There is a week long break at the end of Summer Intensive. Professional Studies courses are scheduled during the period between Summer Intensive and Advanced Intensive. Professional Studies courses are five days long, beginning Mondays at 9am and ending Fridays at 5pm. Students may enroll in one class each week.

Professional Studies courses comprise Session 2 of the Career Training Program. These courses are designed for skilled photographers who want a concentrated education in a particular field of photography. Professional Studies students are looking to earn money with their photography and they want to learn from others who are doing it. If you want the opportunity to develop and strengthen your professional style and techniques, build confidence in your photography through “real world” shoots, and recognize your strengths and challenges through critiques of your work, you’ve come to the right place. It’s not necessary to attend either Summer Intensive or Advanced Intensive to attend these courses, however you should consider the advantage that both of those programs can give you. Students accepted into this program must demonstrate advanced skill level. If you can’t do it all in one year, consider coming back to finish up.

Any Professional Studies course can stand alone, but if you want to make the most of your time in Missoula and take full advantage of what we have to offer, consider taking more than one course. We’ve structured these courses to allow the student to design his or her own individual curriculum from a variety of offerings. Three weeks of Professional Studies courses give students flexibility in setting up a personalized line-up. Please keep in mind that enrollment in all classes is strictly limited. Classes are filled on a first come, first served basis and typically fill early.

No, it is not necessary to attend the Summer Intensive program in order to enroll in a Professional Studies class. Most Professional Studies students have (or will have) graduated from Summer Intensive, while others have photographic training and experience that allows them to meet our entrance requirements. Students who have not graduated from SI must meet the enrollment requirements that are outlined below.

Professional Studies courses are taught on an advanced level and will not cover basic photographic techniques. For this reason, you must be able to confidently operate your camera in manual mode. You must be competent in the areas of digital capture, image processing and management, and working with artificial lighting. Further information on our enrollment requirements is available by contacting our office. Past and 2012 SI graduates are accepted into any Professional Studies course upon submission of a registration form. RMSP reserves the right in specific instances to evaluate a student’s proficiency in the foundation skills taught in Summer Intensive before advancing a student to continue on to the Professional Studies and Advanced Intensive sessions. If a Summer Intensive student is not approved for advancement into Professional Studies or Advanced Intensive, tuition paid in those sessions will be refunded.

For all other Professional Studies registrants a portfolio must be submitted as well as a brief description of photographic experience, goals and previous education. The portfolio should consist of 10 to 20 images - digital files on a CD, prints or a Web site address - that represent your best work. The portfolio content does not need to include subjects related to the course for which you are applying, but must demonstrate an understanding of the elements of visual design as well as effective use of available light. The portfolio must also demonstrate an intention in the sequencing of the images. Because these courses are intensive and do not cover basic principles of photography, a student who cannot demonstrate an intermediate level of knowledge will not fully benefit from the course material.

Professional Studies classes are “Session 2” of the Career Training program. In a Professional Studies class you’ll gain tremendous insight into the world of working in a particular field of photography. You’ll work side by side with a professional who makes his or her living doing just that. You’ll find out the business and marketing considerations of that particular field. Following that, we recommend that you take the next step, Advanced Intensive. You’ve mastered the fundamentals of photography (SI), focused on a career path (Professional Studies) now you can round out your photographic education with the Advanced Intensive program. Learn how to operate professionally with digital technology, spend time shooting in your particular area of interest, begin to develop your business and a personalized marketing plan that works for you.

Professional Studies courses are a totally different animal than our workshops. The course content, student population and expectations differ tremendously from one to the other. The Professional Studies classes are designed for the professional level photography student who wants to make at least a part time income photographing. The content is directed toward giving the student as much information as possible in a short amount of time about how to operate professionally in a particular field. Students are on a more advanced level and they come with the expectation of strengthening their professional style and techniques. Critiques are more directed and focused on marketability.

We accept registration on a first come, first served basis until a course is full. We recommend that students enroll early due to the enrollment limit. Although classes typically fill very quickly, we will accept enrollment up to the start of classes if space is available.

In order to provide an excellent educational experience, we limit our enrollment to 16 students in each class.

A typical day in a Professional Studies course is packed full of a combination of lectures, shooting and critiques. Daily schedules vary from course to course depending on the instructor and course material.

An important feature of most Professional Studies classes is time spent shooting during class with your instructor on hand to assist and guide you in the field and/or in the studio.

An important feature of many, though not all, of the Professional Studies courses is the studio and location shoots. Your instructor and an assistant are on hand to work with you in “real world” shooting situations. These shoots represent tremendous opportunities for you to practice new techniques, learn additional skills and gain confidence in your photography. Your models for these shoots will be people from the Missoula community, not professional models. They represent a variety of looks, styles and ages. These models typify some of the diversity of people you may be asked to photograph in your career.

Students in the class will be broken down into small shooting groups. Shooting with a group is exciting and challenging and students benefit from working together.

No, Professional Studies shooting sessions are not designed for portfolio building. These are learning opportunities for you to gain and practice new techniques. While you will most likely come away with some great images, shoots during class are not designed for the student to get a “perfect” photograph. Instead, they are meant to be an effective and essential component of the educational experience.

The 2012 Career Training Equipment and Supplies Checklist covers the basic equipment needed for Professional Studies courses. Any additional specialty equipment requirements by instructors will be communicated to enrolled students in the spring before the program begins.

Yes. A digital camera and laptop computer are essential.

Lodging is the responsibility of the student. We can provide you with a list of local hotels in Missoula that offer affordable rates.