photography courses

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nero99

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Can anyone recommend a good basic photography course in England for beginners.

thanks
 
I did my City & Guilds at St.Helens Collage, it was fantastic the first year as we have a really good teacher who was so good at putting it over and demonstraighting, she also valued and listend to us even if we were wrong, the second year was good but just not as good, the lecturers make it really, have a chat with a local collage and see what they are like.
I really enjoyed mine, but I am still not very good LOL
 
snap - I also did a city and guilds at St Helens college. Although at the time it was a film only course, you can do a digital course now.

Mine was a 1 year evening class and I enjoyed it.

I would say that there is LOTS of free information on the net, and for some this is much better, but by doing a course you will get to meet other like minded people, get encouragement and have a clear progression.
 
I would like to have done the C&G course but I couldn't afford the £390 for the fee's. The plus point is that the college is only a 2 min walk from my front door!!
 
I wanted to do a similar course but my local college only does very basic stuff or a foundatin degree, which is 3 years part time.

Might consider a distance learning course but the question is...IS IT WORTH IT?
 
Im looking for a course too, has to be distance learning for me as im busy during the day and most evenings. There are quite a few around but its knowing which are right.

Ive narrowed it down to a few on offer and wondered if anyone here has sat these courses and could offer some advice for us to read:

OCA Art of Photography. A level 1 course which can go towards a degree: http://www.oca-uk.com/distance-learning/photography-1-art-of-photography

ICS - Digital Photography. Gaining City & Guilds Level 1:
http://www.icslearn.co.uk/creative-interest-courses/photography/digital-photography/

UK Open Learning - Digital Photography Course. NCFE Level 3 course:
http://www.uk-open-learning.com/CartV3/Details.asp?ProductID=549

Open Univiersity T189 Digital Photography couse:
http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/t189.htm#qualifications

im soooo confused as to which will provide the better course content and am ttally stuck choosing one.

Heeellllppppp!!
 
I havent no - i was close to ***, but decided that id rather teach myself. and its working so far.......its all gravy
 
Yeah im teaching myself too but feel a small qualification of some description will also aid me if/when i make the jump to more professional photography whether thats freelancing or working for someone.

The PI course does look good, but so do the others. the failing point is not knowing how indepth each course is and when ive spoken to the providers about it they dont seem to be able to give information. Have called up the OU and ICS and both were pretty pants at selling their courses
 
Cris_L said:
I wonder if a couple of one day workshops would be more beneficial then an actual course. its more hands on?
Click to expand...

My courses are mostly hands on with a small amount of classroom learning (where needed). My approach is to get you shooting and teach you all why you use your cameras. We progress through each topic until by the end of the day you are confident in the use of your camera / lighting... depending on which course you are on...

more details here: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=258922
 
I am new to photography and have been trying to teach myself, but have just enrolled in an 8wk Digital Photography for beginners evening course at my local Adult Learning Centre starting at the end of the month. Hopefully it will reinforce what I have already learnt or point me in the right direction at least!!!
 
Adult education run courses for beginners,i did a 30 week course and thoroughly enjoyed it....teacher even took us to the pub on the last evening so it was pints and wobbly sunsets for some :)
I wanted to do the level 2 this year but with the cutbacks some courses have either been cancelled or postponed until late october.
 
Is there a local Pro near you who runs courses, I did a one-on-one locally and it was really helpful.
 
hewhoknows said:
Im looking for a course too, has to be distance learning for me as im busy during the day and most evenings. There are quite a few around but its knowing which are right.

Ive narrowed it down to a few on offer and wondered if anyone here has sat these courses and could offer some advice for us to read:

OCA Art of Photography. A level 1 course which can go towards a degree: http://www.oca-uk.com/distance-learning/photography-1-art-of-photography

ICS - Digital Photography. Gaining City & Guilds Level 1:
http://www.icslearn.co.uk/creative-interest-courses/photography/digital-photography/

UK Open Learning - Digital Photography Course. NCFE Level 3 course:
http://www.uk-open-learning.com/CartV3/Details.asp?ProductID=549

Open Univiersity T189 Digital Photography couse:
http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/t189.htm#qualifications

im soooo confused as to which will provide the better course content and am ttally stuck choosing one.

Heeellllppppp!!
Click to expand...

Hi

I am part of the way through the OCA course "The Art of Photography", the course itself is based very much on learning to control the camera and on composition. It does go back to the basics in Art, but I am enjoying it.
I'm happy to give you more details on the course and what it makes up (and how I'm getting on with it) if you want.

There are a number of people on the course who have already done the OU course and I think that they have had to cover the same ground again on the OCA course. Check out the OCA group on Flickr as there are a number of discussions on the course(s) there.

Cheers

LRS
 
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dltracy said:
Just looked at your site and am interested in your portrait course but you dont have any more dates this year - are you planning to add any or will it be next year before any more are available?

Many thanks.
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There is one date for the portrait course at the moment and it's the 29th and 30th of October. :thumbs:
 
Hii LRS, thanks for your reply. I would really love to hear some feedback on the OCA course because it is one of my preferred courses but found it hard to find anyone who had done it/is doing it to chat with.

I'll pm you some questions if thats ok?
 
LRS said:
Hi

I am part of the way through the OCA course "The Art of Photography", the course itself is based very much on learning to control the camera and on composition. It does go back to the basics in Art, but I am enjoying it.
I'm happy to give you more details on the course and what it makes up (and how I'm getting on with it) if you want.

There are a number of people on the course who have already done the OU course and I think that they have had to cover the same ground again on the OCA course. Check out the OCA group on Flickr as there are a number of discussions on the course(s) there.

Cheers

LRS
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Hi

pl send me some details of the course.I am interested to find out if it is worthwhile course.

thanks
 
Hey nero99, ive got the contact info of the course leader if you want it, email and phone number. I spoke to the OCA office today and they told me to direct any questions i have directly to him.

Ive emiled him this morning asking for more info on course content etc. PM me if you want the details and ill fire them over.
 
nero99 said:
Hi

pl send me some details of the course.I am interested to find out if it is worthwhile course.

thanks
Click to expand...

PM on its' way.

LRS.

b****r - I appear to be unable to PM you..
 
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Hi Leonard, cant PM you for some reason???

Could i ask how much time is spent on exposure and compesition with the course. Is there alot of detail about shutter speeds, aperture, ISO, white balance, metering etc or are you expected to have a solid grounding in those areas already?

Basically i was wondering if the course is more geared around teaching you how to take pictures and how to use your camera in manual mode and composing shots as opposed to 'take a picture of this and art it up in photoshop' kind of scenario??
 
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I looked long and hard about the OCA course last year as it's one of the few that offers something tangible at the end. I didn't in the end as my wife was doing her degree but it's something I'm really tempted to do.
 
For anyone that is interested in the OCA Art of Photography course, i had an email back from Peter Haveland who i belive is a course tutor. I asked about how much technical information is tought within the course, aspects like shutter speed, aperture, ISO etc. This is the reply i got today:

Hi Matt

The Art of Photography course is written so that completer beginners should be able to cope OK. There are always some things that any one student might not be clear on and a quick e-mail to the tutor usually either clears this up or the tutor can recommend a book or web site that will answer the problem in some detail.

Shutter speed etc. is covered but technique and theory is always secondary to content and creativity so we want you to use the techniques you have explored in the projects to help you make meaningful and creative images, particularly in the assignments, not just to set you tasks where you have to make images to illustrate some technique or other.

The Art of Photography is the module that we think of as our starting point for the BA in Photography and I think you will find it is what you need as a first step.

If you do decide to take the course I hope you find what you are looking for in it and above all, enjoy it.

Best wishes

Peter
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Take from it what you will, i see it as not a technical course which will teach loads on correct technical settings for certain circumstances but more on teaching you how to take good looking pictures using an artistic aproach.

im still confused lol :bonk::bonk::bonk:
 
hewhoknows said:
Thought some of you might find this site intersting, its the School of Photographic Imaging along witha list of their courses.

Some of them seems quite good, although i havent fully researched them as yet:

http://www.spi-photography-courses.com/

Also looking at these guys: http://www.thephotographyinstitute.co.uk/

Anyones feedback on these courses would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...

I have done one of the SPI courses... thought i needed to learn the basics...
they are run by Amateur Photographer magazine...

These courses are self taught, you receive a workbook which explains the topic ie shutter speed, aperture, white balance, metering, compensation etc..
then you have to take a set number of photos displaying this technique also a self assessment on the photos, why you took that subject, composition, any problems etc... all explained in the workbook...
Then you upload the files via FTP to your assigned tutor and they will mark your work also give detailed feedback on how to improve etc...
then you move onto the next topic...

I completed the Foundation in Digital Photography in 22 Months, you are allowed 24 months to complete the course... Nobody chases the work so you have to be quite disciplined and set your own deadlines to complete each topic...

At the end you receive a written report on your overall work and a certificate from AP Magazine...

Now moved onto this phototraining4u.com learning more about the actual shooting techniques and skills..

:thumbs:
 
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