Photography and video students at Florida Panhandle Technical College in Chipley, Florida have excelled in the industries of Photography, Video Production, Audio Production and Television Production for several years, but the facility was recently recognized as Northwest Florida’s ‘Best Regional Photography Program’.
‘Our program has grown’, says FPTC Instructor Paul Goulding, ‘not just in the quality of our graduate students, but in the successful placement of these students in well-paid jobs in the region’.
WTVY in Dothan, Alabama is the recipient of one of these successful students, with a 2024 graduate currently serving as producer of Channel 4 News programming, and another 2024 graduate has gone on to work at Chipola College’s ‘CCTV/Chipola College Television’, both utilizing skills acquired during their tenure at FPTC.
Several past students are busy as wedding photographers and others are involved in various self-employed situations. One successful student used the marketing and promotional skills acquired in this program to secure a Marketing Assistant position with Chick-fil-A while at least one student has decided to become a teacher, after seeing the impact a successful educational program can have on a student.
There are also a lot of FPTC graduates who go into a completely different field of endeavor, but they always retain the skills necessary to work with this technology- even if only as a hobby.
‘While it is certainly not necessary to attend a school to become a photographer, there is a huge value in spending a school year with like-minded fellow students, learning how to work with others in a creative space, and experience a real-world job environment’, says Goulding.
‘There are very few opportunities for regional students when it comes to a quality, hands-on photo, video and audio education, and our environment of a real-world workplace enables our students to not only acquire technical skills but also temper their ‘soft skills’, including the ability to communicate, follow directions, maintain project timelines and due dates, and become a reliable, creative and technically proficient employee following graduation’, says Goulding.
‘My philosophy is that my job as a post-secondary teacher is to make my students uncomfortable, so that they eventually become comfortable with being uncomfortable’, says Goulding, ‘which might differ from secondary education. This technology requires not only proficiency with the hardware and software, but also the ability to work under pressure, in front of people, adhering to deadlines, all while handling people and personalities’.
‘We try to prepare our students for jobs in the professional workplace, inclusive of job interviews, resume-building and presenting oneself as a professional, but we also understand that due to the creative nature of this industry, many of our grads will want to become self-employed, so we assist them with information about tax preparation, LLC status, proposals and contracts and other skills necessary as a self-employed business owner’.
In the 20 years prior to teaching, Goulding’s businesses ‘Real Florida Magazine’, ‘Paul Goulding Photography’, ‘Foster Folly News’ and ‘The Goulding Agency’ captured close to a million photos annually for use in those media products.
‘We believe in the 10,000-hour rule’, says Goulding, ‘and although they will not achieve that level of production in their year or two with us, by the time our students graduate, they have shot and edited many tens of thousands of photographs and many hours of audio and video, and we can certify them as ready to enter the workplace as trained entry-level technicians, if not semi-professionals, in the worlds of television, radio, audio production, online content, documentary production and many other well-paid, real-world employment opportunities’.
As a part of their educational journey, FPTC students cover major local special events, including school district events in many of the surrounding counties, expanding to embrace photojournalism.
The program also offers studio work, including headshots and portraits, along with senior photos, ‘cap & gown’ graduation images and sports team portraits, free of charge to the community, as an opportunity for the student to handle a large number of dissimilar scenarios in which to learn the tradecraft, from personal photo sessions to fashion shoots to product photography; from audio recording sessions to live taping of interviews to documentary-style video production.
Unfortunately, many times a new camera owner leaps much too quickly into trying to earn a living with that camera, resulting in a lot of cameras now collecting dust, and these FPTC programs help direct the attention, interest and resolve of the student, helping to also direct a career pathway.
Florida Panhandle Technical College continues to push the envelope in innovation, constantly upgrading the array of production programs available, to satisfy the marketplace demand for drone pilots, film creators, cinematographers, television production technicians, audio engineers and content creators.
Now is a great time to follow the path of the current FPTC students ready to graduate in May 2026, getting a jump-start on the 2026-2027 school year.
Call 850-638-1180 Extension 6317, stop by 757 Hoyt Street in Chipley or mail [email protected] for more information about the Photography, Video Technology, Audio, Drone and Television Production offerings at Florida Panhandle Technical College, with financial aid available, but limited seating.
