4 minute read
My PPOC
NEW BEGINNINGS
By Kayla Gordon
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I BECAME A MEMBER OF PPOC ONE YEAR AGO IN APRIL 2021. I JOINED ON A THURSDAY, AND THEN ON FRIDAY I STARTED TO HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS, SO, I CALLED MARY CHISHOLM AT THE PPOC OFFICE AND ASKED HER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I DECIDED NOT TO GO FORWARD WITH MY MEMBERSHIP. SHE SAID I HAD A BIT OF TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT. I THEN CALLED BECKY FLEURY, WHO IS OUR MANITOBA CHAIR. I TAUGHT BECKY WHEN I WAS A HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA TEACHER BACK IN THE LATE 80’S. WE BUMPED INTO EACH OTHER A FEW YEARS BACK AND REALIZED WE BOTH SHARE A COMMON LOVE OF PHOTOGRAPHY.
I had been interested in taking photos since I was fifteen. My father dabbled in it; he had a dark room in the basement of our home in Winnipeg. Fast forward a few years and I became the resident family photographer. Every time we had a family dinner or celebration it was, “Kayla, do you have your camera? Take a picture!” Anyway, back to Becky. I told her I think I made a mistake: It’s too much work, and I’m not good enough. She said three important things to me, “Don’t Quit, Ask for Help, and Get Involved”. I decided not to ask for my money back, and I would forge ahead. At least I would give it a solid try. I began to look closer at the website and discovered the mentor program. I contacted another PPOC member, Gerald David, who responded “sure I’d be happy to look at your photos.” I wanted to take a stab at my first accreditation, and he would also help guide me through the technical aspects. There were so many details to learn. Then, Becky introduced me to review night, which is when Manitoba PPOC members get together over Zoom to critique your work. I was ready to start the process. The toughest part was deciding which accreditation category I should tackle. I knew in my heart from many years of working as a director in the theatre that my strength was telling stories, I really wanted to do Street Photography, but it was a very new category. I had lots of photos I had taken from various shows I had produced, I thought why not try the Performing Artist category? The review group helped me weed through about thirty photos down to my top ten with suggested edits etc. I entered these ten and six were accepted. “Not bad for your first try,” everyone said. A few months later, I was now ready to face the next accreditation deadline. I resubmitted four new Performing Artist photos. This time two were accepted, so I still had 2 left to complete the accreditation. It was becoming a long process. I did another review night, watched past videos on the PPOC website, looked at past magazines of competition images, and volunteered to shoot a few new performances in town to get some new material. I also reached out for help from Gerry Legere from the Manitoba Camera Club, which I had joined last year. His photos always wowed me. We met three times on Zoom. He was very critical, and he helped take my editing skills to the next level. I was ready once again. I submitted my last two for Performing Artist and with my newfound confidence also submitted ten Street Photography photos as well. Results: my last Performing Artist Photos were finally accepted. My Street Photos were all accepted… ten out of ten. Crazy. All my hard work and patience paid off. What I discovered is I can tell a good story. I have been telling stories for thirty-five years in the theatre and it’s great to inject that same skill into my work as a photographer. Now that I was an accredited photographer with PPOC, I could enter the Spring, PPOC 2022 National Image Competition. I submitted four of my favourite images. Results: one not accepted, one accepted and two merits. Not bad for this PPOC newbie. I want to thank all those who helped me get to this point. It wasn’t easy, it’s stressful hearing the judges pick apart your photos, but it’s also creatively invigorating. This has gotten me through the pandemic! What’s next…. I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll go for an accreditation in character portraits so I can tell more stories. I am so glad that I took Becky’s advice. “Don’t Quit, Ask for Help, and Get Involved”. I didn’t quit, I asked for a ‘ton’ of help, and now I’m on the Manitoba board and helping with social media at the national level. I’m so happy to be part of the PPOC family!
Kayla Gordon
Kayla loves all types of photography but her passion is in travel, performance and street photography. She has been telling stories for thirty-five years as a theatre director and feels that it’s great to inject that same skill into her work as a photographer. While she has only been a member of the Professional Photographers of Canada for one year, she has become Nationally Accredited in two categories, Street Photography and Performing Artist. You can find her work on her website at https://kaylagordon.zenfolio. com and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kaylagphoto/.
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