Transitioning from learning the camera to learning the business and new technologies emerging in the industry, Advanced Intensive (AI) takes you further down the road toward becoming a well-rounded professional photographer. As in Summer Intensive, AI is broken down into three core areas of study.

Our BUSINESS AND MARKETING series of classes deliver an incredible amount of information relevant to you starting your own photography business. Going through the process of writing a business plan forces you to think critically about what you want your future to look like.

You learn what it means to organize as a sole proprietorship, LLC or corporation with the IRS. You learn how to find your CODB (cost of doing business) before you begin pounding the pavement, so you know what kind of work you should (and shouldn’t) go after. 'Protect your copyright' will be your mantra for the duration of your career. Keeping these words in mind helps you as you learn to license images, negotiate prices and usage, and write contracts. You also learn to register your images with the U.S. Copyright Office, embrace software to help with all aspects of your accounting and become aware of various legal issues photographers encounter.

In today’s photography industry, marketing is both accessible and overwhelming as online options for promoting your brand are seemingly endless. Navigating the waters of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and countless other digital depots can be time consuming and tricky. Your instructor helps cut through the non-essential elements as you develop a strategy for getting up and running with social media sites. He or she also educates you on the many options that exist for beginning your own website and blog. Online marketing can be highly effective, especially when combined with printed promotions. A visiting graphic designer emphasizes the importance of consistency in your design from web to print and introduces you to building your own promotional products using Adobe^® Photoshop^®.

Photography doesn’t stand still. New equipment, software and techniques are constantly appearing. Staying on top of the latest trends in the industry not only make you a more well-rounded and capable image maker, but can also help grow your bottom line. This is one reason our EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES series is so valuable. Understanding how to work with video and multimedia will only help you progress toward becoming a professional photographer. As is true with still photography, composition and storytelling are integral components to the medium. Throughout this course, you generate an idea, develop a storyboard and use available lighting and audio equipment to bring it to life. After video is captured with your own DSLR, you learn to edit the material with Adobe^® Premiere Elements^®, work with audio and begin to apply your own creativity in post-processing. Using Adobe^® Photoshop^® Extended you work with time-lapse photography and learn additional methods for editing video. Along the way you gain a strong sense of the gear, gadgets and equipment used in video production, how to prepare a video for output and where to host it upon completion.

Photography is about stopping the passing of time and presenting a moment in a way that is unique to your perspective. In the PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT area of study, you focus on ways to present your work to the world. Whether through a printed book, online gallery or blog, how you choose to show your work can be the difference between receiving a phone call from a client or not. While fulfilling a mock job assignment from start to finish you gain invaluable experience while benefitting from immediate instructor feedback. To keep from losing sight of the bigger picture you take part in mentoring sessions with the co-founder of RMSP as well as the director of education. Occasional lectures from visiting professionals also help to shine the light on ways you can make an impact with your photos by exposing you to each of their unique perspectives. Past guest lecturers have included Mary Virginia Swanson, Parish Kohanim and Danita Delimont.