You must be wondering just what all of the letters after Mike Bentley mean.  I just read what CPP was but what the heck is Master, Cr. Photog., GFD and GSD?

In January 2011 Mike received his Craftsman Degree from the Professional Photographers of America and a few years later he received his Masters Degree from PPA.  This means that he has met the standards of excellence set by the Professional Photographers of America and been awarded these degrees in recognition of his service to the photographic profession as an orator, author and mentor as well as photographer.

PPA is a worldwide association that exists to assist its more than 35,000 members in achieving their professional, artistic and fraternal goals; promote public awareness of the profession; and to advance the making of images in all of its disciplines as an art, a science, and a visual recorder of history.  By earning this degree Mike joins a group of about 2100 other photographers who hold this degree worldwide.

The GSD is the Georgia Professional Photographers Associations version of the PPA’s Craftsman degree and the GFD is the GPPA version of the PPA Masters Degree.  Mike received his GSD in the late 1990′s and his GFD in 2021.