Travel Photography Program

1) Course Overview → 2) Curriculum → 3) Meet the Faculty → 4) FAQ’s → 5) Enroll Now

The most comprehensive Travel Photography course available online

MatadorU’s Travel Photography program is based on 12 chapters of rigorous coursework, including lessons, recommended reading, and weekly assignments critiqued by editors and peers in Photo Labs on the following skill / knowledge areas:

  • creating and managing a portfolio
  • aperture, shutter, film speed, exposure, focus
  • composition, lighting, color, filters
  • post processing & image enhancing software
  • types of travel photography and market opportunities
  • getting paid assignments and managing them for maximum productivity
  • building an audience online by mastering social media
  • dealing with advertisers and monetizing your website

After completing all 12 chapters, as an alumnus you’ll continue to have lifelong access to the curriculum as well as the forums, Market Blog and all future Continuing Education or Bonus Modules (supplemental courses that explore the latest in branding, SEO, and new media).

Explore the course by viewing the curriculum outline, meet the faculty, or read the FAQs.

Cost: $350

Test-drive this course right now for only $10. Pay the rest in 7 days.

“Again, thank you! I can see why so many people recommended this course because of the great peer feedback you receive.” - Marcel Krueger, MatadorU Student

Course Curriculum

1.Travel Photography: From Early Origins to Today’s Innovations and Opportunities

  • A Brief History of Travel Photography
  • Enter the Professional Travel Photographer
  • Managing Your Portfolio
  • Opportunities Off & Online
  • Magazines, Newspapers & Websites
  • Libraries, Stock, Competitions & Art Sales
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

2. Equipment

  • Camera Types & Formats
  • Lenses
  • Filters
  • Flash Units
  • Tripods & Other Camera Accessories
  • Laptops and External Storage Devices
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

3. The Basics: Aperture, Shutter, Film Speed, Exposure, Focus

  • General Camera Settings
  • The Shutter
  • Apertures & DoF
  • ISO / Film Speeds
  • Focal Length and Focusing
  • Exposure & Metering
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

4. Composition, Lighting, Colour, Filters

  • Composition
  • Light
  • Artificial Light / Flash
  • Colour Temperature
  • Shooting in Color
  • Filters
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

5. Types of Travel Photography

  • Outdoor / Landscape Photography
  • Night Photography
  • People / Portraits
  • Nature / Wildlife Photography
  • Documentary Photography
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

6. Editing: Post Processing & Image Enhancing Software

  • Lightroom & Aperture: Working With RAW files
  • Photoshop & Elements
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

7. How to get Paid Photography Assignments and Manage them for Maximum Productivity

  • Understanding how the Publishing Industry is Evolving
  • Getting a Publication Mindset
  • Essential Skills and Tactics for Pitching
  • Three Successful Pitches and Why They Worked
  • Getting the Most Out of Matador Market Leads
  • Publishing Vs. Self-Publishing, Money, and Legal Matters
  • Introduction to Guidebooks and Press Trips
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

8. How to Plan and Prepare for a Photography Assignment

  • Planning and Research
  • Cleaning & Maintenance
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

9. Myths vs. Realities: How To Make Photography Your Career

  • The Main Qualities
  • Matador Success Stories: The Glamor versus the Hard Work
  • In-House Versus Freelancing and How to Deal with Burnout
  • Straight Talk About Earnings
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

10. Building and Keeping an Audience Online by Mastering Social Media

  • What is Social Media?
  • Tackling Twitter And Attracting Followers
  • Analytics, Alexa Rankings, and Number Crunching
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

11. How to Capitalize on New Media, SEO, and Ads to Monetize your Blog and Pay for Your Travels

  • Monetizing Your Blog & Why You Should Avoid Google Adsense
  • How to Sell Your Own Ads
  • 8 Steps to Building a Profitable Blog that Funds Your Travels
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

12. Living the Dream: How to Launch, Sustain, and Advance Your Travel Photography Career for the Long Term

  • Putting it All Together and Making The Leap
  • Sources of Funding (grants, competitions, etc)
  • Couchsurfing / Volunteering / Hospitality Club: How to Extend Your Travel Time
  • Managing Mail, Taxes, Finances, and Healthcare On the Road
  • Assignment & Recommended Reading

Bonus Modules

Note: Bonus modules are intensive chapters that build on the knowledge base established in the curriculum. They are available for free to students upon completion of the program. This is a list of what is currently available. Several more are in development and will be published in 2011.

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