Image
Overview
To be successful, a commercial photographer must not only have a grasp of the technical side of the craft, but also be able to think conceptually and execute with aplomb. In two years at the Creative Circus, image students go from wannabe photographers to artists-for-hire. They learn the technical skills of lighting, composition, bellows extension compensation and digital retouching. They also learn to collaborate with writers, art directors and designers as they create conceptual, powerfully strategic pieces of art that work as hard in their portfolios as the photographers did when they created them.
Curriculum
Conceptual thinking is stressed throughout the curriculum. Some courses enable the student to work individually while others require collaborative problem solving with students from other disciplines. It’s a creative marriage that has real-world challenges but, ultimately, produces finished professional samples. Additionally, a good working relationship here can and will, carry over into the professional arena.
Technically, there is much a photography student must learn. Basics in small, medium and large format camera options will be explored in the studio.
Classes in studio and location lighting expose the student to daylight, tungsten, quartz and electronic flash options, in addition to understanding additive and subtractive lighting tools, light modifiers, and grip gear.
Today more image making requires comfort and fluency on the computer. By using lighting and studio techniques from other classes, students capture images either as an original digital file or scan film which then allows them to work in Photoshop, the industry standard, to craft a finished image.
Graduation Requirements
In preparing an Image student’s final portfolio, we look at the conceptual and technical successes of the student’s work to establish a personal point of view. General or specialized, still life, product, portraiture or fashion can define one’s presence in the marketplace. Plans are also made to build, market and manage each of our alumni’s businesses in commercial photography.