Allison Evans had always been interested in photography. She’d taken a few courses and entered some shows, but her career was in mortgage banking.
“When the market turned, I decided to jump ship and switch careers,” Evans said. “I wanted to get a handle on what it takes to be a good photographer, so that I could make a living at it.
“Anyone can accidentally take a good picture now and then. To reproduce those results over and over again is something else.”
Evans chose the commercial photography associate degree program at Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville.
“I knew people who had studied here and they had nothing but good things to say about it,” she said. “The instructors are fantastic. They’ve taught me that photography is about problem-solving.
“You have to be mindful of the light, your subject and why you are taking the photo in the first place. You have to be aware of so many technical and creative aspects.”
This spring, Evans put her learning to the test at the SkillsUSA State Championships, a showcase for the best career and technical students in the nation. She walked away with the gold medal and will represent Gwinnett Tech and the state of Georgia at the national competition in June.
“When they called out the second- and third-place winners, I figured that it had been a wonderful experience, even though I hadn’t placed. When they called my number for first place, I was totally surprised,” Evans said.
Commercial photography program director Kim Harkins wasn’t. She’s been teaching commercial photography at Gwinnett Tech for 26 years and has often seen her students win at the state and national championships. Another Gwinnett Tech student, Damian AhChing, was the silver medalist this year.
The championships test competitors’ shooting, printing and multimedia skills over several days.
“We prepare our students by giving them the tools they need,” Harkins said. “Once they have the skills, they’ll come up with their own creative solutions.
“The job of technical education is to take something that students love and teach them how to make a living at it.”
Students can choose either the associate degree or the diploma track to gain skills in photography fundamentals, black-and-white darkroom theory, color lab work, design principles, multimedia software and a number of photography categories.
“We have students right out of high school and those who have lost jobs and come back to do something they’ve always wanted to do,” Harkins said. “Having impetuous and spontaneous 18-year-olds with older and experienced 60-year-olds is an exciting blend.
“We teach them all the skills, because you have to be well-rounded and competent in this business. Then they choose their own direction.”
Graduates of the program have many options in the field including portrait and wedding photography, architecture, fashion, photo journalism, digital print finishing, Web design or photographic laboratory work. Many run their own businesses as freelance photographers.
In their next-to-last quarter in the program, students work with a photographer and complete an internship to gain real-world experience.
“In a down economy, anything creative is the first to go, but I was able to place 34 students as interns last quarter, and I consider that very encouraging,” Harkins said. “Clients will always pay for good people and good ideas, and I think it will be a great market as the economy improves. More companies are going to need to market and advertise.”
Harkins saw many graduates become successful professionals, “but I knew we’d really arrived as a program when former students started coming back to take on recent graduates,” she said. “Marc Climie, a successful destination wedding photographer, hired recent graduate Brian Hall as an associate photographer.”
For his internship this spring, AhChing traveled with photographer David Walter Banks to Huntsville, Ala., to shoot the annual Great Moon Buggy Race for Time magazine. Others have interned with the Gwinnett Braves, the World of Coca-Cola and with photographers around the country.
Evans loves to shoot portraits and has an interest in wedding or children’s photography, but she’s also eager to take the photo journalism class.
“I’m just a first-year student, so right now I’m just focusing on learning everything I can,” she said.
For more information, visit www.gwinnetttech.edu or www.gtcphoto.com, or call 678-226-6629.
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