NYIP Frequently Asked Questions

A: NYI's Complete Course in Professional Photography is our most popular course and it's designed to teach you all the basics of photography, along with intensive study of lighting and portraiture. It also includes advanced topics in photography such as specialty areas including photojournalism, architectural photography, and commercial photography. The Professional Course is particularly strong in business training. We just completed the new Essential Business Skills series which provides lots of information about how to open your own studio and start your own freelance business. The Pro course is divided into six units and you submit six photo projects for evaluation during your training.

NYI's newest course is our Short Course: Fundamentals of Digital Photography. It's designed for the person who wants to take control of a high-performance digital SLR or point-and-shoot camera, and learn when and how to use the settings other than "automatic" or "program." It contains lots of information about exposure, how to read your camera's histogram, and basic training in lighting and portraiture. It's designed for the family photographer and the person who needs to use digital photography as part of his/her job. The Short Course has four units and you submit two photo projects for evaluation.

Every NYI Course features multi-media training. Our color lessons are augmented by audio discussions by NYI faculty and professional techniques are demonstrated on video DVDs.

NYI's Complete Course in Digital Photography is really intensive training in Adobe Photoshop for photographers. Photoshop is a very complex tool, and particularly in the latest releases it's designed to be useful for photographers, graphic artists, even people who want to work in 3D illustration. Our course is designed to teach you what you need to know as a photographer to get the best results with this very sophisticated program. You need full-blown Photoshop CS3 or CS4 for this course. Photoshop Elements is not covered.

One other note: every NYI student in each course has access to a personal student advisor who is available via telephone or e-mail to answer your questions about the course, about equipment you might be considering, or anything else related to your interest in photography. Our advisors are all working professional photographers who work with us part time because they love teaching.

With immense success. We've been teaching photography longer than any other school in the world. Since 1910, tens of thousands of men and women have enrolled in NYIP and gone on to become successful photographers. There are NYIP graduates working as staff photographers for newspapers, and graduates who freelance and operate their own studios. We are proud of our record and we know you'll be proud to be an NYIP student.

They start the moment you receive your first Unit of Course materials. We don't have a rigid academic calendar. You can begin whenever you're ready.

No. You complete your NYIP training in your spare time, on your own schedule, at your own pace.

No. The Course assumes no prior training or experience. It starts with fundamentals and develops your skills through mastery of professional techniques in easy, carefully planned steps.

Most students take between 12 and 24 months to complete the Course, but you have three full years for both the Complete Course, and Photoshop Course. For the Fundamentals of Digital Photography you have two years, though it is possible to finish in 6-8 months.

Yes. It is one of the strongest aspects of the Complete Course in Professional Photography. We know not every student is interested in photography as a business; so much of the material is optional. But, if you are interested, it's all there.

: To enroll in NYI, you need to be able to comprehend written and spoken English and have a high school diploma. Because of the technical nature of some of the information in this Course, the New York State Department of Education has requested that we ascertain that students taking this program have a high school diploma. Most of the schools that the New York State Education Department oversees are residential programs that cater principally to students in their teens and twenties. Our school differs in that our students are in a distance education program and may live anywhere. In addition, many of our students are adult learners who may have completed high school many, many years ago and who may have difficulty locating their high school diploma. For that reason, in consultation with the New York State Education Department, we have adopted the following policies: If you are 27 or older, and have the interest to enroll in our program and the funds available to do so, we will presume that you either completed high school or have acquired sufficient equivalent experience in the course of your life. Simply note your age on your enrollment form in the appropriate spot. This “life experience” qualification is acceptable to the New York State Education Department.

Individuals seeking to enroll in our program who are under 27 must arrange to have the high school from which they graduated furnish us with a copy of their diploma or a transcript that shows that the student earned a diploma. Individuals with higher degrees—for example a Bachelor's or Associate's degree, or a professional degree such as a medical or legal degree—that cannot be obtained without a high school diploma, can arrange to have the school that issued the higher degree send us a copy of that degree or a transcript. That documentation will be sufficient to establish completion of high school.

You need a camera for all of our courses. Point-and-shoot cameras with a manual mode can handle most of the assignments, although use of a Digital SLR is recommended so that you can manually adjust your aperture, shutter speed, and other settings. We also encourage serious photographers to invest in a tripod. That's all the photo equipment you'll need. (In fact, we urge you not to buy any additional equipment until you've completed the first two units of the Course.)

You will also need access to a DVD player, and an audio CD player (or a computer that can play CDs and DVDs), and a computer with internet access for email.

For the Complete Digital Photography Course: Adobe Photoshop for Photographers, you will need the full version of Adobe Photoshop. Please note: Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Lightroom will not be sufficient for this course. For this course we also suggest a photo-quality inkjet printer, and a there is an optional assignment that requires a flatbed scanner (if you do not want to do this optional assignment, you do not need a scanner). You will also need a computer that can run Adobe Photoshop. To determine whether your computer can run Photoshop, visit Adobe's Web site and read through their Photoshop System Requirements.

Our Complete Course in Professional Photography does include a lesson about glamour and nude photography. However, many students are not interested in this subject and it is completely optional. In fact, we will omit that lesson from the Unit Six materials we send you if you let us know upon enrollment.

NYI has been around since 1910 and we are well recognized throughout the industry. How successful you are largely depends on you, your talent, your drive, and the images you create in your portfolio. Your portfolio is your biggest selling tool, not the degree or institution from which you obtained your degree or certificate. The course will teach you the skills you need to become a successful photographer, but you'll need to do the work.

We don't recommend this. In certain circumstances, we will permit a student to enroll in a second course after completing at least half of the first course. Check with your student advisor for details.

Possibly. The IRS permits you to deduct the cost of your NYIP training under certain circumstances. Whether you qualify depends on your individual situation. Consult with your tax advisor to find out if it's deductible for you.

NYIP is open year round, and we have open enrollment in that students can enroll at any time. Each student progresses at his or her own pace. The office is open from 9am to 6pm weekdays, except is it closed for U.S. legal holidays.

Because our course is 270 hours, we are not eligible for standard financial assistance programs that are offered by two- or four-year schools or federal agencies. NYIP's low tuition and monthly payment program are designed to make it possible for students to afford the training on their own.

Yes, 4" x 6" prints are fine. They're easy to produce and send. Our teachers are all pros and they're used to looking at prints of all sizes. 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 are all acceptable sizes. You can have them made by a local photo lab or printed on photo paper with your printer.

We always prefer it if you send them individually as you can then apply your Instructors feedback to your next photo shoot. However, if you do decide to send several Units together, just be sure to clearly mark the images with the appropriate info on the back.

Yes, you can edit your images prior to sending them in.

Absolutely, we love to see panoramic images.

The comprehension tests are given an actual letter grade. The photo projects are evaluated and marked as completed if the photos meet all the requirements. However, from time to time, an Instructor will specifically ask a student to resubmit a photo, or an entire project. This would not be considered failing, but rather a resubmission of an incomplete project.

The comprehension tests are submitted online so you get the results as soon as you are done. The photo projects are evaluated by one of our teachers, all of whom are working professionals. The average turnaround time is 2-3 weeks.

When your instructor has completed your evaluation, you are sent an email with a link to the NYI Evaluation Express. You can download your evaluation from that site as an MP3 file. You can even download it to more than one computer if you wish. Your photos and project folder are mailed back to you.