Step One – Finding the right school
There are many paths to where and how we become who we are. I knew that I wanted to become a photographer but I certainly wasn’t sure of how to go about it. Most people have a hard time knowing how to begin a new life journey. Finding the right school was the first step in my journey to become an architectural photographer. My first life changing decision was to visit Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. They had an open house where students would showcase multi-media presentations of their work. I was immediately taken in by the quality and proficiency of the photography and other work on display. I knew at that moment that I had to do whatever I could to transfer my life in this new direction. As a result, I sold my lovely craftsman style house, nearly all of my possessions and moved to Santa Barbara to begin my photography journey.
Fully immersing myself into the curriculum, I was able to explore the world around me with my camera. We were the first all digital class back in 2004 and the technology wasn’t the best at the time but it was the future as we can all see today. The basic design of the digital camera works exactly as a film camera except a CCD chip is where the film would be.
The most transformative part of the school was being able to see work of the very best photographers on the planet. They would come and display their work in a large viewing studio and talk about how they produced the work. Each photographer talked about the challenges that each shoot presented and how they overcame those problems to produce the most desired result. The idea here was knowing and seeing what a great photo is in full view by the very best. I remember when I was learning how to play tennis in high school that I never felt like I got better by playing someone whose skill set was less than my own. Learning from the best raises your standards level through competition in everything you do!
Another great result of seeing such great work on display meant that we naturally became great photo editors. That skillset is just as important as being a great photographer. We learned the technology and software from the very best experienced photography instructors. My skillset grew over the years of personal photographic exploration and through instructor photo review sessions. Learn by doing was the mantra of the institute and I did on my journey to becoming an architectural photographer.
See the next step in my journey coming soon or contact me to learn more.