Rocky Mountain School of Photography Summer Intensive

Does anyone know anything about this school or any of its programs?

I'm particularly interested in the summer intensive and digital

intensive programs. The two programs would be over $10,000.00 for

four months. Sounds like a lot of money, but NOT if it is as

described on their website. If anyone can give me any info it will be

greatly appreciated.

I am a 2002 graduate of the Summer Intensive program. I have also attended 2 other

workshops with RMSP.

First of all, bear in mind that you will end up spending much more than $10,000!

Depending on how much equipment you already own and where you live, your expenses

for the 2 programs could add another $5000 or more. (I didn't have any equipment, so I

had to buy everything on the supply list.) There's living expenses, travel, processing...

And then during the course of SI there are more ways to spend more money: visits from

equipment reps with opportunities to buy things at discounted prices, extra workshops,

etc. And if you are at all an equipment junkie, well SI is like a crack den for

photographers! Every class you go through makes you think you need something else. I

came very close to buying a couple different MF cameras, a 4x5 camera, a digital SLR,

strobes, and numerous other things! (I did buy a macro lens, a film scanner and an Epson

1280.)

But to answer your question... SI was an experience I will never forget. I learned a lot, but

it's the people I met and the opportunity to focus on nothing but photography for 3

months that had the greatest impact. I had taken 3 photography courses in college, so I

was familiar with a manual camera and exposure and DOF and things like that. I was

already working at an intermediate level in the darkroom, and being a graphic designer, I

was also already quite familiar with Photoshop. SI draws people with all levels of

experience in photography. Some people had already made money with their photography

and others were taking their cameras out of the box on the first day. I think I fell

somewhere in the middle of the pack.

For me, since I had more than a basic understanding of photography, I felt the more

introductory/basic parts of SI went on too long. And the stuff that I was really looking

forward to learning more about didn't go on long enough (learning about MF & LF, for

example, were just a few lectures... there was no opportunity to actually shoot in those

formats unless you already owned those cameras). Also, some "courses" are really just

maybe one lecture (History of Photography, for example). But this is not to say that I

didn't learn a lot... I did. I knew nothing about working with strobes and in a studio until

SI. I learned a lot about the digital darkroom as well (I knew PS, but was inexperienced at

printing my photos). The business lectures were also very informative. And I was

introduced to a variety of photography specialties, helping me to identify what types of

photography I was interested in.

There are several parts of SI that are "optional". If you do SI, do NOT, I repeat... do NOT,

miss anything. Some of the optional lectures were the most informative, and choosing not

to go to them is just a waste of your time (and money) out there. Don't miss any

opportunity. Also, a lot of SI is spending time on your own practicing the things you learn

in lecture or class on your own time. The people that did these things got the most out of

their experience.

The teachers are great... visiting lecturers include big names (David Middleton, Nevada

Weir)... Missoula is a great town... and you will never again find yourself in such an

inspiring and supportive environment. I wish I could go back every year!

I am happy to answer any additional questions you may have about SI or RMSP... just send

me an email!

-Erin

I have not taken their summer intensive. However, I've taken a few of their other individual

programs (Olympic National Park, Hawaii, etc.), and I'm familiar with several of their

instructors. I agree with Erin; there is a wide variety of skill levels of participants, from

complete newbies to part-time pros. I think RMSP does a good job setting up workshops

for this type of diverse group. A good combination of instruction and hands on practice in

the field. Their instructors range from decent to extremely good. I have not yet met a

really bad instructor from RMSP (and I have in a few other places). They have been around

for many years, and have a pretty good track record. I don't know about the SI for $10K,

but the other programs I've taken have seemed quite reasonably priced -- the Hawaii trip,

in particular, was very well priced. I'd comfortably recommend them.