Colleges with Photography Degrees?

[mtbakerskier]

MBS, you telling me you never took a photo course? I think AKPM needs all the help in the basics (Shutter/Fstop/Focal length, etc.) he can get. I also disagree w/the whole school of thought that says you either have the eye or don't. Photography, especially news and sport (not fine art) photography, CAN be learned. It's not just about raw talent.

I have never ever taken a photo class or anything of the sort. I taught my self by shooting a ton of film and looking at a lot of pictures. The more AKPM shoots the better he will get. Like I said before the only way that AKPM / any photographer will get better is to shoot a lot, and always analyse the results and try to figure out what you did that worked and what you did that didnt. The oly way that some one can develop a good eye is to shoot a lot. I think that you find that if you ask any photographer how they got to where they are at they will tell you that they shot a lot of pics.

[Nohillsnearby]

MBS, you telling me you never took a photo course? I think AKPM needs all the help in the basics (Shutter/Fstop/Focal length, etc.) he can get. I also disagree w/the whole school of thought that says you either have the eye or don't. Photography, especially news and sport (not fine art) photography, CAN be learned. It's not just about raw talent.

Not MBS, but I took a photograpphy course in High school. We concentrated more on developing than shooting.

[Nohillsnearby]

I have never ever taken a photo class or anything of the sort. I taught my self by shooting a ton of film and looking at a lot of pictures. The more AKPM shoots the better he will get. Like I said before the only way that AKPM / any photographer will get better is to shoot a lot, and always analyse the results and try to figure out what you did that worked and what you did that didnt. The oly way that some one can develop a good eye is to shoot a lot. I think that you find that if you ask any photographer how they got to where they are at they will tell you that they shot a lot of pics.

And the difference between a professional photog and an amateur is about 50 rolls of film.

[AKturnanburn]

grant's right.

don't waste a cent on college.

save a couple grand, buy yourself a cheap digital SLR with a basic range of lenses and go shoot the shizzle out of everything.

some simple artistic composition classes can do wonders for your eye and teach you what makes a image appealing and why.

don't expect to make a (decent) living with anything in the ski/snow/outdoor industry even if you hit the "bigtime". make sure you have the staples of portraits, weddings, location, and commercial dialed. or you could just wait tables.



just my .02

[PaSucks]

I have never ever taken a photo class or anything of the sort. I taught my self by shooting a ton of film and looking at a lot of pictures. The more AKPM shoots the better he will get. Like I said before the only way that AKPM / any photographer will get better is to shoot a lot, and always analyse the results and try to figure out what you did that worked and what you did that didnt. The oly way that some one can develop a good eye is to shoot a lot. I think that you find that if you ask any photographer how they got to where they are at they will tell you that they shot a lot of pics.

I'm not a photog, but I would think there are some good books out there AKPM could read. MBS, you never read any photog books?

[ak_powder_monkey]

AKPM: what kind of photography are you interested in exactly?

CJ: when you know, love, and want real mountains. . bristol is pretty painful. although better than, say, louisiana for skiing im sure.

SKi photography or nature photography or any photography outside in general. What I'd really like is to be a photo editor for a newspaper a ski magazine somehting like that

[midget]

Shoot a lot, and take a lot of notes.
Make sure you take notes so WHEN you get your film back you know what you did right and wrong. No notes, tough to analyze.

[Lynx]

in addition to shooting. . . . if you can get a job assisting, that will help you a ton.

edit: and the business skills are SO important. i am not lying when i say there are great photogs who make no money cause they suck at business and there are mediocre photgs who are rolling in the dough because they ARE good at business.

[Tippster]

No doubt you need to shoot a lot. The learning curve, however, does accelerate if you know what the fuck you're self-critiquing. IMHO every photog should know what the hell those numbers on the lens barrel mean, what the correlation between them, shutterspeed, and depth of field is... basics. You gotta know the rules before you can break them, which is where the really good shots usually are.

i lament, in a way, the conversion to digital/full auto in my industry (news.) There is little incentive to actually be good, more that you do what was stated earlier (F8 & Be There.) The truly good stills journalists remember what it was like to shoot film, and remember that your shotas had to count. If you only had 4 rolls with you, that meant you had ~150 frames to get it right. Now peple fire off frame after frame on Full-Auto and delete the crap during the lulls or the cab ride. Many times the shots that look like ass on the tiny VF on the back are actually great shots on a larger screen.

Getting back to the Auto-function, I obviously hate it. It makes photogs lazy and lowers the bar, IMHO. Knowing what your camera does under specific circumstances and WHY that is the case... especially the fact that it's repeatable, is the essence of "writing in light." What does Shutter Priority do vs. Aperture priority, and when do you use one vs, the other? Why does Auto Focus not always work? How do I use Depth of Field to nudge the viewers attention to a specific area of the frame? What is the "Golden Rectangle?" Shit... how do I make the sky look darker?

Grant, what you do has a very specific skill set, not just photography, and there are VERY few people on the planet that make a living at it. It would help AKPM and any photographer to take several Photography classes just to know what the hell the tool in their hands is capable of. THEN you go out and shoot the shit out of everything.

[Plakespear]

Tipp- don't you hate to use consumer camcorders? Even my Sony VCX-1000 prosumer annoys me. I miss having a real zoom, focus, and iris.

[mtbakerskier]

Grant, what you do has a very specific skill set, not just photography, and there are VERY few people on the planet that make a living at it. It would help AKPM and any photographer to take several Photography classes just to know what the hell the tool in their hands is capable of. THEN you go out and shoot the shit out of everything.

Yeas, but I dont think that blowing $40k for 4 years of university will get you any where beyond the basics. He would be better off working at a high end camera shop and looking / studying every image that goes threw the door. Thats just my opinion, but I strongly feall that once you learn hte basics the rest is best learned on your own so that you can develope your own style etc.

[Mcwop]

i think the only thing that saved me was joining the ski team, if just for simply being on any kind of snow 4 days a week and having other ski obsessed weirdos to talk to.

The only thing that saved me in Upstate NY was cheap bottles of Gin.

Oh AKPM - You can do photography at any school to some degree. You may consider schools with good Art/Graphics departments. Just make sure there is at least a decent photography club. Look for schools that allow self-study, where you can create your own class. etc...

[KQ]

I thought you'd already decided you were going to school in AK. Honestly, you're as fickle as a school girl.

Why don't you look into the Art Institute of Seattle?


AIS

[Chris taylor]

Are you looking for colleges with photography majors to attend? Consult the schools' website to check out their academic photography courses and their notable alumni.