what are some good photo. schools?

[olevia_h.]

I am very interested in photography, and I work in a photography studio, but I want to go to college for photography. I know of a few good schools but I'm still looking. I want to do nature photography, I have little to no experince in anything but studio photography. I know the fundimentals but am looking to increace my chances in making it a carreer. I'm a senior in high school, and have much knowledge of animals in nature. Could you pleace let me know of any good schools. Thank you Olevia H.

[lightcraftsman]

Olevia,

 

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Before deciding on a school, you need to decide on what you will do to make a living while you are taking your nature photos. Very, very few photographers make a decent living shooting nature photos. You could go to one of the specialty schools such as the Art Institue of San Francisco, but this will give you one job skill only and severely limit your marketability when you graduate.

 

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A better choice would be to enroll in a college that has a good journalism program, major in photojournalism and pick an interesting minor. This opens the choice to major universities, or a community college for two years then transferring to a university. The advantage to a commmunity college is you will get more practical experience in your firs two years than most students get in four years at a university. The disadvantage is there are only a few excellent community colleges with top-notch journalism programs.

 

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The Chicago Tribune gives annual awards to the best college newspapers, called Pacemakers. San Antonio (Texas) College consistently places high and wins these awards regularly. Other regular winners include The University of Texas at Austin, University of Missouri Columbia and, well, that's about it. However, I know several photographers who attended small, little known schools but still produce excellent images.

 

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Also, take a look at the images on photo.net and some of the photograhers pages linked from here. Man of these shooters studied computer science and other unrelated topics in college, yet are excellent photographers. You don't need to major in photography to take great images. Pick the best college you can attend, take some art appreciation and photograpy along the way, and get out in the country with your equipment as often as possible. You will need a little technical training in photography to get started, but the only way to develop your own style is to shoot a lot of film, take copiuous notes and be there when the light is best.

 

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The competition is fierce in nature photography. Having a career (or a spouse) to pay the bills seems the best ticket. Don't get discouraged. Go for it.

[dan_smith]

Try The Art Center in the LA, California area. Very demanding and an excellent reputation. As to Nature Photographers, David Muench is a graduate.

A note on the reality of the difficulty in making a living in this business. Brooks Institute is a good school & has the reputation of supplying more camera salespeople than any place around. Not because of anything they do or don't do in their teaching, but the reality of how difficult it is to make it in this business. But it is difficult in any business. Airlines regularly start up and go broke. Lawyers go to school, practice law a bit & quit(for moral reasons as well as how difficult it is to do as a business). Any business is hard. Make sure you take BUSINESS classes as they will probably be more valuable than most of the photo classes you will ever have.

[don_baccus]

I'm one of those photographers who studied computer science in college. Gathering dust 'round here somewhere is a plaque with the Governor's Award For International Marketing (small business class) received by Oregon Software, when I was President, when we were a small but highly respected and well known compiler vendor in the much smaller computer industry of the late-70s and 80s.

 

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We ended up going broke in the early 90s.

 

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So, look, you can go broke doing anything and I wouldn't let that stop any high school student from dreaming of, and working towards, a career in nature photography.

 

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Since Dan mentioned one full-time nature shooter who went to the Art Institute, I'll mention one (much less known, but still making a living) who went to Brooks - Stephen Maka. As you'd expect, he started out doing 4x5 landscape in B&W, now he's a degenerate 35mm wildlife shooter like the rest of us :)

 

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You may start out having to continue to work low-paying jobs in a photography studio or the like, or shooting wedding or something, doing nature stuff on the side, but obviously there are people who make a living doing this. Along with business classes, as Dan mentioned, writing classes would be good as I, at least, in my limited experience selling to the magazine world, find it much easier to sell photo/article packages as most magazines mostly or entirely print photos as part of articles. They'll search for single photos to run with articles if the author doesn't provide them, but this is hit or miss.

 

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Good luck, be prepared to work hard and learn to live on the cheap, ask your folks for a 600/4 for your college graduation present rather than a new car :)

[steve_bingham]

Dear Olivia,

 

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I have a Master of Science degree from Brooks Institute - School of Photographic Art and Science and so I am somewhat biased. However, I feel it is the best photography school in the western half of the nation. The Art Center in Los Angeles is also excellent. On the East Coast the Rochester Institute of Technology is very good. In my opinion these are the three best.

 

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Be advised that most jobs in photography involve some form of self promotion and business sence. Big business hires very few photographers. In order to succeed in this very difficult job market you must work hard, be a smart business person, and be the BEST. Brooks, Rochester, or the Art Institute will be a big help and will provide you with the skills you need. They will also open doors for you. From then on you will have to carve out your own nitch. Specialize. Be sure you can answer the question "What am I known for?". Too many photographers try to be too many things. Start now and build towards that reputation. As a nature photographer you will need to build your own business. Galen Rowell is a good example. He started by climbing mountains and taking tons of pictures. Now he gives seminars, lectures, gives photo tours, produces books, has his name on camera gear, etc. In short, he (and his wife) run an exceptional business.

 

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One of the things that Brooks does well is provide good courses in business management. These will be THE most important classes you will take. Any successful professional photographer is also a successful businessman. Believe it!

 

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Follow your heart. Work your ass off. Persist. Persist. Persist. A very simple formula for success.

 

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Steve Bingham

[steve_bingham]

Olevia,

 

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I forgot to add this to my last post. Learn to type well. Learn to write well. Most publications want an article along with your pictures. Don't panic. This too will become easy.

 

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Steve Bingham