Welcome to Commercial Photography Class!

Welcome to the Akins Commercial Photography program!

In this course, students will develop their photography and marketing skills with the aim of one day being able to make a living as a photographer.

This is not just a photography class. This is also a business class in which you learn how to solve the problem of how to turn your photography skills into a sought after commodity for which you can charge a fee for your services.

Photography is certainly an art form, but to be able to practice this art, you must learn how to meet the needs of customers.

See the list below for just a few examples of photography that people are often willing to spend their hard earned dollars on:

• Family Portraits
• Student Portraits
• Professional Headshots
• Stock Photos for publications/ads
• Wall Art

The bottom line is that in our modern world, everyone needs photos. You just need to be a good enough photographer and business person to get paid to do it.

Student Blogs
Spend a few minutes looking at the student blogs from last year to familiarize yourself with the assignments the students did in this class.

Student Portfolios
Spend a few minutes looking at the portfolios of students from last year to familiarize yourself with the type of photography that you will do int this class.

Student Work for Sale
Also spend a few minutes exploring the Commercial Photography class's SmugMug account, where students learn how to setup, mange and sell the photos they take.

First Class Assignment:

Today you will find out what you do under a short deadline.

• Everyone will take a portrait of a classmate using a 50mm lens. 
• Everyone will have 10 minutes to take their portrait.
• We only have four 50mm lenses so we will have to take turns taking photos while other pairs are interviewing each other.

If you want to get some tips on taking good Portraits go here:
http://digital-photography-school.com/portrait-photography-tips


Interview Questions:
Below are some basic interview questions that must be answered:

1. What is your full name (first and last)? 
2. What’s your age, grade and academy? 
3. What was your favorite experience over the summer break? 
4. Why do you like photography?
5. If money was not an issue, what would you want to do after high school?
6. Write two questions of your own.

Flipwork Assignment (Homework)

Spend some time at home exploring Digital Photography School tutorials and Flickr and check out some of the tutorials and types of photography featured on these Web sites.

Save or screen capture an image from these Web sites that shows an example of something you want to learn how to do during this class.

On Wednesday, you will post examples of what you want to shoot this year on your class blog.

IMPORTANT: You might need to use the SCREEN CAPTURE feature on the Mac to save these images. To do this hold "Command" + "Shift" and then hit the 4 key to select an area on your screen and save it automatically to your desktop as a JPEG.

Add the following to a Word Document 

• Title of type of photography: 
• Post an image example on your blog:
• Write a brief explanation (at least 100 words) that explains why this is something you want to learn how to do as a commercial photographer:
• Post a CLICKABLE LINK to a tutorial that explains how to do this photography.