requirements:

1/  Landscape Photography – 10 photographs including:  Sunrises/Sunsets, broad landscapes and intimate landscapes.  Man made object may be included in the photo, but man made object cannot be the main subject of the photograph.   Photographs with man made objects as the main subject, ie:  a cityscape, are not included in this category.

2/  Wildlife Photography – 10 photographs of wildlife including:  head and shoulders portraits (minimum 3), full body environmental portraits (minimum 3), landscape photographs with wildlife as a major supporting picture element (maximum 2) and wildlife abstract photographs (minimum 1).   Wildlife abstracts include, but are not limited to, creative compositions that have parts of an animal’s body used to create the overall composition or motion blur images of moving animals (up to 3 photographs of this nature).

3/  Travel Photography – 10 photographs that may include compositions of popular destinations for outdoor photography.  Photos in this category may include people and man made objects as supporting picture elements.  However, people and man made objects may not be the main subject in the compositions.

4/  Time Lapse Videography – 3 outdoor time lapse videos – Video stories may be any combination of the following themes or 3 videos that are a 100% continuous sequence of one particular theme.  Scenes in the videos may include a combinations of landscapes, wildlife, wildlife behavior, blue hour, or night sky video scenes. 

5/  Night Sky – 10 photographs – Submissions must include at least 3 blue hour and 3 astral photographs in the total 10 photograph portfolio submission.

6/  Natural Abstracts – 10 photographs of natural things where the main subjects have been distorted from the familiar towards the unfamiliar.  Some examples include motion blurs and abstract still compositions such as isolated parts of the landscape, flowers or barely recognizable close up portions of wildlife.

6/  Outdoor Adventure Sport Photography – examples of outdoor adventure sports included in this category include, but are not limited too, outdoor rock climbing, mountain scrambling/climbing, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking.  More outdoor sports may be included in this category if the natural outdoor environment is an integral component when participating in the sport.  For example, mountain biking on an outdoor wilderness trail is acceptable.  However, mountain biking on an man made outdoor race track is not.  Final acceptability of each photograph is made at the sole, independent discretion of each ILPA panel reviewer.

Submission details:

     Each submission must include 10 photographs except for the “Time Lapse Videography” submission.  The Time Lapse submission must include three MP3 or MP4 videos. 

Submission Cost:

     ILPA members have their first submission included in the new membership.  New members may submit their frist certification in any category for free during the first six months of their new membership.  After six months, or upon membership renewal, each new category submission will cost $95.00 CDN, ~$60 USD and covers the board convening to revue submissions. 

     If your first submission for certification in a specific category was completely or partially rejected, you may review the committee’s comment, revise and resubmit your submission for a $50 fee.  Certification submissions are review once each quarter.  If you don’t revise and resubmit your certification submission, your application will expire after one year.  You may reapply if you choose to do so in the future in a “new category portfolio submission review” application when you choose to revisit the certification process again.

     That is, if you submitted a landscape photography portfolio before the April 1 2021 certification submission review deadline, and you had 7 of 10 photographs accepted, then you will have until April 1 2022 to submit 3 more landscape photographs and have them accepted in the landscape category.  If your re-submitted photographs are accepted for approval in the landscape category then you will earn the “ILPA Landscape Photography Certification.”  You will be able to promote yourself as a “Certified ILPA Landscape Photographer.”  

     However, you won’t be able to promote yourself as a Certified ILPA Landscape/Wildlife/Adventure Sport/Night Sky/Time Lapse Photographer until you are certified.  You may promote yourself as an “ILPA Photographer.” though in the meantime.

     With each certification submission then you will need to submit 10 new photographs in your new submission application.  That is, if you use one particular photograph in your “Landscape Photography” certification submission, you cannot use the same, or very similar photography in the “Travel Photography” submission.  

Upon certification in one of the categories:

Once your certification submission is approved, you will be listed on the ILPA website as a ” Certified _________ ILPA Photographer,” where the category you were successful certified in will be inserted into the blank.

eg:  “Bob Smith is Certified by the International Landscape Photographers’ Association as a (Landscape/Wildlife/Adventure Sport/Night Sky/Time Lapse) Photographer”

Note:  Once you are successfully certified as an ILPA _____ Photographer, a framed certificate will be mailed to your home or studio/office.