In what has been a landmark year already for me, I can now add qualified Judge with The Societies of Photographers to my list of things to be thankful for. Earlier in the year I qualified as a Fellow with The Society of International Commercial & Industrial Photographers with a specialism in creative product photography at the international convention in London. This coincided with it being 10 years since my diagnosis with MS, so it was even more meaningful for me. Having trained at their judging school and then working as a junior judge for about 15 months learning the ropes from experienced team members, my “judgement day” arrived. Head of judging Terrie Jones announced to me that I had passed my assessment and would now be a full member of the judging team. This is a group of some of the best photographers from around the world with specialisms in various genres of photography. The team judge qualifications, monthly competitions and the highly prestigious annual international 20×16 print competition at the Convention. So, I am honoured to be in their company, maintaining and furthering the standards in the photography industry. The training to become a Judge has had an impact on my day to day work too. I cast an even more critical eye over the work I produce for clients and keep striving to raise my standards still further. If you are unsure how successful your business’ images are then I can use my training to help you conduct an image audit. This is a good way to ascertain whether your images are doing their job and communicating as clearly as you might like. It has been a pleasure spending time recently helping to train local businesses to do their own photography in house where budgets would not have allowed hiring someone in. The Go Digital scheme has allowed them to raise their game and improve their marketing. They haven’t even had to spend a fortune on kit. As a consultant I can help them avoid unnecessary expenditure and find cheaper, just as effective ways to get the job done. I love seeing businesses thrive and enjoy working with local clients as well as national and international ones. The support and encouragement from other businesses in Norfolk has helped me to reach new heights. Networking doesn’t always need to be about finding new leads or a quick route to more work. Sometimes it is about learning from others who have had similar experiences and finding the right people to give you a positive mindset to succeed.