sabrina huang's photo blog

Rocky Mountain School of Photography – Career Training Program (Pro Studies)

The three weeks of Professional Studies Program are for us to focus on personal interests.  They have many choices for us - from Adventure, Documentary, Editorial Portraiture, Fine Art and Stock, Food, Studio Lighting, Nature, and Wedding Photography.  You pick and choose for the one that fit your career goal.

I took the first week off to be home with family and friends.  It’s always good to be away from camera for a little while.  So my second week of Pro Studies was The Modern Studio with Heather Anne Thomas.


Usually the morning is the critic time and the afternoon is shooting for the subject of the day, and Friday is about the business and marketing.  Monday we shoot Portraits with 4 different groups of people (one young male, one mid-age female, one mother/daughter, one is a family of five). 

 
We have the choice of their outfit and either shot in the studio or outside of the studio. Every group has 3 to 4 students and each group get one hour with each model so you can image the pressure for time.  Adult models were very corporative but kids were hard to control especially when they get tired after couple of hours of shooting. 



The second day we shoot Wedding Couples Portraits with three different couples (one is high school sweetheart, one is mid-age funky type, the last one is real married couple).  I was hoping that these three couples are real married or engaged couples and the age could be from early 20s, mid 30s-40s and late 50s.  There is certain thing you just can’t fake; otherwise, it just won’t feel or looks right. 

Overall I was happy with the experiences even though I am not a portrait photographer.  The pictures turned out ok.


The third day we shot an architect’s house.  It was up on the hill, into the woods but looks somewhat modern. I was allergic to dogs and cats and the homeowner have both so I was sneeze so bad that I have to go outside.  The roof is an outdoor garden that the homeowner plant cherry tomatoes, eggplant, etc, very cool.


The fourth day we shot in a local coffee shop for the environment, people and food.  It would be easier to take a pretty food photo if the food was pretty already; otherwise, you can only do the best you can to make it looks prettier than actually was.

The last day we talked about business and marketing.  Heather Anne share with about her workflow, how she get jobs, software she uses, and more.  That week went by fast.

Then is the Food Photography week with Joe Lavine.  I have been waiting for a food photography workshop for three years.  When I couldn’t find one I went to LA for Food Styling workshops just to get a sense how food photo was created.






This week went by even faster, morning is demo and critic, and afternoon is photo shoot.  Monday we shot PB&J Sandwiches, Tuesday we shot a subject of our choice (I did oranges), Wednesday we shot drinks in the studio and then went to a local bakery for location shooting, Thursday we shot in a nice restaurant called Red Bird and then went back to studio to shot another subject of our choice (I did spices), then Friday is business and marketing plus 15 minutes of one-on-one time with Joe. 

I was having so much fun in this class but also frustrated when lighting or composition didn’t turn out the way I wanted.  I like the big window, soft airy light feelings for food photos but I haven’t master the skill yet.

What Joe said to me in terms of my strength and weakness were right on.  I was amazed how well he actually knows about me in that short of time.  Then the suggestions he gave me were very helpful as well.  I guess he sees and worked with enough people to be able to tell about a person in a short time. 

After two intensive weeks of the Pro Studies, we got three days off from the Labor Day weekend.  Next Tuesday will be the first day of the Advance Intensive program, which was only six weeks long.

Rocky Mountain School of Photography – Career Training Program (SI)

Early this year (2009) I was enrolled in the Academy of Art University in San Francisco as a MFA student for Photography major.  After 4 weeks of school, I dropped all my classes, apply for refund, and restart my search for an alternative place for my photography education.


(June 1st, 2009 SI Orientation)
I was considering two photography schools – the 12-week Residency Program at Maine Media Workshops and the 5-month Career Training Program at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography.  After considered the school location and the course content I decided to go with the RMSP.

Finding a place in Missoula is harder than I think because I am allergic to dogs, cats, smokers, and my lease period is a little bit strange (June to October, which is from summer to middle of semester for college).  Finally, my perfect place found me (the landlord response to my ad on Montana’s craigslist) and I arrived in Missoula a week early before my school start.

The 5-month Career Training Program at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography break down to three sections – first 11 weeks is Summer Intensive Program, 3 weeks is Professional Studies Program, and the last 6 weeks is Advance Intensive Program. 

This year we have total of 81 students from 4 different countries (3 from Canada, 1 from UK, 1 from India, rest of them are from 31 different States); 3/2 are females, age range from 18 to 75, and majority are age 20 to 29 but age 59 and older are increase year after year. 

The Summer Intensive (SI) Program start with very basic knowledge about camera setting, photography skills and software editing skills so eventually all of students would be on the same skill level.  This program is good for everyone who likes to take photos and wants to take better photos with their cameras.  It would be very beneficial even you only own a point-and-shoot camera (but most people who enrolled in this class do own a DSLR). 

During this 11-week program we get chance to hear many professional photographers from different fields come to rmsp to share their experiences with us – from Wedding, Sports, Portraits, Stock, Fine Art, Nature/Travel along with people who do consulting with photographers.  Although some are great in terms of experiences and speaking style, and some not so great but we do get different perspective for many photography field that you won’t have otherwise.

By the time we finish the SI program we learned a lot in Lightroom, basic masks and layers in Photoshop CS4, printing on our own with different type of papers in school’s printer, basic studio lighting knowledge, and have a decent photography skills.  We have a final project in the end to show and summarize what we have learned in the past 10 weeks. 

 

The subject for the final project this year was based on Alfred Stieglitz’s Equivalents.  We need to create a series of 5 images minimal that has a symbolic or metaphor of a story, and we need to write an artist statement for the project.  Then one photo and the statement will go to the graduation show. 

Above was my work and the artist statement for the final project.  The first four images I framed with shadow/floating box to create the airy/floating feeling that I try to convey, and the last image I use traditional mat and frame with larger print to show my final thoughts/result (and this is the one going to the graduation shoe).  I was amazed and inspired with all my classmates’ AWESOME work (Group C&D).  You can tell everyone put a lot of thoughts and plan into this project - from idea/story development, to taking photos, to choose photos, to select paper type, to printing, to choose presentation style/frame method. 

Our Graduation was held at University of Montana's Theater from 2pm to 5pm with a half-hour intermission which give students, faculty and family/friends a chance to go see our Graduates' Art Show next room.

 

Introduce our instructors again.  They are amazing!!!

 

We had three student representatives from each two groups (A/B, C/D, E/F).  The most creative one was Group A+B because all the students were up on stage showcase their own R&B which name every single instructor and assistant, and capture their teaching characteristic (mostly their speaking habits), way cool!!

 

Congratulations to the Class of 2009 SI students!!!

Group A+B

Group C+D

Group E+F

Ps. If you can read Chinese (or want to use online translation tool or just simply want to see more photos), click HERE for more detail stories about my experiences with rmsp.

RMSP: House Rental in Missoula, Montana

To live in Missoula, Montana for my five months photography training at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, the first thing I need to figure out is housing.  I usually lived alone when I was in Taiwan, then I lived with my husband after we got married.  So it was nerve racked when I thought about the possibility that I might need to share a room with someone else in order to save money on rent.

RMSP sent me a package with equipment and housing information.  In the housing booklet, it includes the neighborhood characteristics, rental websites, property management agencies, hotels that have suites and RV parks, and the average monthly rental range and rental rules.

In the beginning of my house hunting I wasn’t sure about the relationship between price and quality in each neighborhood around downtown Missoula or University of Montana.  After four weeks, I started getting a better idea on where I want to live and how much I am willing to pay.

RMSP has its own website for students to find housing because school will receive landlord’s request to post the info, and many of them are furnished.  Otherwise, Montana’s craigslist is another good place to start.  You can also post your “housing wanted” ad on craigslist for landlords to contact you.

After 4 weeks searching, I realized it is hard to find a place I wanted.  The problem is usually a combination of location, price, furnishing and pets.  I found a couple of suitable housing that was close to what I am looking for only later found out that one of roommate has a dog or a cat so I have to give it up.

Downtown Missoula has many hotels but only two have full kitchen in the suites, and a laundry room in the hotel - Staybridge Suites and Campus Inn (the Hawthorn Suites is near the airport).  The monthly room fee for a suite is around $1300 to $2500.

I also found the Wilma Luxury Condos & Lofts in the 2008-2009 Missoula Area Visitor & Relocation Guide.  The location is great and the room has everything you possibly wanted.  It is perfect for me but the monthly rate is about $2100.

So after 4 weeks of house searching, I ended up with the first landlord that I contact with via RMSP site because he is the only one to keep in contact with me and offered me a reasonable deal.  But who would know just 10 days after I submit my rental agreement and application fee, the owner decide to rent to someone else which wasted almost two weeks of my time.  Bummer!

Anyway, I wasn’t in love with the house so I can only tell myself when one door closes another window will open.  So I started looking again.  Just after I post a new Housing Wanted ad on Montana’s craigslist, a young lady who just bought a 2 bedrooms/2.5 bathrooms home near the downtown area contacted me.  She told me that she was thinking about getting a roommate but not sure if you wants to commit to a long-term lease.  She saw my ad and thought a 5-month try out would be a good idea for both of us.  After few more emails back and forth, we found some similarity between the two of us so maybe this is a good fit.  She asked $500 for the monthly rent, which includes everything, and a $300 deposit – which I think was reasonable.  I have my own bathroom with everything is brand new in the house.  What else can I ask for?

What a great find!  So now I know where I am going to stay for that 5 months, and I have booked my ticket for a week break in August.  I will need to pack my stuff when the date gets closer.  The good thing that I am driving to Montana this time is that I can take whatever I want with me.  I am already planning to take my rice cooker, a bag of Japanese rice, Chinese spice and sauces, and frozen goods so I don’t need to worry about the time I miss home food.

Academy of Art University - MFA in Photography

After attending 4 weeks of photography classes in Academy of Art University for the MFA program, I realized that it was a mistake so I dropped all the classes just in time to get 25% refund.  I then experienced a very different attitude from the Registration Department than the Account Receivable/Collections.  When I applied for school, they are all nice and sweet; now I want to change schools, they change their face so quick that I can’t even recognize it was the same school.

Accounts Receivable/Collections Department sent me a statement on how much I owe them and gave me a week from the date they issued the statement to pay (I am not sure when did they actually mail it out to me).  However, the numbers don’t add up, and I didn’t see my 25% refund listed on it so I called.  The Accounts Receivable/Collections Department said I need to talk to the Finical Aid Department, which I did, and they admit the statement was not correct and they will issue me a new one.  I asked them to make sure that they have a record of our phone conversation so I won’t be charged a late fee or anything like that, and they said they would.

A couple days later, I got a call from the Accounts Receivable/Collections Department with a very unfriendly voice, no Hi, no Goodbye, just very straight forward to tell me that I haven’t paid my bill and they will send my account to a collection agency if I don’t pay.  I told her about the conversation I had with their Finical Aid Department and I am waiting to receive a new statement.  She said she didn’t see a record of that conversation on my file.  I said I am driving right now so I don’t have the conversation record in front of my face; otherwise, I could tell you the date, the time and the person’s name who I talked to.  Then she said she would talk to the Finical Aid Department tomorrow, and she just hang up, without a goodbye.

A few days go by, I received an email from the Accounts Receivable/Collections Department about my past due and a threat about the collection agency again so I called the Finical Aid Department again asking why I haven’t receive the new statement.  I told them that I am being harassed by the Accounts Receivable/Collections Department twice now, can they ask her to back off since I am waiting for the correct statement to be mailed to me.  In fact, the Financial Aid Department couldn’t tell me why the corrected statement wasn’t mailed out already and they just said someone must have missed something.

It’s less than two thousand dollars that I owe to the AAU, and I will pay right away but I think it’s reasonable for me to ask for a correct statement before I give them my money.

My advise for people who is thinking about going to a Photography school, look else where unless you are looking for a school have no TOEFL requirement (for International Student) and no portfolio requirement.  Basically, you can BUY your way into this school.  It doesn't guarantee you would graduate but certainly no problem to get into the school. If you are serious about your education in photography, check out the schools on this LIST. They are much much better choices.

If you are not looking for a degree program, just simply want to sharpen your photography skills, check out Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Montana which is the school I am going for 5 months for a intensive Career Training this summer.