A pair of Mandarin ducks
I entered this photo in a competition at The Chertsey Fair under the class ‘British Birds’ Even though these ducks originate from Asia (closely related to the Wood Duck found in America) a large feral population was established in the 20th century due to specimens escaping from collections, and there are now 7,000 in Britain. I photographed this pair on the Thames in Walton.
We went to the show today & found this lovely certificate beside my photo! First Prize!!
I also entered photos into the ‘My Favourite Smile’ class;
‘Three Photographs with a Common Connected Theme’ class;
and ‘Portrait’ class;
Charlotte as Aladdin Sane
We came third 🙂
The entry fee was 50p per class, and the prizes were 1st £2, 2nd £1.50, 3rd £1, so I’ve made £1 (minus the printing and mounting costs of course)
Does this make me a professional photographer?
Day One 
I would say yes. Congrats! I think you are a professional photographer when you feel like a professional, irregardless of whether you make money or not. Think about when you first started to work, you felt insecure and uncomfortable. But there became a point you felt secure in yourself … that’s when you became a professional. Same goes with photography.
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Thank you 🙂 I don’t really think I’m professional yet at all, I certainly don’t feel confident, though when I was printing my photos for the competition I was asked to do the photography for somebody’s 21st!!
I’m about to enter another competition this evening, and the ‘Non Professional’ criteria are;
The competition is only open to amateur photographers (defined as someone who does not derive more than 10% of their income from photography)
I’m definitely an amateur according to their criteria! 🙂
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I’m definitely an amateur too.
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lol
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YES. YES. YES! You certainly are. Congratulations!
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Awwww, thank you 🙂
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You go, girl! Congratulations on a beautiful picture and prize. It won’t be long before I’ll be telling my friends….”I remember her when….”
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Well…. You could say that already, but they wouldn’t know who you were talking about 🙂
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