New Zealand Diploma in Photography (Level 6)

A broad range of freelance, in-house and independent opportunities within creative and commercial industries.

With a focus on digital content creation in photography, video and sound, areas can include:

• advertising
• food
• fashion and editorial
• news media, photojournalism and documentary
• sports and events
• weddings and portraiture
• post-production editing
• travel and vlogging
• corporate and commercial
• stills and video in the film industry. 

Graduates may wish to undertake further tertiary study at diploma or degree level in the field of creative arts or business if pursuing self-employment.

Academic requirements 

Those under 20 

• You must have completed a Level 5 qualification in a related field OR demonstrate equivalent knowledge and skills.
• In exceptional circumstances, an applicant under the age of 20 who doesn't meet the academic requirements may be granted entry to the programme where they supply evidence of their ability to succeed in the programme.
• You need to submit a portfolio (see Portfolio section below for more info).  

Those 20 and over 

• No minimum academic requirements.
• You need to submit a portfolio (see Portfolio section below for more info).  

English Language requirements

• If English is not your first language, you must provide:
  • New Zealand University Entrance OR
  • Overall Academic IELTS 6.0 with no individual band score lower than 5.5 (achieved in one test completed in the last two years), OR
  • Acceptable alternative evidence of the required IELTS (see here for NZQA proficiency table and here for list of recognised proficiency tests).

If you need to improve your English Language skills, we offer a wide range of English programmes.

Selection criteria

Where there are more eligible applicants than places available, applicants will be selected based on the strength of the submitted portfolio and the above entry criteria. 

Portfolio
We require examples of your photographic work (still and/or moving images) and the ways that you develop your ideas. Your examples need to show us your interests and your ability to use a range of techniques.

• Please send us twelve (12) examples of your photographic work (still and/or moving images).
• Please submit your portfolio digitally as a PDF uploaded to the OP website. Combine your images into a single digital document and save as a PDF.
• Please upload any moving image work to a website (e.g. YouTube or similar) and include links as a page of your portfolio PDF. There is a 2MB file size limit for the portfolio upload.

Thank you. We are looking forward to seeing your photographic work.

Covering letter

• Please write a short covering letter to accompany your application. A double-spaced letter of not more than one page (300 words) explaining why you want to come to study on the program and what your relevant experiences have been to date.

If you don't meet the entry requirements for this programme, our New Zealand Diploma in Digital Media and Design (Level 5) is the perfect first step!

You need to have:

• a camera for still and moving image
• an external hard-drive for keeping their digital files (eg. 1TB USB hard-drive)
• a pair of monitoring headphones
• a good quality SD card (e.g. Sandisk), minimum 32GB. 

You will learn a range of technical, professional and business skills during this hands-on diploma where you can specialise in your chosen area of photographics: 

advanced camera expertise, lighting, post-production and editing

iterative design processes, image analysis and criticism

client projects, responding to and adapting live briefs

professional workflow and tools

professional contexts – including working in industry, developing your own business, and small business practices

business skills including invoicing, charging, accounting and budgeting. 

The programme consists of four project courses.

1. Professional Workflow

This course will enable you to apply professional workflow to lens-based content creation.

• Apply professional workflow to meet a client brief, incorporating relevant sustainable and cultural principles. 

2. Client Project

This course will allow you to collaborate successfully on a brief that responds to client needs and produce industry-standard lens-based content.

• Collaborate as a team on the development and production of a client-driven project, incorporating relevant sustainable and cultural principles.

Apply professional workflow to create industry-standard, lens-based content.    

3. Independent Specialisation

Learn how to work independently to construct workflow that will fulfil a complex brief.

• Respond to external opportunities by designing and implementing a workflow to fulfil a complex brief. 

4. Professional Contexts

Learn how to design, produce and present a commercial body of work in a professional context.

• Apply specialised skills using appropriate technologies to create professional content.
• Develop own professional workflow in a chosen context.
• Effectively present a body of work to an identified audience, incorporating relevant sustainable and cultural principles.

This is a full-time programme with approximately 15-hours contact time and 20-hours self-directed study per week.

This programme provides a pathway into the second year of the Bachelor of Visual Arts or Bachelor of Design (Communication). 

https://www.instagram.com/digitalphoto_otagopolytech

Full-time domestic students of this programme are eligible for student loans and allowances (dependent on age and financial circumstances.) Please contact Studylink for additional information. Phone 0800 88 99 00 or visit www.studylink.govt.nz.

If you already have extensive knowledge and skills gained from practical experience in this area, enquire about our recognition of prior learning process at Capable NZ. You may have already gained credits towards this qualification in the course of your life. www.capable.nz

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