Explore
SOCAPA photo safaris bring students from the heart of the city to the beaches of Lake Champlain, photographing the faces and places that make each campus unique.
Pre-College Summer Intensives
Summer Photography Camps for High School Students & Teens
SOCAPA offers one, two and three-week summer camps in digital and/or traditional darkroom photography with a strong emphasis on aesthetics and portfolio development.
All photo students learn Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop as artistic tools, balancing documentary street work, commercial portraiture and studio lighting, and fine art photography.
In our three-week intensives, students leave with a professionally bound portfolio of 8x10 prints—ideal for college admissions and interviews.
What Families Say
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Parents and students share how SOCAPA Photography shaped confidence, creativity, and college-ready portfolios.
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A Summer Photography Experience
Like No Other
Create
Hands-on projects build skills fast, from self-portraits and street photography to headshots, movie posters, and web portfolios.
Collaborate
Work with students from SOCAPA’s other programs to shoot headshots, movie posters, dance stills, and album-cover concepts.
Photography Intensives
Choose Your Intensive
New to SOCAPA? Start with Core Photography. Return students and experienced photographers can level up in Advanced Photography.
Core Photography
- Focus
- Digital, or Darkroom & Digital
- Locations
- NYC, LA & VT
- Program Length
- 2 & 3 weeks
- Experience
- Beginner to Intermediate
Advanced Photography
- Focus
- Portfolio Development
- Locations
- NYC, LA & VT
- Program Length
- 2 & 3 weeks
- Experience
- Advanced to Preprofessional
Digital
SOCAPA digital photography starts with camera-tech fundamentals and quickly moves into the field. Students shoot in RAW, then learn how to import and develop photos in Adobe Lightroom and advance their post-production workflow in Photoshop.
35mm Darkroom
Burlington, Vermont campus only
Students learn to develop 35mm film and make prints using enlargers and chemical baths. Darkroom work teaches students to slow down and understand how technical and aesthetic choices shape a final image.
Collaborate
“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter.”
Get inspired by and collaborate with SOCAPA’s other programs in unique interdisciplinary projects: movie posters for filmmakers, headshots of actors, and dance stills on active sets.
Create
Make Pictures Day One
SOCAPA’s immersive curriculum uses progressively more complex projects to reinforce classroom instruction and build real-world portfolio skills. From self-portrait assignments, to street photography, headshots, movie posters, and web portfolios, students create constantly.
The Hurrell
After headshot and portraiture workshops, photographers pair with SOCAPA Acting students to create professional studio headshots, portraits, and action images while learning strobe lighting, modifiers, and direction techniques.
The Cartier-Bresson
Guided by lessons in composition and street photography, students capture candid portraits, urban moments, architecture, and human interaction while practicing the “decisive moment.”
The Sherman
Students create conceptual self-portrait series using in-camera techniques, costume and props, and Photoshop compositing to explore metaphor, symbolism, and creative self-expression.
Student Photo Slideshows
Watch SOCAPA Student Work
A selection of student slideshows from our photography programs.
2026 Summer Intensives
Summer Campuses
Four incredible campuses in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Burlington, Vermont.
College Experience
A Summer on Campus
From NYU to Pace University, Occidental College, Loyola Chicago, and Champlain College, all of SOCAPA's programs are run directly on college campuses.
Experience the classrooms, dormitories, and facilities that undergraduates use. Live with roommates and floormates, and enjoy independence under the guidance of our experienced staff.
Dorm Life
College dorms with roommates & community
Dining Halls
Eat where college students eat daily
Real Campuses
Actual university facilities & studios
Day Students
Live locally? Save on room & board
Questions about our Photography Programs?
Tell us a bit about your student and what you're looking for. Our team can help you choose the right program, campus, dates, and session length.
(802) 251-7378
admissions@socapa.org