Digital Photography

The Digital Photography Certificate of Achievement is for students who would like to create commercial photography images and videos utilizing digital photographic and video practices. This certificate is designed for students who would like to pursue a specialization in digital photography to work in the private, public, or non-profit setting such as in commercial photography, digital technician assistant, photo lab management, photo-retouching, photo-editing, design, video production or editing, photography for design, or documentary or photojournalism photography.  Art Photography is a multidisciplinary educational experience, and the program emphasizes lecture courses along with hands-on studio experiences in Cabrillo’s photography lab.  This program provides a foundation for transfer to a four-year institution to obtain a bachelor’s degree, to join the workforce for entry level jobs in commercial photography or videography, or as a continuing education skill for use in a current photography, video, or design career.

Completion rates of the certificate of achievement are expected to be ten per year with a potential for annual growth.

Cabrillo College is seeking approval from the Chancellor’s Office for the Digital Photography Certificate of Achievement in Career Technical Education.  The art photography program is designed to train and educate students to work in the field of photography and video. The need for photography and video professionals has been advocated for by local companies, small businesses, and organizations and supported by current, regional labor market research (TOP 1012.00).  The Art Photography program is aligned with Cabrillo’s mission, master plan, career technical education, and statewide community college work in Guided Pathways.  Approval of this program will benefit regional employers, fulfill small business and marketing service needs of the local community, augment college enrollment, and support non-traditional and underserved minority students in a viable career and academic path. This program will give our students the workforce preparation, knowledge, and skills they need to gain employment in the field of photography, video and design. The potential for a median hourly wage in the Santa Cruz-Monterey subregion in photography is $22.76/hour and in video is $23.36/hour and the Bay Area region is $22.97/hour in photography and $24.94/hour in video.

 The Cabrillo Art Photography program educates students in learning to become discerning image viewers and potent image creators through developing critical thinking, aesthetics, visual language, and photographic and video technical career skills. The program objectives include benefits to non-traditional learners who profit from hands-on learning. 

Within the extensive photo community of Santa Cruz County, Cabrillo students are employed by local photography retailers and labs, and with independent photographers.  Many students create their own businesses, providing commercial photography, portraiture, wedding photography, event photography, and arts marketing.  The aesthetic and technical skills gained in art photography classes, particularly composition and design, lighting, the use of visual language, and visual storytelling help prepare students for entering the video industry in Santa Cruz as well as desktop publishing, web design, and multimedia firms.

There are 10 units of required coursework and 6-7 units of approved electives.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
AP 1A/AP1AH or AP6	Foundations of Photography/Honors or Introduction to Digital Photography	3.00	Semester 1
ART 50L	Gallery Viewing Lab	.50	Semester 1
AP46A	Photoshop for Photography 1	3.00	Semester 1
AP14 or DM 34 (Approved Electives)	Introduction to Video Art or Introduction to Video Production	3.00-4.00	Semester 1
AP46B or AP47	Photoshop for Photography II or Lighting for Photography I	3.00	Semester 2
ART51L	Museum Viewing Lab	.50	Semester 2
Approved Electives (AP35/35H or AP26A or AP15 or AP45 or AP65)	Photography New Media and Social Change/Honors or Visual Storytelling or History of Photography or Contemporary Trends in Photography or Latinx Images in Photo-based Media	3.00	Semester 2

None

The CTE Digital Photography Certificate of Achievement is modeled to meet labor market demands and internship requests in professional photography and video employment demands in our region.  The Labor Market Index (LMI) data report also provides student outcomes data on employment and earnings for programs on TOP 1012.00 - Photography and Video in the state and region. No local colleges in the SC-Monterey Sub-Region have CTE Career Technical Education Certificates of Achievement in photography as they only offer non-CTE certificates of achievement. Other regional community college photography programs with non-CTE Certificates of Achievement in photography include Foothill College, Hartnell College, and Monterey Peninsula College. Hartnell College is the nearest college in the regional area that offers a Certificate of Achievement in Photography but this certificate is not currently a CTE certificate. San Francisco City College is the closest program to offer CTE Certificates of Achievement in Photography. This demonstrates a need for our program to offer CTE training for students.  The sequencing of courses is designed to prepare students to be successful in the photography and video field, multimedia, and other design professions. Furthermore, program content and program mapping have been chosen based on student needs. Based on all available LMI data, there appears to be a significant shortage and undersupply of photography occupations in the Bay Region with over 5,000 annual job openings. This program will help meet anticipated employment needs in our region and possibly the surrounding regions.