Local photographer Cassandra Jones has been nationally recognized for her work. The portrait, ‘Daddy, can we please make apple pie,’ has been selected as one of the top ten photos worldwide in the World Photographic Cup.
Jones says the picture she submitted is of her son and is inspired by her childhood growing up on a farm.
“Shooting in nature is my soul food and it’s something that I do at least once or twice a week all year around. It’s kind of how I started in photography, and it’s one of my biggest passions so I set it up as a [way of] connecting my childhood to my son’s childhood.”
She says while the photograph has also won multiple awards in other competitions, the recognition alone means a lot, as she never saw herself doing this for a living.
“I have a master’s in clinical psychology and I thought that was going to be my path my whole adult life. About nine years ago I lost my first daughter and that is when I picked up my first camera just as a means of forcing myself to get out and look for beauty in the world again.”
“Now I teach all over the world, and I photograph babies and kids and I specialize in doing so in nature. It is a pretty remarkable experience to have it reach this level, and I feel incredibly honoured and very grateful,” she adds.
The final rankings for first through tenth place will be announced at the awards ceremony on March 23rd in Rome.