Anyone know about Hallmark Institute of Photography?

Hello everyone;

I am seriously considering going to a photography school. I love

photography and would like to make it into a career. I was wondering

if anyone knows ifHallmark Institute of photography is a great

photography school. Please if anyone as any thoughts on this please

reply. I recieved the info pack and it sounds really good... but

would like feedback for anyone that knows. Thanks everyone.

Tim

Tim, it seems you have come up empty for responses. I'm not that

familiar with the Hallmark Institute, but if you are looking to enter

commercial photography, I would also consider Brooks and RIT

(Rochester Institute of Technology). Both those schools have great

reputations. I would visit any school you are thinking about to get a

feel for the place and faculty. Each schools has its own culture.

Tim, I just got back from vacation; otherwise I would have answered sooner. I toured Hallmark at the end of the summer and was planning on attending this fall. But I was trying to do everything in less than thirty days and just didn't have time to get it all together while getting loans, ending my current lease, etc. I was very impressed with the program & equipment when I visited. I also liked the fact that you are graded in "dollars", so it's more realistic. If you don't do the work as specified, you get $600 instead of $1000, for example.

 

At any rate, I would suggest looking up Nate Ross on this site. I noticed from another post that he is currently attending the school so I emailed him. He gave me a lot of good information, so I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help you.

Erica

I just wanted to thank you guys and gals for answering my question. I really do appreciate the time everyone took to reply. Thanks again. And Erica William I will be emailing Nate Ross to see if he can tell me a little about Hallmark. Thanks again everyone and keep keep the finger on the shutter button :)

Tim

hi my name is mike i just graduated from hallmark with my girl , hallmark was intense , if u wanna go u betta be prepared to work, but it is in the middle of the boonies not far away from amherst and holyoke college(really big schools) which have insane parties plus the cops wont give you any shit for anything ANYTHING. but back to the school it was a great expereince and i loved it it was worth the money and trust me it may be a one year school but u will do 2 years of work but the teachers are hilarious and so smart and succesful i admire all of them they have great assignments that are fun and really help to define your own style and come to terms with it so you can improve the skills, the studios are sick and so is the digital lab and commercial lab plus this summer they added another building, if you go to brooks youll learn alot too but you will have the same portfolio as everyone else and be spending 4 times as much money, so all and all hallmark great but youre gonna work.in case you wonder i am 20 and after graduating hallmark i moved from massachusetts to los angelos to take photos professionally - later -

Presumably, English Composition isn't part of the curriculum.

If that is how u get treated for trying help someone in this chatroom. than screw this. Besides i dont need good english because i make loads of money doing professional photography, do you, probably not. and to tim if you have any other questions about hallmark you can email me at michaelurbani@earthlink.net, later jerks

yeah, don't give mike shit. i'm a current student and as such, i have seen mike's work. it's solid.

and, to answer your somewhat uncalled for question, no. english is not taught here. we do photography, some business, and public relations. nothing that's not related to photography in some way.

 

back to the original question hallmark is a good school if you can handle stress. mike's right. they pack two years into 10 months, and you won't have a lot of free time, especially come phase 3 (and phase 4 also, i'm told) but if you want to learn a shitload about the photography industry, this is the place to be.

Hello everyone, just wanted to thank everyone who answered my questions about Hallmark. I really appreciate all the input. I think I will be sending in my application and see what happens. Thanks again everyone.

Tim Bopp

Hey Tim,

I'll be attending Hallmark this fall. From everything I've heard and read this is an awesome school. My wife and I visited this past summer for an open house and the facilities and labs blew us away. The instructors do seem very fun and knowledgable. I found out about the school from my cousin's girlfriend. She went to Hallmark barely ever having picked up a camera and ended up graduating with the top portfolio in her class. She is doing very well as a portrait and fine art photographer in the Providence Rhode Island area. Check out her website www.stephanieizzo.com

I was just accepted to Hallmark this week, and am really excited..from what i read, it seems a challenge, but well thats what i was expecting too. was just curious about the area, yea it looks like a small place, but is there much to do- how is the housing there, and is it very expensive? when i graduate i would love to be able to travel with whatever photo angle i take...how is the job placement there...ohh yea, any one know the average age of the students that attend hallmark ? well any feedback would be greatly appriciated- thanks *Meg

Hi All,

I found this site on a search engine, while doing a search on Hallmark. I am a prospective Hallmark Student and am sending in my application this week. I have had my phone interview and I got recommended into the program. I am hoping for acceptance (duh hehe.) The only reasons I wouldn't be able to attend would be if I didn't get accepted, or I couldn't get enough financial aid. It is an expensive school but I feel it would be worth it.

 

I was very impressed with the school and how very friendly they were. I requested a catalog expecting to get it in the mail. I not only got the catalog but I got a phone call and email as well. The lady I spoke to and have been in communication with since was very helpful and friendly. They are looking for people who will dedicate themself to the program, so if you want to attend, prepare yourself to stick with it. To quote them "students eat, sleep, and breathe photography."

 

I am excited that I found this thread because if I do get accepted I'm sure that I will meet some of you, but anyway. To answer some of the questions asked.

 

The average age is 23 years old.

 

A two bedroom apt. (housing that is affliated with hallmark, aka they find the places for you) is *guessed* to possibly be around $800 per month. They have not contacted their land lords this year, but will be soon. Housing touring begins in May/June.

 

Tuition and fees run about $30,950. All your materials are included with that and they give you a $500 credit line in their store incase you want to buy extra suplies. You must buy your own camera equipment but they can help you get that and get a discout. It is guessed that the pagackage of equipment you need (if you get it through them during the first 2 weeks of the program) will run about $5000. And then there are your living expenses, which no one can really guess, but all in all it will probably end up being around $50,000. Yea that is a lot!! But I believe that this is a high quality program that is worth the money because they not only teach you how to take photographs, but how to run a photography buisness as well. It is called a "photography boot camp" and you will get 2 years worth of school in 10 months. So think of it as an investment. They also help out their alumni quite a bit.

 

86% of the last 3 graduating classes have gotten into the professional photography buisness within 90 days of graduating.

 

They will help you plan out what ever career angle you would like to take as well. and the one thing they assume about new students is that they know NOTHING about photography. So everybody starts on the same level with the very basics. You don't need to have any previous experience.

 

Anyway, I have asked them probably what seems like a bazillion questions and could probably post pages of information, but I think I will stop there for right now. If anyone has any other question I would be glad to hunt through my note book that I've written everything down in or through their catalog and see if i can find the answer.

Have a wonderful day all!

- Jules

hey this is audra, i was trying to find info about the Hallmark Institute and stumbled across this. i dont know how exactly to ASK a question but i was wondering if anyone could answer me if i do it this way. i wanted to know more about the financing and marketing classes. the program seems so intense, are those classes really hard??? im so bad at math. it would be nice if someone could answer and let me know. im thinking about attending in sept. but im really scared that i might struggle in those particular classes!

thanks for any answers,

aud

Hey This is Jules again. I'm proud to say that I just got accepted into hallmark!! Whooo!! (Megyn if you read this.. email me again if you want. You kinda disappeared!) Anyway... Audra I suggest you go onto hallmarks) website and read all the informatioin on there. Also, please contact Cathy Letourneau (cathy @ hallmark.edu) (minus the spaces.) Tell her that you got her email from Jules and would like more information. You can even ask her for a catalog. If you'd like to talk to me, feel free to request my email and send me one. I'd be happy to tell you all I know. I'd love to get to know anybody who might or is attending Hallmark this fall. Especially people who are nervous like me!!! So that's an open invitatioin to anyone who's going to attend or is thinking about it. Please write me an email!! Anyway, Hope that Helps and hope to talk to you soon Audra!

 

- Jules

Hey, what's up everyone? This thread seems to be at the top of the heap when searching google for hallmark, and I get a lot of email, which I don't mind.

 

Just thought I'd pop back in and give you guys an update. We just finished phase 3, the hardest part of the 10 months here, I am told.

 

It was pretty rough sleep-wise, but we've been given enough info up to this point so that the technical hurdles are a lot smaller now.

 

The biggest problem for me and many others at hallmark is finding models. I have two pieces of advice for those of you planning to come here:

 

Move in a month early and spend some time getting to know local people. They will become very useful to you. Just please please please don't ruin it for future students, meaning if you promise them prints, GIVE them prints. We run into a lot of people locally who have been burned by Hallmark students, probably unintentionally. We get so busy here that we might mean to get around to making and delivering prints, but with the workload if you do not budget your time you will HAVE none.

 

Other piece of advice, get a dSLR before February. It will quickly become your best friend.

 

One last thing, before I go to bed (SPRING BREAK STARTS TODAY!), this might very well be the most demanding thing you've ever done in your life. Monetarily and mentally. Get into good habits and organizational skills as soon as you get here. I promise it will be worth it.

 

I don't want to give away all the surprises, because they do seem to change from year to year, but in Don's portrait lecture on the first day of phase 3, smile and know you are halfway done. :)

oh, and to answer the questions I missed, Audra, it's ok. You don't really have to know math here. mixing developer and working out your cash flow (don't worry, it's easy) are all you need in the math department. And you won't have to mix developer after christmas.

When it comes time for the business plan, it's all laid out pretty clearly what's expected, and though half of it is finances, it's nothing too complex.

 

As far as being nervous, remember there are no returning students here. Everyone's new, nobody knows anyone other than their roommates. This year's class is pretty tight. If someone is having a problem with something, there are fifteen other people who had that problem already and are willing to help.

 

post any questions you have about hallmark here, and just fire off an email to zonesix at gmail dot com to let me know. That way this thread can be a reference to others in the future as well, instead of having the conversations in private email.

Nate

Thanks very much for your posts and attention to this forum!! I know I appreciate it. I'm planning on attending Hallmark this fall, so I'll probably send you an email as well.

 

A couple of questions:

Do students have time (if they budget it wisely) to do things like bike, practice instruments, work out, and stuff like that? Is it possible to work those things into assignments you have to do? For example, can you take a bike ride out to a park to take pictures for an assignment?

 

Also, what's the area like? I haven't been able to visit yet. Is there a gym? Movie theater? Places to hike, boat, fish?

 

Do you guys have time to relax over your breaks or are you still swamped with work? I am hoping to have some friends up over thanksgiving and go home over chirstmas and maybe spring break.

 

Oh, also I noticed that the package of camera equipment that you can purchase through the school does not come with a digital back. Is it benificial to buy your own or does using the ones the school has to loan out work fine?

 

What exactly is the dSLR you were talking about? I'm not fluent in "photography speak" yet lol.

 

Does hallmark pay for model fees?

 

What are the webdesign and photoshop classes like? Are they good? Do you learn a lot? I love to use photoshop and design web pages and am hoing that the classes teach you quite a bit about it. Do you learn HTML?

 

I so had more questions but at the moment I can't remember any of them. I'll post again if i can think of more.

 

Any other details you want to post or email me privately are most welcome!

 

-Jules

thanks NATE ROSS for your answer...you made me feel better about the whole math/finance thing but got me nervous about the work load!!!

oh!! and if you could answer jules' questions that would be great! those are the exact things i was thinking.

thanks,

aud

oh and NATE, have a great spring break!!!!

Jules, to answer a few of your questions, I have time to play my guitar almost every night. As far as bike riding being rolled into an assignment, you probably can in phase 1, and maybe up to phase 2, depending on assignment. You'll be able to use it in the motion assignment, that I guarantee. ;) If you have a guitar or other instrument, you may be able to get someone to model with it as a "lifestyle" shot, when you get that assignment.

 

I live right next door to the YMCA, which is pretty respectable in size. They have a pool, a gym and a huge weight room. THey might not tell you this, but as a Hallmark student you will get a discount. About a quarter mile down the street is a movie theatre. These are both in Greenfield, which is about ten minutes from the school, and a MUCH better town (though slightly more expensive) than Turners Falls, where the school is. My rent is $420 a month, all included. This is apparently higher than most, but it was one of the last places left when I looked that wasn't a rathole. Incidentally, if you remove the r and e from rathole, you are left with athol which is a town about a half hour up the road. don't go there. ;)

 

You can hike up near Poet's Seat Tower, which is *long story about some famous poet who used to write there* and is very pretty in the fall. Check it out. Climb the tower and shoot a landscape. Everyone else does. Boating and fishing I don't know a lot about in this area, but I am told it's possible in Turners Falls. There are a couple lakes and rivers here. I don't know about the fish though.

 

You will have time on breaks and holidays to have friends come visit and go home for vacation, but You might want to save your friends' visits for phase 3 when you are no longer allowed to use classmates as models. Your friends will become BETTER friends during phase 3.

 

As far as buying a digital back for the mamiya af-d system, if you can afford one, I'd still say don't bother. the school currently has 80 of them, and unless you want to buy a digital back and a digital magazine (battery and harddrive that go under the camera in the tripod socket) you'll be shooting tethered to a mac laptop. I just don't feel it's necessary to own a $10,000 digital back that will be outdated before you graduate in june. Save your money and spend less than a quarter of that amount on a nikon d70, which I have found does everything I need it to inconjunction with awesome lenses. This is the dSLR I was referring to.

 

Hallmark in the past has apparently brought in models from Boston and NYC for the students to photograph, but no longer. Now we are all required to find our own models, and no, the school will not pay for them. You'll find time-for-prints is about the bet arrangement. i.e. give your model a couple 8x10s for their time. You'll be given enough paper from the school so that this is extremely practical. Oh yeah, you don't have to pay for inkjet paper or ink unless you run out of what they give you.

 

You'll learn minimal html. Mostly, the webpages you design will be done in photoshop and imageready, and maybe a little GoLive.

The Photoshop classes will start off slow, but quickly pick up speed. I have only learned a couple things in the photoshop classes that I didn't already know upon coming here, but then I have been using it for about 8 years now... We're almost caught up to what I know though, if that tells you anything.

 

For any class involving computers, you'll either be in the IL (Imaging Lab) or the DL (digital lab). The seats are better in the DL, I think. ;) The computers are all Macs, and we have about 25 Polaroid Sprintscan 120 film scanners, and maybe 40 epson perfection 2450 (?) flatbed scanners. Every lab computer in the building has an epson 1220 printer, which is what you will be using for most of your output needs after phase 2. The labs are all managed by Gabriel Hmieleski, who deserves ten times whatever he makes, as everything runs flawlessly. Be nice to him. He is a very good person to be friends with. (Adobe Photoshop CS Suite for $140, thanks to him.)

 

Just some general advice now:

 

Don is a jerk, yes. But TALK to him. Show him work. Piss him off at least once before the end of the year.

 

Don't scan into class and then leave. Someone got kicked out today for that. They WILL catch you. Plus, you're pissing away $15 for every hour of class by doing this. We worked it out.

 

Live in Greenfield, not turners falls, as said before. Greenfield has everything you need except a camera store.

 

The nearest camera store is in Hadley, about a half hour away, and it is Hunt's Camera. If you need to go there, deal with the african american gentleman who works there. He is the only one who seems to know what he's talking about and is very pleasant. Stay away from iris photo in Northampton. He is a jerk and hates hallmark students.

 

Same goes for Copycats in Greenfield, which is the nearest place to drop off e-6 film for overnight processing. They send out to ComColor in Springfield, but will not make change and the guy with the (french) accent who works there is also a jerk and hates hallmark students. basically you only go there if you HAVE to, since hallmark pays for film processing for assignments if you make their deadlines. the procedure for copycats is you go there and drop off film and payment in a bag. If it's $7.50 a roll and you only have a $20, copycats will make you drop in the $20 and wait to get change from comcolor. No, you cannot pay upon pickup. (You can, actually, but they say you can't.)

 

Again, if you get models locally, make sure to pay them in whatever manner you said you would. Local people are already starting to get burned by students not delivering on promised prints. Help out future classes and come good on your promises.

 

Any further questions I will be happy to answer.

Wow Nate! I'm going to have to take notes!!! Can You stay there til I get there and take me on a tour? haha!

 

Okay Thanks for the run down on the activities! You're post was very very helpful! I sent you an email asking more about housing, I thought that was best left to an email but if others are interested you're welcome to post my questions and your answers on here!

 

The general advice was great!!! It made me laugh. And the Athol part. haha.

 

Anyway, for all of us that know just about zip about photography, can you explain in laymans terms all that gobblety gook (thats an old term ain't it? lol!) about the mac laptops and digital backs and whatknot? Heh, I'm still workin on all the technical terms.

 

Oh and here's some tenative advice for anybody who plans on attending. LOOK ON EBAY FOR YOUR EQUIPMENT! If all works out, I will have all the camera eq. I need plus an extra camera and lenses etc. for a whole lot less than the $5000 package they offer. That's a major plus! Just make sure you get exactly what they tell you. Oh, and don't bid against me! :-P

 

Anyway, I think that's all I have for now. I'm glad this is turning into such an informative forum!!

 

- Jules

just a shameless self promotion here before I get into the rebuttal jules requested in an email... I will be selling my mamiya af-d, with both lenses (80mm and 150mm). It's going up on the block a couple weeks before graduation. I'll give class of 2006ers a much better deal than I will to someone on eBay. The whole kit cost me $4608, for camera, lenses, bag, meter and tripod. I'm keeping the tripod and meter, and I sold the bag, but I will sell the rest, which is in most excellent condition. If anyone's interested, drop me an email.

 

EDIT: This link is the one I am referring to below, and it was emailed to me: http://www.usefilm.com/photo_forum/1/4950/

 

hey jules,

 

i just took a look at the links you emailed to me. I'd say the one with the really negative comments from AJ could be true, depending on how you look at it.

 

You could also say that an astrophysics professor at MIT is only teaching there because he couldn't find a job in outer space. See what I am getting at?

 

Here's how the instructors work:

 

You have a digital team that do photoshop. Alan Mike and Tom. They cover pretty much everything photoshop-related. It's what they are good at. They are also very good in EXPLAINING. i.e. they are good at teaching.

 

You have the commercial instructors, Dick D'Alesandro, Tim Lynch and Michael Zide. They do commercial shit, basically anything involving the commercial studios. They are a little bit high-stress, and are known to be funny as hell. They are all successful photographers, and have some big-name clients. Dick used to shoot for Marlboro, Camel, you name it. Everyone in the tobacco industry. Tim has shot for soft-drink companies, and other companies I have since forgotten. Their work is all top-notch. Tim also does aerial work. Michael Zide, he kinda bridges the gap between commercial and wedding work. He used to do commercial studio stuff, and now earns money shooting weddings.

 

You have Terri, Christina, Juli and Lisa, who have all worked as photojournalists. They are all also good at what they do.

 

There are more instructors, like paul in the portrait studio, but I'm not going to give individual descriptions. They all earn their paychecks.

 

Anyway, AJ was correct in saying that once your tuition, fees, camera and rent/gas/groceries are paid, you might as well consider setting aside another $10k for extras. You could probably get by without it, but your work will be much better if you outlay a little cash for props, and it'll be easier to bribe models with money. I haven't paid a single model yet though, and it's worked out ok.

 

Instead of buying a shit ton of props, I have offered to assist fellow photographers in exchange for using some of their props, usually in a manner that's quite different than THEY used them, because yeah let's face it. Nobody wants to have someone look at their work and say "Oh yeah, I saw that same dinner set used in Meg's work."

 

As far as hallmark turning out a lot of shitty work, let's just say that you are given all the tools you need. You can use them to build a ford escort or you can use them to build a ferrari. Photography is a subjective art form (what art isn't?) and you're never going to please everyone. If you make something that you are happy with, you've probably made something good, because there's so much other photography here that you're exposed to on a daily basis that if you make something that you are happy with, it's probably just as good or better than your classmates. You will be your own harshest critic here.

 

This place is definitely hard work. It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever done. Four months ago, I didn't want to get up in front of 20 people to give a 5 minute presentation, and on monday, I am going to photograph the governor. This place will give you confidence in yourself. It's not handed to you, you have to build it yourself through your work and through your personal network of fellow students and instructors. If you come unglued, it's your own doing.

 

Two months ago I hated this place. I wanted a full refund and I wanted to move as far away from massachusetts as i possibly could. But I realized it would get better, and easier. And I also realized part of the reason I hated it was because I wasn't putting 100% of what I was capable of into it, and I was still expecting 200% back.

 

You get what you put into it. There are grads from Hallmark that are millionaires, and there are grads flipping burgers. There are grads vacationing four months out of the year, and there are grads working at photo stores part time because their businesses are not doing as well as they could be.

 

At some point, you WILL hate it here. You will regret shelling out $40-50k and wasting 10 months of your life. But if you clear your head (parties are pretty common here.) and think about it, you'll realize that everything you need is being given to you. You just have to figure out what to do with it.

 

I know you're probably thinking by this point that I work for the school, since the last few paragraphs probably sounded like more rhetoric than anything. I won't graduate in the top ten of my class, but I won't be at the tail-end either. I'm probably a pretty average student here, with a TON of technical knowledge, and not a whole lot of artistic sense. I do ok. I will probably make a living doing a mix of concert photography (for fun) and senior/family portraits (to pay the bills).

 

For everyone saying ten months isn't enough time to mature as an artist, they're probably right. You've either done it before you get here, or you'll do it after you leave. But look at it like I did: Would you rather mature artistically while you're out paying the bills doing corporate headshots, or do it in school while you're racking up student loans?

 

Nothing in life is perfectly exactly what we need on an individual basis. Can I comment on Brooks? No. I haven't been there. I talked to a few recruiters while I was at the PhotoEXPO last fall, and they didn't especially impress me, but then I don't really want to do commercial. Can I comment on SCAD? RISD? no. I know nothing of those places. Can I comment on four year state universities? A couple.. I was enrolled at UMA in Maine, who contracted out the photo program to the Creative Photographic Art Center of Maine. They were embezzling my money. They have since been shut down. The photo program moved back to UMA, and was very lackluster for my needs, mainly only covering fine art, and not even doing a good job at THAT, but I hear it has since improved with Jere DeWaters running the show.

 

Why am I telling you all of this? Because Hallmark beats the pants off of any other photographic education _I_ have ever seen. You will get a business education, you will learn how to promote yourself and your business, you will leave here with your own stationery and business cards, you will have a website, and you will have a portfolio. Will you get as good a business education as you would in a business program somewhere else? No. But this is TEN MONTHS. Will what you get be helpful? Yes. You'll leave here with a completed business plan, and you'll know what your bills are going to be for the year following graduation. You'll know what you need for money, and you should have a good idea of how to get it.

 

If you are planning to open up your own portrait business, are clients going to want to see a degree on your wall? Maybe. But they really will want to see your work, to see how you can make them look.

 

If you are planning to do commercial work, you'll probably end up assisting someone who is already established. You will probably sweep their floors and roll their cables as third assistant until the first and second assistants go out on their own. then you will be first assistant. Then you will go out on your own, with a list of potential clients who you will hound incessantly. Do you need a degree to do these things? No, you need to know how to sweep floors and roll cables. You need dedication, and you need to know how to operate a light meter, and pull a polaroid, and run leaf's capture software, on the chance that someone asks you to do these things.

 

I'm getting long-winded here. My point is that you will get out what you put in. It's not for everyone. it's working for me. My work and work ethic have improved vastly in the last 7 months. They had to, or I'd have been better off withdrawing. Same goes for everyone.

 

If you come for a visit between now and June 24th, let me know. I'll buy you a beer (if you're legal) and tell you anything you want to know.

 

If you want to look into things from another point of view, there is a livejournal group for hallmark students, and a couple of yahoo groups. You can get an idea of the daily rants of current students from those two places.

 

At the end of the year while I am travelling for a month, I plan to write up a chronicle of what will basically be the previous 10 months of my life, the good and the bad, and offer it up to future prospective students. It's not all roses and teacups here, but it's worth the hard work I feel.

 

We just got our final assignments today, and so the end is near. I might not be around as much for the next few months, which is why I have posted volumes here in the last few days. There really ISN'T much online about hallmark, at least nothing that details how different it is from other schools, so I hope I have helped (and can continue to help) anyone looking to drop $50k on an education.

hi natt,

i really appreciate this response by you.i think any person who wants to enter into any photography school in the world should read this.

i can very easily identify with what all u said here.

me myself have been to two photography schools before(both here in new delhi;one was totally thoritical,and other run by icpp,melbourne here as its branch).

now why i want to come to hallmark this fall???well,as being into two photography schools here(as a matter of fact there are no other schools here in india and not even a single university here offers photography as a major in bachlors).

my own experiences speak for itself.i am not self promoting myself here but i know that my work was far far better than most of my class mates in both the schools ,but still business wise or job wise,some of the worst students in the class are sitting in top agencies.

reason:- i am lacking all those business skills to sell my photography.

at one stage in life i was also at same position as most of artists feel that their job is for the sake of art;they are artists not business men.if they wanted to do business ,they probably would have done some MBA's or started running their dad's business.but few yrs in the commercial field i realized that as i was neglecting that business part,thats the only reason i amlacking behind my mates.

they might have inborn selling and business skills,but i also need to build on those if i need to survive which could make the final difference between sucess and failure.

as myself is planning to join hallmark this fall considering that atkleast i will get directions.the problems with other schools have been that there was not even a single module for business part and for a person like me,who knows nothing about marketing and sales part,this could make the actual difference in letting me sell my stacks and stacks of slides and negs which i have clicked during last 7-8 yrs.

i fully agree with natt that there is nothing as such as spoon feeding will be done in 10 months and you will be sucessful.

they will give you directions and atleast thats the only thing we should cherish.i am comming prepared for this thing that i will be told the ways,and its upto me how i use them;but the main thing is that ATLEAST I WILL BE TOLD THAT THERE ARE DIRECTIONS.if i have self motivation and capability to do the things,i know i myself will be able to find ways to get results out of it.

Nate!

Thanks for responding. I see how you mean! I was just concerned cause he was so negative about it all, but you make sound like it makes sense haha.

 

YEa, we guessed the 50k for around total cost, tho if i have to get a car (which it looks like it will) it's going to up that as well. hopefully I'll win lots of scholarships!!!!

 

Anyway, you're so thorough that I only have a couple of questions. How is the artistic photography training there? You've mentioned photo journalism and comercial etc. etc. is there much artistic stuff?

 

Also, can you link us to those yahoo and live journal groups? I'd love to check them out and I'm sure others would as well.

 

I'm also very into getting a copy of your chronicle after you write it! Keep in touch when you travel!!

Thanks again!

 

- Jules

hey i just got done talkin to hallmark and my phone interveiw is tomorrow so hopefully i can get in, the only thing im worried about is the cost, im not rich, and ive never applied for a school loan, or finantial aid. are they hard to get, i love photography i hope thats not what hold me back from getting in