Living the Life of Professional Photographer
Major: Photograpy
Class of 2008
“I learned a lot from my professors and their experience. They were able to get me ready for the real world.”
When John Stock graduated County College of Morris (CCM) in 2008 with an associate degree in photography technology, the economy was not doing well and he was hesitant about building a career in the field he loved. So he followed his second passion and gained employment with an international bicycle manufacturer. When he met the company’s photographer, however, he found the inspiration he needed to start building a business as a freelance commercial photographer.
Today, he runs a successful business largely focused on taking photos of product, such as shoes and handbags, for top clients like Amazon and Gordmans. Most recently, he also returned to CCM to help photograph an ad for a new marketing campaign for Saint Clare’s Health, featuring Bruce Kahn, an adjunct professor at the college. “I’m very lucky. Not everyone gets to make a career out of their passion,” says Stock. “CCM really prepared me well to succeed in this field. I learned a lot from my professors and their experience. They were able to get me ready for the real world.”
One technique that he learned at CCM which has served him particularly well as a commercial photographer, he says, is how to get a camera to produce color accurately. “Our eyes are extremely adaptable and skilled at registering color. To get a camera to register color accurately, you need to know the techniques for getting it to see like our eyes,” explains Stock. “Being able to do that, especially with products where you have to render the color of a handbag, for example, in the right shade of red, is a skill a lot of professionals never learned. That, however, was one of the many important techniques I learned at CCM that has helped me to succeed.” To view samples of Stock’s work, go to www.JohnStock.us.