Maria DeForrest earns Certificate of Professional Photography

Maria DeForrest is celebrating her fifth year as a professional photographer, and she recently earned her Certificate of Professional Photography from the Professional Photographers of America. Her work is known across the state as well as in the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia, Pa.,  Baltimore, Md.,  and Washington, D.C. She’s been published in local magazines as well as national blogs. She has also been hired to photograph government officials, including Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Jack Markell, as well as local events such as the "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" build last summer.

The Milton resident earned her bachelor of fine arts in photography, graduating summa cum laude from the Fulton School of Liberal Arts at Salisbury University in 2006. However, the measure of accreditation to become certified as a professional photographer was very important to her.

To become certified, DeForrest took a comprehensive written exam measuring her knowledge of the technical aspects of photography. She was also required to submit 15 images to showcase her professional work, six showing standardized technical proficiency, which all professional photographers must know. The remaining nine had to be from different professional assignments in her specialty. The Professional Photographers Certification Commission, an objective panel of judges, evaluated her expertise and approved her for certification.

“It’s such an honor,” she says. “Less than 5 percent of professional photographers get certified, only about 2,000 in the United States.” The PPA is the world’s largest nonprofit association for professional photographers, with 22,000 members in 54 countries.

While DeForrest believes that getting certified is a traditional path for professional photographers, she admits, “My work is the furthest thing from traditional.” For example, rather than offering the four- or six-hour package that a typical wedding photographer would do, DeForrest spends the entire day, 12 to 16 hours. From getting ready until the last guest is gone, she says, “To me the real story is told in the moments in between.”

Her portrait sessions are also what she would call nontraditional. They are not carefully posed in a studio, but instead on location with her clients. “It’s less about perfection [of the posed shot], and more about the reality of their connection - the love, the people and their relationships. "Sure, we’ll do some posed shots,” she says, “but the best images are when you don't realize I'm taking them."

In spring 2011, DeForrest officially added Lifestyle Family Sessions to her repertoire. “I am the kind of photographer who wants to capture honest, emotional imagery for you,” she says. "It can be a milestone in your child’s life or a family vacation, or just Tuesday in the backyard." During the session DeForrest says, “Just be you,” she writes on her website. “Really happy, really in love, really you.”

For more information, go to MariaDeForrestPhotography.com or call her at 302-569-1170.