Meeting a Freelance Photographer

I have met a freelance photographer Sid Smallman who is LRPS - Licentiate of Royal Photographic Society. And even better, next day he was going to Bath's photographic society to try his best while submitting a panel of 15 images for Associateship distinction from the RPS which is the national body for photography that has worldwide recognition and as such its distinctions carry kudos. There are three levels of distinction: the Licentiateship, Associateship and Fellowship all of which are highly respected. Any of those awards instantly identify you as someone who is serious about their photography and their level of ability. So there are 5 panel members who inspect the work carefully and discuss it amongst themselves. And he was successful and passed! I am very happy for him. Here is the link to read more about RPS: www.rps.org/associateship
and he was successful! I am very happy for him. Here are some of his photographs..

Sid Smallman

Sid Smallman

Sid Smallman

Since we are still in contact, I asked him about how he earns for living and a bit about freelance photography. He said he couldn't live only from freelance photography (I thought so, who does nowadays?) and he is tutoring digital photography for a nationwide organisation in Devon and Cornwall regions - www.goingdigital.co.uk
What he suggested I should do if I want to follow the footsteps of a freelancer, I should exhibit and show my work wherever and whenever I can. I guess it could apply for any photographer from a freelancer to fashion or documentary photographer. It would help to build up an impressive CV which would show my dedication to photography. He also suggested me to expose more photographs of mine to the internet and such websites as flickr, Pixu, 1x, 500px. Of course, I don't need to forget about competitions, if not fortunate enough to win, they would help me to get used to shooting to a brief which will always stand me in a good stead for any commissions I would accept.
In the end, what I have learnt from him was that it doesn't matter how old are you, if you have aims, you can achieve anything.
You can find more of his work here:

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidspix/
• www.sidpix.co.uk