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.
WordPress Plugins for Photographers
Practical Tips from Working Photographers
1) Course Overview → 2) Curriculum → 3) Meet the Faculty → 4) FAQ’s → 5) Enroll Now



"I have learned so much from the U and still continue to learn, it’s truly amazing!" - Lily Girma
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