Photography

• Certificate provides a professional credential to use when applying for positions or looking for clients.
• Improves proficiency in the craft of photography through study with master professionals.
• Offers tools needed to create a business plan including :
  • Starting a business.
  • Pricing, insurance, accounting.
  • Creating a marketing plan.
  • Preparing a professional quality portfolio.
• Provides insight into different careers and skills needed within the photography industry.
• Finishes with an individualized, free portfolio analysis.  Use your completed portfolio to gain clients and get hired.

Classes can be taken in any order. However, many of them require CES 3697 DSLR Photography Techniques 1 as a prerequisite.

Any class listed in the Schoolcraft Certificate of Photography that was completed after September 1, 2015 can be counted towards the certificate.

A recent DSLR or mirrorless camera, a zoom lens or a set of lenses spanning moderate wide angle to moderate telephoto, a cable release, a tripod.

Yes, many of the classes require you to complete photo assignments to bring to the next class.

Students interested in exploring photography as a career or hobbyists who would like to expand their photography skills.

The cost to complete the certificate program will vary depending on the electives you choose to take. The cost for the core classes is approximately $2,000. The cost for the electives varies from $299 to $49 per class.

Required classes are offered frequently. Students pursuing the certificate are encouraged to complete within three years. When a student enrolls in the Portfolio Review, their transcript is reviewed for eligibility.

Some classes, including DSLR Photography Techniques 1 and 2, will be graded.

When you have successfully completed all of the core classes, four elective classes and the portfolio analysis you are ready to receive your certificate. At that time please call the PPL office at 734-462-4448. We will confirm that the classes have been completed and send your certificate.

If your question is not answered on this website, call PPL at 734-462-4448 or e-mail [email protected].

Leslie Cieplechowicz is a photographer and writer who developed her crafts by working the streets of Detroit as a paramedic and shooting and documenting old, historical buildings she found on her runs. Her love of creating unique imagery led her across the state, then the United States, then globally, where she recently finished shooting in the country of Czechia, documenting its fascinating culture, warm people, and ornate architecture. She currently works as an instructor after leaving the road and spreads her love of photography to her students. Her first book, Detroit Revealed: A Different View of the Motor City, features obscure and amazing hidden gems of the city which is sometimes portrayed as unapproachable.

View her Work

James Currie brings over 15 years of expertise as a wedding photographer and business owner, initially thriving in the competitive Chicago wedding scene. His camera has taken him professionally to over 30 U.S. cities and 3 European countries, capturing diverse moments and inspiring landscapes. Aside from winning several leading industry awards, James has been featured in People Magazine, Cosmopolitan and The Knot. Beyond weddings, he’s successfully ventured into commercial, portrait, family, and senior photography. With a professional background in marketing, public relations, and graphic design, he emphasizes a creative, practical and hands-on approach to learning.

Bill Gemmell is a commercial photographer with 40 years’ experience working on location, in the studio, and in the darkroom (both traditional and Adobe Photoshop).

He received a New York State Education Department certificate in Commercial Photography in 1977 and has taught Digital and Black & White photography at Macomb Community College since 2010.

Bill started his career as staff photographer for the Times-Herald Newspapers in Dearborn. He has since worked for over a dozen newspapers and magazines and spent 11 years working freelance in New York City. His work as a commercial photographer includes people, real estate/architecture, and small products.

In May of 1981 he started showing his work in galleries, first appearing in the Detroit Photo Gallery’s “Inaugural Exhibit”. Since then his work his work has appeared in more than 50 exhibitions and juried shows. In February 2018, he judged the 23rd Annual Juried Photography Exhibition at the Padzieski Gallery for the Dearborn Community Arts Council.

You can see Bill’s work at www.flickr.com/billgemmell/sets.

“I have never found anything more challenging than photographing people,” John Sobczak has said. “During the brief moments we are allowed access to an individual we must discover something of his or her true nature and capture it on film. Often we must overcome the individual’s own preconceived idea of themselves to do it.”

John has been a professional photographer based in Detroit for over 30 years. His images have graced the pages of Time, Newsweek, USA Today, as well as many local publications including Hour Magazine, Ambassador Magazine and Crain’s Detroit Business. His commercial work has included billboards, brochures & annual reports for such clients as General Motors Corporation, AT&T, Chrysler, Lear and Ford Motor Company.

His work has been featured in many exhibitions including solo showings, and he has won numerous awards, including a regional and district Addy for a portrait of Jeff Daniels that appeared on the cover of Hour Magazine. An ongoing theme in his work has been his pursuit of recognition for the many talented, creative individuals among us. This led to the creation of two portfolios; the first being a series of portraits of jazz musicians, including Marcus Belgrave, Earl Klugh and Geri Allen, for the Graystone Jazz Museum. The second portfolio was a series of portraits of some of the area’s funniest comedians, including Tim Allen, Dave Coulier and Soupy Sales, for the MS Society of Michigan.

His books have included “The Vision of Words,” a collection of works by Michigan writer with photo-illustrations by John; “Motor City Memoirs,” portraits and stories from notable and interesting Detroiters; “Cleveland Classics, Great Stories from the North Coast,” and “A Motor City Year.” His book of dance photography, “Dance / Box / Lens, Portraits in Motion,” was published in 2016.

In 2007 portfolios of his work became part of the permanent collections of two of the most prestigious museums in the country, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Art.