Photography Courses, Institutes and Study Routes

Class XII in any subject is eligible for the diploma/certificate courses in photography.

After Class XII Students can learn photography along with their college degree, doing a part-time course. Besides the Certificate and Diploma photography courses in the field, Photography is also offered as an optional subject for a bachelor's degree in Fine arts. Some institutes offer full fledged B.A photography courses of three year duration.

Besides the academic requirements, having a background in computers or electronics, related work experience and training is beneficial for making a break in the field.

Photography Institutes

Some of the prominent institutions offering Degree/Diploma/Certificate courses in photography are listed below. Some of them offer courses in which photography is a subsidiary subject.

• The Film and Television Institute, Pune – 3 yr diploma
• The Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi - 2-year post-graduate diploma in motion picture photography
• Academy of Photography, Kolkata
• Barkatullah Vishwavidyalaya, Hoshangabad Road, Bhopal 462026, M.P
• B.C.L Institute of Colour Photography and Videography, Doctor's Tower, Changanacherry (1 year certificate course)
• Bhopal Viswavidhyalaya, Bhopal
• Deendayal Upadhyay, Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur-273009 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• Department of Continuing and Adult Education and Extension Work, Church gate Campus, SNDT Women's University, Mumbai-400020
• Film and Television Institute of India, Law College Road, Pune -411004 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu, Chennai -600113 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• Fergussen college, Pune( B.A Degree Course in photography)
• Garware Institute of Career Education and Development, GICE, Vidyanagari, Kalina Santacruz (E) Mumbai- 400098
• India International Photographic Council, 12, Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi- 110001
• Indira Memorial Institute of Film and Technology, Berhampur-760004 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• Institute of Film Technology, Adyar, Chennai-600020 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• JJ School of Applied Art, Mumbai -400001
• Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi-221002 (One year diploma in Still Photography)
• Jawaharlal Technological University, Masab Tank, Mahaveer Marg, Hyderabad-500028 (One year diploma in Still Photography)
• Jiwaji University, Government Model Science College, Gwalior, MP (3 year degree)
• Maharaja Technological Institute (Nodel Polytechnic), Thissur (1 year certificate course)
• Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi-221002 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• National Institute of Design, Allahabad-211002, UP
• Photographic Society of India, D.N Road, Mumbai-400001
• Quick Photographic Technical Institute, Vantows Junction, Thiruvananthapuram (1 year certificate course)
• Ravishankar University, Raipur- 492010 (Degree Course)
• "Rupam" National Institute of Electronic Communication (affiliated to University of Rajasthan), Village- Kunda, Jaipur - 303101 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, E.M. Bye Pass Road, Kolkata - 700094 (Photography as a subsidiary subject)
• Southern Film Institute, Thiruvallam, Thiruvananthapuram (1 year certificate course)
• Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati-517502 (One year diploma in Still Photography)
• St. Xavier’s Institute of Communication, St. Xaviers college, Fort, Mumbai-400001
• The Film and TV Institute of Tamil Nadu, Chennai - 600113
• University of Allahabad, Allahabad 211002, U.P. (One year diploma in Still Photography)
• University of Gorakhpur, Gorakhpur-273001, U.P. (One year diploma in Still Photography)
• Utkal Univerisity, BJB College, Bhubaneshwar College, Orissa (3 year Degree Course)
• Verve Visuals, CMH Road, Indira Nagar, Bangalore-560038

Colleges Overseas for Fine Arts and photography

Photography Colleges/universities in USA

• American University
• Albany State University
• Bard College
• Boston University
• California State University
• College of New Jersey
• Colorado State University
• Cornell University
• Dallas Photo School
• San Francisco Photo School

Photography Colleges/universities in UK

• London Photography School
• Norwich School of Photography
• American InterContinental University, London
• London Photo Tours
• De Montfort University
• Edinburgh College of Art

Photography Colleges/universities in Australia

• La Trobe University
• IDP Education Australia
• RMIT University
• Hunter Region School of Photography

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Photography Courses - Career Prospects

Photography Job Prospects, Salaries & Personality Traits

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Photography Job Prospects, Salaries & Personality Traits

Photography Job Prospects

• Begin your career as an assistant of a senior or professional photographer to grasp the finer points of photography.
• Photographers can specialize in areas such as portrait, commercial and industrial, advertising, scientific, fashion, news, wildlife photography etc.
• Options exist to take up jobs with news papers, magazines, advertising agencies, government agencies, industrial houses or work as free lancers
• The government employs photographers on a regular pay scale to do general photography documentation, for covering day-to-day events and functions and for making photo features and captioning.
• Fashion photographers can find employment with fashion houses, designers, fashion journals and news papers

Personality Traits

• Creative
• Keen & Observant
• Perceptive
• Keen power of observation
• Think & Communicate in Visual Terms
• Ability to understand & Translate ideas into images
• Knowledge of variety of cameras, lights & props, & all kinds of photographic techniques
• Good sense of light, shade & magic if colours
• Ability to work under pressure & irregular hours

Salary in Photography

• Photographers can start working as assistants to senior photographers, in which capacity they are paid around Rs. 3,500/- - 6,000/-. Your earnings can go up to 25,000, depending upon the designation and the organisation
• Once you have established yourself as a photographer you can work as a freelancer and earn large amounts on a daily shoot basis.

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Photography Courses - Career Prospects

With the explosion of the communication network, the growth of advertising and media and the fashion boom, and digital photography, it has now become a profession with great commercial value. Photos are an essential part in both print and electronic media.
Being a creative medium, photography requires more of inherent talent for success than formal training. However training in photography courses hones the inherent skills and help to shine in this competitive field with various specializations like portraiture, fashion and advertising photography, journalistic photography, wildlife and outdoors photography etc.

Creating a commercial quality photograph requires the skill for choosing and presenting a subject in a way to achieve the maximum effect with the appropriate equipment.

Job in Photography

Press photographers / Photojournalists

• Supply pictures to the national and local press
• Versatile photographs & all kinds of subjects
• They must have journalistic instincts, know what makes a good news picture,
• Write accurate captions, work well with reporters, be quick and often work under difficult conditions.

Feature photography

• Involves telling a story in pictures
• Requires knowledge of the subject
• Cover an entire theme or subject with a set of photographs
• Varied work and leads to assignments at any time and in any place-photographing people at home, or life in foreign parts, or schools at work, anything that makes a story
• Photographers specialise in the photography of wildlife, sports travel, environment etc.
• Work with news reporters or work as free-lancers and take independent assignments on environment, wild life etc.

Editorial Photographers

• Work normally for magazines and periodicals, nearly always as freelancers
• Pictorially illustrates what is written in the article or report
• Work can be varied, depending on the article or report, which needs illustration.

Commercial/ Industrial photographer

• Takes pictures of merchandise, exteriors and interiors of factories, and machinery both indoors and outdoors to be used for company brochures, annual reports, and in advertising and selling
• Main emphasis is on taking pictures for a single company or firm
• Main intention is to make the company's factory, machines or products look good.

Portrait / wedding photographers

• Take pictures of individuals or small groups
• Portrait subjects like pets, children, families, weddings, functions and activities of sports and social clubs
• Increasing demand for portraits in the home, garden or workplace, especially in the case of children's portraits
• Portrait photographers may work for a studio or be self-employed.

Advertising photographs

• Taken by the photographic departments of advertising agencies, by photographic studios, or by freelance photographers
• A large number of photographers do catalogue work, while some studios specialize in 'mail order' photography
• Best paid and most competitive branch; success in this sphere depends entirely on ability, efficiency and the right personality
• Advertising photographers are usually provided with instructions as to what exactly has to be photographed. However they are also expected to suggest their own ideas for new angles.

Fashion photography

• Extremely creative and well paid profession
• Most fashion photography is done by specialist studios or freelancers who are commissioned by fashion houses or advertising agencies
• Work under the direction of a fashion expert
• The bulk of fashion photography is carried out in either Mumbai or Delhi and involves by highly sophisticated and well-equipped studios by freelancers who are commissioned by fashion houses of advertising agencies
• Also find employment with fashion houses, designers, fashion journals and news papers.

Fine arts photographers

• Sell their photographs as fine artwork
• Need technical proficiency, artistic talent and creativity.

Digital photography

• Involves the use of a digital camera
• Images are captured on a disk, floppy or directly on to the computer
• Digital photography is used largely in the media, as digital images can be stored easily and conveyed quickly over long distances.

Nature and Wildlife Photography

• Taking photographs of animals, birds, plants and landscapes
• While photos of rare species are in great demand, nature photographs are also widely used as pictures for calendars or covers
• Romantic sunsets, flowers, trees, lakes and waterfalls, etc, all make interesting subjects for a nature photographer.

Forensic Photography

• Photographing a crime scene from every angle clearly to show detail, with the emphasis on accurately recording the size and distance of objects
• Find employment with law enforcement agencies, police, legal system and in the investigative services of the government and also private detective agencies.

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