Travel Photography Curriculum

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

The MatadorU Travel Photography curriculum moves from photography forms, hardware, and skills, through publication and internet presence building, and culminates in finding, obtaining, and managing paid work as a new media pro.

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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Practical Tips from Working Photographers

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