Photography courses

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jimmy83

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Can anyone recommend me a photography course that I could do? There is one at my local college for an evening each week NCFE level 1 but reading the description it's looks quite basic.

Thanks all :)
 
Buy mags. Read posts on this site. Research techniques on the net. Look at pics. Learn how others do it. Find your own way. Cheaper than courses, more interesting and much better way to learn your own individual style.
 
AndyB said:
Buy mags. Read posts on this site. Research techniques on the net. Look at pics. Learn how others do it. Find your own way. Cheaper than courses, more interesting and much better way to learn your own individual style.
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Yer I agree, but I would like the idea of actually going to a course I reckon as it will provide me with motivation to study photography for 2-3 hours that night. Doing so at home is ok, but I find to many distractions.
 
jimmy83 said:
Can anyone recommend me a photography course that I could do? There is one at my local college for an evening each week NCFE level 1 but reading the description it's looks quite basic.

Thanks all :)
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nope - buy lanfords basic photography instead
 
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson I believe, cracking book imho.
 
I'm intrigued by peoples negativity to courses and the idea that courses books, mags, forums and playing yourself is far better.

Whilst I do these things, I am fast begging to think that a course would help me too. To have someone piont out problems with my technique etc and show me there and then is an attractive idea.

How about a meet where experienced members mentor noobs?!
 
You can't beat decent education.

Yes, there is a lot you can learn from the internet (some fab tutorials if you have a look on youtube) There is a lot you can learn from books. I have a shelf full and very often go back and refresh different subjects depending on what I'm planning.

But good tuition is also extremely valuable and should be encouraged. I've done the OU course and a tutorial with Mark Cleghorn and now I'm booked on a course with Brett Harkness which I'm really looking forward to.

My own thinking is that knowledge, however gained, is worthwhile and I don't limit myself to the internet.
 
im studying hnd photography at the moment. although the course is only been a couple months so far. and already i have gained a lot of knowledge. i knew it wasnt all going to be running about taking photos. but there is alot of written work and theory to go along with it. which could be frowned upon but i enjoy it as it has its benefits.
plus my instructors were pro photographers for 25 plus years before teaching. so there full of storys, tips, shortcuts, old men jokes which all come in handy. you can learn so much off the internet but nothing beats having someone in front of you describing and teaching.
 
I guess it depends what kind of person you are and how you best absorb information. Personally I am a completely crap student because I want to take each little part I learn and run off to try it on my own without waiting - I dont have enough patience.

So learning by reading and watching suits me better.

Other people learn more effectively with a group to work with at the same pace. In which case a course is ideal but it's then a case of finding the right one that isn't too basic and isn't too advanced.

I've only been doing this seriously for a year and there is loads I still need to learn but I know I wouldn't learn it by doing a course
 
AndyB said:
Buy mags. Read posts on this site. Research techniques on the net. Look at pics. Learn how others do it. Find your own way. Cheaper than courses, more interesting and much better way to learn your own individual style.
Click to expand...

andythilo said:
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson I believe, cracking book imho.
Click to expand...

:agree:

Im one of those people who like to find things out for themselves (what it does,why it does it etc) as i find i actually remember the things i find out !

I went into jessops the other day and got chatting to the sales chap and he said the best way to learn photography is to experiment and MAKE mistakes as you learn more quickly and it sticks in your head more than someone telling you what to do :) hth
 
Jimmy, if it helps I recently attended one of Experience Seminars training days in Haydock and although it was a little too basic for me (should have gone the stage 2 at first) it did actually show me some of the principles and the wherefore and why with the basics that I did find helpful.

Hoping to move onto the next part soon, just need to get some cash together after spending a fortune on kit recently but I would definately recommend it if you are new to this game and just want someone to show you the basics to get you on your way.

Oh by the way the only thing is they are Canon, so if you use Nikon its a no goer im afraid.

Hope this helps anyway
 
Exactly. If a picture comes out bad, those of us wivout the edukashun might take longer to work out why - but we remember once we find out.

Well - most of the time ;-)
 
I would dearly love to go on a course learning about Photshop or similar processing software.
I see some of the effects that people get from what appear, to be fairly honest, rather mundane shots but can turn them into works of art.
Nothing I ever photograph "pops and sizzles" and mainly it's down to my lack of understanding and my inability to get my head around even the most simplistic processing methods.
I can crop, resize and sometimes (if I'm very lucky) get rid of red eye effectively.
But the rest??? It might as well be in Venusian for all I can understand
A very frustrated Smiffy
:'(:'(:'(
 
I have just attended 3 nights of 12 week intro to Digital Photography at local college , about 13 turned up 1st night down to 9 this week .
Its early days yet but I am a little disapointed , not very well structured and lot of time wasting while tutor fails to get comps up and running - having said that PC work is not my first priority , understanding exposure/settings etc is more what I need .
One of the other pupils told me she was bored as she left.
I will give it another week and see if it sparkles for me.
 
I started a course last week, and because I have not been to school for a long time, am quite enjoying learning with like minded people! It's basic, but so what? We all need to learn the basics every now and again!
 
I joined up to my local college last year on a course (3 month/1 evening per week) and for £60 its was excellent it was great meeting people who also enjoyed photography and the course was run by a pro tog best £60 i`ve spent.... I loved it that much i re enrolled!!! LOL

we did`nt faff around with PS as there was a seprate couse for this so i was all about usning your camera and getting the best from it, also went out and cover fireworks/night time shooting and got to use the college studio for potraits.
 
denz said:
I went into jessops the other day and got chatting to the sales chap and he said the best way to learn photography is to experiment and MAKE mistakes as you learn more quickly and it sticks in your head more than someone telling you what to do :) hth
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:bang:

This only works if you understand that you are making mistakes. It also means you have to make the same mistakes everyone else did.

Learning from mistakes is very important, but we learn faster with someone more experienced to guide us on where we need to to improve. This does not mean that we have to do a "course", but it is a valid way of learning. The advantage of doing the course is that it offers a structured approach that if followed (assuming it is a good course) will guide you to acquiring skills and knowledge in a given time (assuming you put in the effort).

I have been learning guitar for years but I learned more in a year of lessons than I did in the previous 6 years "teaching" myself.
 
I have read mags and tutorials and books but I still joined up to a level 1 college course, we are currently going through shutter speeds and apertures which I already know about so they are not at the moment teaching me anything new. HOWEVER we do get set assignemnets which are making me go out and looking at things I wouldn't normally photograph, I was taking pics of the floor and an airvent last week!! So although I am not learning anything new from the techie side of things it is making me get out more and take more photographs and I enjoy just meeting up in person with other people interested in photography once a week, we are learning alot from each other as well as the tutor.
When looking at college courses I googled the name of each of the tutors and choose my course based upon their work.
 
I've done the first 3 weeks of this very course (NCFE Level 1) and it is not as basic as you would think. Yes it does start off teaching what the functions of the camera are for but we have spent 2 weeks learning how to use film cameras and how to develop that film in a proper darkroom.
We were also shown the work of some of the previous years students and it was fantastic, really professional both technically and in how they had produced their portfolios. I was very impressed.
We have a mix of students, some like me who have a reasonable idea of how to take a picture, and some who haven't the foggiest, so it has to cater for everyone in the group to begin with but as we all progress the course becomes far more technical and demanding.
So far I've been very impressed.

Andy
 
For anyone wanting youtube links:

You just need to be quite specific with your searches. I wanted to get some flash techniques so I searched for photography flash and photography strobist. You can also try photography lighting tutorials and that comes up with a host of studio stuff.

So it depends what you want to see rather than me giving specific links. After all you might not want to learn how to cross light with two strobes outdoors :)
 
AliB said:
For anyone wanting youtube links:

You just need to be quite specific with your searches. I wanted to get some flash techniques so I searched for photography flash and photography strobist. You can also try photography lighting tutorials and that comes up with a host of studio stuff.

So it depends what you want to see rather than me giving specific links. After all you might not want to learn how to cross light with two strobes outdoors :)
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Yes - I realised it was a bit of a silly question after I posted it:cuckoo:

Cheers,
Texy
 
Have you considered joining a local photography club.
I see my local club offer various tuition / technique evenings.
 
Smiffy said:
I would dearly love to go on a course learning about Photshop or similar processing software.
I see some of the effects that people get from what appear, to be fairly honest, rather mundane shots but can turn them into works of art.
Nothing I ever photograph "pops and sizzles" and mainly it's down to my lack of understanding and my inability to get my head around even the most simplistic processing methods.
I can crop, resize and sometimes (if I'm very lucky) get rid of red eye effectively.
But the rest??? It might as well be in Venusian for all I can understand
A very frustrated Smiffy
:'(:'(:'(
Click to expand...

Come and Buy my stuff, cos im tooo tight to advertise like everyone else, but if I put a little X at the end, it makes it ok.
 
stop spamming the forums with your employers wares.
 
Wayno said:
I joined up to my local college last year on a course (3 month/1 evening per week) and for £60 its was excellent it was great meeting people who also enjoyed photography and the course was run by a pro tog best £60 i`ve spent.... I loved it that much i re enrolled!!! LOL

we did`nt faff around with PS as there was a seprate couse for this so i was all about usning your camera and getting the best from it, also went out and cover fireworks/night time shooting and got to use the college studio for potraits.
Click to expand...

I've done this before (8 years ago) and i am tempted to do it again. Just for the chance to use the darkroom, and the studio.
 
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