The first time I touched Adobe Photoshop was in 1996. Working as a portrait photographer in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and using a digital camera or scanning film was a fairly radical idea. I didn't fully embrace digital photography until 1999, when Nikon came out with the D-1. I worked as a photojournalist in Malaysia, and it was so convenient to put everything on a laptop and push images to news organizations within minutes of an event.

I never thought much about officially learning how to use Adobe Photoshop because, at the time, there weren't classes, only a boss who said, here's photoshop use it. I spent years using Photoshop without official training other than the best way to color correct was Ctrl+M and use the eyedropper to find the dark and light areas.

Of course, over time, I started to learn more by purchasing books and pretty much self-educated myself on how to use Photoshop. I think it was when I went through video school that I realized how much the world was transitioning to digital and moving away from film processing and printing.

Currently, I teach Visual/Video/Web Design at Landstown Governor's STEM Academy in Virginia Beach. I co-teach with a marketing teacher in a newly designed pathway called STEMarketing Communications. I've spent the last four years developing the idea. It was only recently that I realized this is an opportunity to teach and educate not only new photographers but a new generation of creatives.

This education heavily relies on teaching students how to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Animate, and Dreamweaver. That is a lot of Adobe products to teach in three courses over three years. I also get to teach students "The 12 Elements of a Merit Image," videography, and portfolio website design. When I attended high school in the '90s, photography wasn't offered, and over the years, I've seen more and more photography programs disappear.

On March 13, 2020, our school closed for two weeks to figure out what to do because of COVID. I took those two weeks to research what Adobe was doing with their certification program and how I could implement something for our school. Students still love to take pictures and videos of their activities for their social media accounts. I learned that Adobe was updating the Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) program, redesigning today's users.

If you have never heard of or, like me, dismissed the Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) certifications because I was already a Certified Professional Photographer. Doing this testing wouldn't teach me anything I already didn't know. Once again, I discovered how wrong I was, and as I started to research the ACA standards, I found how many things I was doing wrong in so many Adobe programs. 

I was under the impression that this was something for people entering the workforce. Instead, I've discovered that companies value these credentials, and I've gained nearly double the calls by just posting my certifications on LinkedIn. I am adding an entire revenue stream to my photography because companies see that I took the time to properly learn Adobe Creative Cloud.

The first thing you have to do as a professional photographer is to be open to learning that how you've been doing things isn't always the best or correct way. I fell into this trap because I attended photography, video, and journalism schools. I've attended Imaging USA a few times and paid for a lot of education to learn how other people do things. I never realized that I created a hodgepodge of education that often overwhelmed me, and I went back to doing what I had been doing for years. Because it seemed to work.

The ACA is changing and is now in line with what companies are looking for in professional creative designers. The tests are challenging and require a lot of knowledge and practice to pass. The most important takeaway from getting your certification is your efficiency and proficiency increase, and you are gain additional confidence in the workflow you've created for yourself. I discovered that the best workflow is something you've designed and developed, not using someone else's workflow.

Each exam is a 50-minute timed multiple-choice and performance-based test. The testing actually has you perform tasks as you would do for a client using realistic scenarios. I found this critical because learning to understand what a client is asking and translating it to action is a skill we can continuously improve.

So, what did I do to prepare for the exam? I went to Peachpit Press and purchased all the "Adobe Certified Associate Exam Preparation" books, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Animate, and Dreamweaver. I learned a lot and started to better understand how to teach others each of these programs.

As I was reading, doing, and practicing this new information, I discovered BrainBuffet. Rob Schwartz was a high school teacher and started to build a website with videos so his students would easily have access to information. It turned into a successful business, and now you can purchase a subscription and learn at your own pace. Photoshop has six projects that prepare you for the Adobe exam. I had my school purchase BrainBuffet, and we are a Certiport Certified Associate Authorized Testing Center. Since including these elements in the classroom, we see a 93% pass rate for the exam.

With all of these changes, the Adobe Certified Associate program is now called the Adobe Certified Professional. They have created three different certification areas that improve how this certification is viewed in the workforce.

To earn a specialty credential, you must pass at least one specific exam and pass one additional exam of the two possibilities in the specialty area. I discovered that if you pass the Adobe Photoshop exam, it can be used in each of the specialty areas.

·      Adobe Certified Professional in Visual Design = Photoshop (required) + Illustrator or InDesign

·      Adobe Certified Professional in Video Design = Premiere Pro (required) + Photoshop or After Effects

·      Adobe Certified Professional in Web Design = Dreamweaver (required) + Animate or Photoshop

One of the things that I've learned as a professional photographer is that you have to constantly be willing to learn new things, or else you will get stuck. I think for a couple of years, I was stuck. After all, I knew what I was doing because I was making money as a photographer.

It took the COVID pause to realize that I wasn't increasing my year-over-year income. People were happy with my work, and I always have a steady stream of customers, but I wasn't increasing my yearly income. Now that I have added the certifications to LinkedIn, I've had a couple of new clients and people I've known for years to reach out and ask what services I provide. This has opened new doors, and I see my creativity and consistency improve.

Take a moment and research how Adobe has changed their certification process and see if it's something that will improve your workflow or creativity.