Dories, Maine
The hardest part of the class, Shooting and Thinking like a Pro, that I teach with Scott Rouse and Jeff Wendorff is coming up with a title that captures everything that we do in the class. I have taught the class for more than 15 years and it must have had half a dozen titles- Going Pro, Shooting Like a Pro, Earning Money with Photography, Thinking like a Pro, Getting Seen, What Next?, and the truly dreary, Career Development. Each one captures a piece of what we teach but none actually is completely descriptive.
I suppose I could just combine all the titles- The Tricks to Shooting and Thinking Like a Professional Photographer With The Thought of Going Pro or At Least Earning Money or Even Getting Seen Since You Have All These Images and You Don’t Know What Next To Do With Your Photography or Career Development- better known as the TTTSATLAPPWTTOGPOALEMOEGSSYHATIAYDKWNTDWYPOCD class. I think I’ll stick with SATLAP (see above).
I guess I should just be content in telling you that the point of the class is to help the participants realize that there is more to photography than just compiling a huge pile of random, unrelated images. In fact, the quest for the ever prettier individual image is an empty journey and ultimately an unfulfilling one in my mind. Trying to out-pretty yourself or your camera club friends all the time leads nowhere in the end other than to a big pile of images on your computer or to a picture covered hallway in your house.
Don’t get me wrong, its great practice and it is always good to try to improve but what is the end result? Where is your photography going? What is your purpose?
This class is about giving you a purpose in photography. It is about helping you realize the joys and great satisfaction of photographing with a goal in mind, of developing an idea and working on a project that leads to a gallery show or magazine articles or a book project or internet business. It is about learning the skills necessary to take all the kinds of images needed to tell a story- landscapes, macro, wildlife, action, environmental portraits- and the skills necessary to share the story with others- query letters, delivery notices, book proposals, gallery inquiries, calendar submissions and tear sheets, to name a few.
In short, this class is about giving each participant the skills and more importantly the vision and courage to tell and then share a story through photography. Jeff, Scott and I get the satisfaction of seeing creative light bulbs go off and each student gets the satisfaction of leaving with a personalized project in hand and the excitement of a new purpose to their photography.
This year the class material will be presented on an Apple IPad that is included in the cost of the class. The class is being held in Manchester Center, Vermont near where I live from the 17th to the 23rd of June. The cost is $1650 and includes the above mentioned IPad loaded with teaching and reference material. If you already own an IPad there is a discount in the cost of the class.
If you have any questions about the class please email me and I will be glad to answer them. To sign up please contact Scott Rouse -scott@scottrousedigital.com