Thank you for your interest in the Transient Light Photography Landscape Mastery Program of advanced photographic studies.

Enrollment for the Spring 2010 semester courses is now available from the online catalog. We will post the Spring 2010 catalog in PDF format as soon as the college makes it available.

• Mastering Landscape Photography 102 (Wednesday 6:30pm-9:30pm): enroll now.
• Mastering the Digital Darkroom 202 (Tuesday 6:30pm-9:30pm): enroll now.
  

Conceived, developed, and administered by photographer and college educator, J.W.Moore, the program establishes a foundation of conceptual knowledge, understanding, and skills necessary for envisioning, creating and printing beautiful landscape photographs as fine art prints.

Jim envisioned a comprehensive photography education program accessible to amateur photographs of all proficiency levels, using a 35mm or larger camera format, film or digital that would allow them to study the craft of landscape photography. Students enjoy the opportunity to increase their understanding, skills, and experience under Jim's tutelage while benefiting from his expertise, skills, and abilities as an accomplished landscape photographer and educator of more than three decades experience. Originally developed as a series of weekend workshops the program has matured as a three year program of study in a structured learning environment integrating classroom & field work, photography workshops, and the digital darkroom studio arts of image development, processing,

printing, and presentation. The program’s comprehensiveness is also reflected by the diverse goals of its students which range from achieving a high level of photographic proficiency to preparing a foundation for professional photography. Despite the disparity of those individual goals, students develop a camaraderie that increases their enjoyment of learning and working together.
  

The genre of landscape photography is approached and taught as a contemplative and deliberate process of integrated concepts, techniques, and artistic vision with image visualization, creation, development, printing and presentation as individual cohesive elements of the creative process. The three MasterClass™ courses of the program: Mastering Landscape Photography, Mastering the Digital Darkroom, and Mastering Digital Fine Art Printing enable the student to study, understand, and practice the diverse aspects of the digital photographic process as a structured program of study or as stand–alone courses. Thus, the student photographer may:

• begin with the foundation course, “Mastering Landscape Photography 101, 102” (suitable for all proficiency levels) and progress through the remaining digital darkroom and fine art printing courses as a sequenced path towards mastery of the art of landscape photography; or,
• enroll in a specific course of study to advance their knowledge and skills (if the student satisfies the prerequisites of the MasterClass course(s) and/or is an experienced photographer with demonstrable skills with a portfolio representative of the body of their work).
   

The program's series of courses is unique and ground breaking because fine art landscape photography is not offered as a structured program of undergraduate or graduate study at any local or regional college or university. Nor is it offered as a specific curriculum with regional art schools or other institutions. Such advanced information, learning, and field/studio study opportunities have traditionally been accessible only via apprenticeship or mentoring arrangements with professional or master photographers at great expense and learning commitment.

Each course consists of two classes with a total of 72 hours of classroom & field/studio experience with hands–on activities designed to build and refine skills and understanding. In addition, the foundational course of the program—Mastering Landscape Photography 101, 102—also includes three individual six-hour field workshops conducted in diverse natural areas. Such intensive field work allows the acquisition and refinement of visual training required for landscape/nature/scenic photography. These workshops are scheduled for a Saturday or Sunday. The classes are taught sequentially during the Fall and Spring semesters. Enrollment in both classes is required to complete each course of study: photography, digital darkroom, and printing & presentation.

The program is offered in partnership with the Community Education division of the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metropolitan area. There are no academic credits or accreditation offered with the program. Rather, the courses are offered as non–credit continuing education classes. This approach minimizes the cost of the student’s learning experience: all texts, instructional materials, field & workshop, and studio expenses are included in the tuition. The partnership provides an exceptional photography education opportunity accessible to residents in Allegheny County as well as the Southwestern Pennsylvania region.

Completion of the program’s sequenced courses and application of the concepts and skills taught will advance the student’s photographic skills and knowledge at least one proficiency level. Regardless of the student’s photographic goal, they will receive the education, training, and experience necessary to create and produce photographic artwork at the level required for local photography competitions, national and international juried exhibitions, gallery representation, and/or art festivals, and other exhibition and marketing venues.