The digital age has changed the way we live our lives. The technological advances have revolutionized every single aspect of life and photography is no different. The simplest yet the most sophisticated point-and-shoot cameras of leading camera brands have won over more converts than ever before in the history of photography. Yet, turning into a professional photographer is a whole different ball game.

The formula for success for a photographer today is not just about mastering the present but also keeping up with the future. An amateur photographer faces the uphill task of mastering the basics and developing a stronghold on the ever evolving digital tools of photography at the same time. In this scenario, a professional and specialised photography course can go a long way in helping budding photographers close this gap and can empower them with the necessary skills required to enter this creative industry. The Light & Life Academy in India is currently playing this role to perfection.  

The Light & Life Academy is the one of the most reputed and largest professional photography institutes in India. A non-profit Educational Trust, the academy was founded by the celebrated advertising photographer, Iqbal K Mohamed and his wife Anuradha Iqbal. Established across a four acre mountain top in the beautiful Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu, the institute has adopted a holistic approach for imparting the artistic and scientific facets of photography to its students with equal emphasis on aesthetics and techniques.

The Light & Life Academy (LLA) offers stream lined and career-oriented courses for amateur and professional photographers by providing access to the latest technological equipment and techniques under the guidance of its esteemed faculty of leading Indian and international photographers. The programmes on offer include a full-time One-Year PG Diploma in Professional Photography, a 100-day photojournalism programme and several short duration photography workshops.

Introduced in 2006/07, the one year PG Diploma is the institute’s flagship programme designed for aspiring photographers who are eager to make a foothold in the image making industry. The course offers a lot of options and depending on your proclivity you can choose to specialise in Portrait photography, Fashion photography, Architecture & Interiors photography, Travel photography, Nature photography and Fine art Photography. The course aims at helping amateur photographers scale the learning curve quicker and better understand the hardware and software developments of professional digital photography. As far as the methodology is concerned, the course includes lectures, slide shows of the work done by faculty members and international artists, demos, assignments, web research and critique sessions. The fees for the one-year diploma amount to a total of Rs. 4,15,000 which includes a security deposit of Rs. 30,000 which is returned after the completion of the course.

Practising photographers, advanced amateurs and photojournalists can opt for the short duration workshops of their specific areas of interest offered by LLA. The workshops follow the “hands-on training” approach and cover Fundamentals of Creative Photography, Nature, Travel, Digital Capture & Post-Production and Digital Photojournalism among other topics. Lectures, slide shows and demos and shooting are incorporated in the daily sessions and the second day of the workshops, the images taken on the previous day are critiqued by the faculty members to ensure fast and continuous learning.

For more information you can visit http://www.llacademy.org/.

Photo courtesy Light and Life Academy.

	Quick Read: The Light & Life Academy is the one of the most reputed and largest professional photography institutes in India. The institute has adopted a holistic approach for imparting the artistic and scientific facets of photography to its students with equal emphasis on aesthetics and techniques.  The programmes on offer include a full-time One-Year PG Diploma in Professional Photography, a 100 Day photojournalism programme and several short duration photography workshops. The one year PG Diploma is the institute’s flagship programme designed for aspiring photographers who are eager to make a foothold in the image making industry. Practising photographers, advanced amateurs and photojournalists can opt for the short duration workshops of their specific areas of interest.