Beginner What would beginners want covered in a photography course?

Tobers

Tobers

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I’ve been asked to run some photography courses up here on the Isle of Skye. This is pro-bono, and likely no charge for attendees, maybe bar a few quid to cover tea/coffee/venue.

I’m planning on two 6-part courses, classroom + practical work, one for beginners and one for advanced. The venue has a high ceiling studio which is rather nice, as well as classroom space, screen, projector etc.

I’m canvassing far & wide for opinions on what beginners would like to get from a course like this. I’ve got some ideas already, but I’m keen to get feedback and ensure I’m not missing something, and am slanting the course in the right direction (e.g. more practical versus classroom or vice versa).

Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance.
 
I should have thought something like:
Basic use of camera
Effect of aperture
Effect of shutter speed
Effect of ISO
How to choose the right lens
Composition with a wide angle
Composition with a standard/short telephoto
Composition with a longer telephoto
How to photograph a person
How to photograph a landscape
How to photograph a building
How to photograph a moving object (runner, car, dog etc)
Image saving and storage inc back-up
Getting the best from basic post-processing
Basic review image formats and printing
Posting pictures to the internet
 
I hadn’t thought of posting to the internet (and Insta etc) so that’s a good addition thanks.

I’m also wondering about including a session early on about “what makes a good photograph” which will be highly subjective but probably very interesting especially if people bring along some images that are very memorable for them.
 
Genres (and how there are massively different needs in terms of equipment, preparation, etc.)
Thinking about what you choose to take a photo of
Rules to follow and that they can be broken
 
Tobers said:
I’m also wondering about including a session early on about “what makes a good photograph” which will be highly subjective but probably very interesting especially if people bring along some images that are very memorable for them.
Click to expand...
“What makes a good photograph” is a very touchy topic, especially if you develop it around personal photos you ask attendees to submit. The way the session goes may put off some people from continuing, out of disappointment/bad feelings right from the start. I do not see the added value of such a sensitive subject with beginners coming to learn how to use a camera. I would stick to the technical topics as suggested by ancient_mariner and, if you absolutely want to discuss the subject (but why?), keep “What makes a good photograph” for the very end.
 
Thanks for all this.

Mastering the technical side of a camera is definitely on the agenda. Exposure triangle and all that. Different camera systems and terminology is a good shout.

I am interested in what makes the course attendees tick and why they want to learn more. Is it just to photograph their kids, or take beautiful otter pictures, or something else. Their motivations will be interesting in order to tailor the following sessions a bit.

Maybe a good question for you all would be "what did you wish someone told you when you first started photography?"
 
Pound Coin said:
Genres (and how there are massively different needs in terms of equipment, preparation, etc.)
Thinking about what you choose to take a photo of
Rules to follow and that they can be broken
Click to expand...
Different approaches for different genres is a nice approach. What's needed for sport, portrait, landscape, still life...and why are those needs different.
 
Tobers said:
Maybe a good question for you all would be "what did you wish someone told you when you first started photography?"
Click to expand...

How to use the camera. I was quite small when I started with an 'empire-made' camera of some description. Followed the pictograms for exposure (presumably controlling aperture) and went at it.

As an adult, I've had questions about the gear, about processing, about formats of files and colour space, about how to process and get a particular look, but have always managed to find answers. I might have benefitted if someone had helped me use a wide angle or a telephoto, if they'd walked me through some compositional tricks, but perhaps not. As much as anything I'd say you want to give people the basic skills to use the kit plus a few pointers about composition, light and subject.
 
I ran them for a few years at a local night school 'till COVID killed it and the feedback was well received.

Some things I learned. I have no idea what your teaching experience is, so forgive me if this is a bit egg-sucky.

For many people this will be their first formal education since school. They may be nervous and anxious about meeting new people and being in an unfamiliar environment. Don't be nervous. Put them at ease. Learn their names and use them. That way they learn everyone else's name and they become a group rather than a bunch of individuals.

Everyone is there for a different reason. You'll get gifted and talented beginners who just want to know how to take nice pictures off auto because someone told them that's what they needed to learn, old blow hards who are going 'cause it's free and they can teach the teacher a thing or two as well as everyone else in the class. Some people want critique, some people don't want critique. Some people who've been gifted a nice camera by their spouse and have no clue how to use it but feel like they should even though they are happiest with their phone... The list goes on. On the 1st lesson, have them tell you why they are there and what they want from the course. Make notes and adapt your lesson plans accordingly.

Don't get too technical with beginners. Not all of them will be there for that. Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length and maybe white balance and that's about it. On the beginners course, about half the class would glaze over when I started talking about stops so I left that for intermediate. If you've been working with the exposure triangle for years it's easy to forget how confusing it can be to someone who doesn't know. I once had to try and explain how 1/4 second was half of 1/2 second because someone just didn't understand it.

Stress in the course blurb that students need their camera manual with them. You will be surprised at the age and variety of cameras they bring and when they don't know how to change the shutter speed, or set auto ISO, or some other setting, they'll be looking to you. If it's Canikon you'll probably be good, but someone will eventually give you a camera that will make you pause. On Advanced it'll be worse. Trying to turn off exposure preview on an unfamiliar camera, during sessions with flash is frustrating and just gobbles time.

Have a goal. I set my students a project based on themes and by the end of the course, they had to produce an A1 mountboard with their images stuck on it (example: https://www.flickr.com/gp/harlequin565/10724j3664) It keeps students focussed, and forces them to practise. On the last lesson, it shows them how good they are because these boards always looked great. Fired them up for the next course too.

Have a good mix of theory vs practical. I broke my lessons down into theory for the 1st hour, then a 30min practical with a 30min review of their memory cards using their own images to reinforce what had been taught in the beginning.

I got really good feedback for hitting a balance of technical vs creative and it was something I strived for. The techy people liked the creative stuff and the creative people struggled with the techy stuff.

My lesson plans:
Beginners
1 - Intro: Different types of cameras, different parts of a camera, what makes a good photo. Task: Introduce themselves, "Notice things" challenge. Homework: Upload icebreaker to Flickr
2 - Project & Research: talk about themes, image review of pro photographer work around those themes to give ideas. Task: Class review of icebreakers
3 - Shutter Speed & ISO. Task: ICM 1 second exposures. Homework: Bring a portable subject next week.
4 - Aperture, Focus & DoF. Task: photos of portable subject with different apertures. Group review of "where you are" with your project.
5 - Exposure & metering. Explain how cameras meter, exposure compensation, lightmeter app. Task: Bag of themes game (pick a theme, shoot it, class has to guess the theme)
6 - Lenses, focal length & composition: crop factors, compositional tools (not rules), Task: Use a compositional tool, class has to guess what it is.
7 - Gear & Critique: Tripods, filters, software, apps. Crit vs feedback. Task: Class gives feedback on images - what they like, what they don't like.
8 - Review: Discussion of the different genres (portrait, landscape, street, documentary etc). Task: Project board reviews

OK, I've really gone on a bit with this... The Intermediate & Advanced courses were really just building on the blocks from the beginners course. I had one session on studio lights, one session on night photography and a lot more focus on research and creative thinking. A bit more detail too like raw vs jpeg, software workflow, the benefit of contact sheets etc.

Hopefully you can take what you like from this lot. Good luck. It's hugely rewarding - especially when you get those beginners who are clearly far better than you and begin to create some fantastic work.

Shutting up now...
 
Last edited:
Harlequin565 said:
I ran them for a few years at a local night school 'till COVID killed it and the feedback was well received.

Some things I learned. I have no idea what your teaching experience is, so forgive me if this is a bit egg-sucky.

For many people this will be their first formal education since school. They may be nervous and anxious about meeting new people and being in an unfamiliar environment. Don't be nervous. Put them at ease. Learn their names and use them. That way they learn everyone else's name and they become a group rather than a bunch of individuals.

Everyone is there for a different reason. You'll get gifted and talented beginners who just want to know how to take nice pictures off auto because someone told them that's what they needed to learn, old blow hards who are going 'cause it's free and they can teach the teacher a thing or two as well as everyone else in the class. Some people want critique, some people don't want critique. Some people who've been gifted a nice camera by their spouse and have no clue how to use it but feel like they should even though they are happiest with their phone... The list goes on. On the 1st lesson, have them tell you why they are there and what they want from the course. Make notes and adapt your lesson plans accordingly.

Don't get too technical with beginners. Not all of them will be there for that. Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length and maybe white balance and that's about it. On the beginners course, about half the class would glaze over when I started talking about stops so I left that for intermediate. If you've been working with the exposure triangle for years it's easy to forget how confusing it can be to someone who doesn't know. I once had to try and explain how 1/4 second was half of 1/2 second because someone just didn't understand it.

Stress in the course blurb that students need their camera manual with them. You will be surprised at the age and variety of cameras they bring and when they don't know how to change the shutter speed, or set auto ISO, or some other setting, they'll be looking to you. If it's Canikon you'll probably be good, but someone will eventually give you a camera that will make you pause. On Advanced it'll be worse. Trying to turn off exposure preview on an unfamiliar camera, during sessions with flash is frustrating and just gobbles time.

Have a goal. I set my students a project based on themes and by the end of the course, they had to produce an A1 mountboard with their images stuck on it (example: https://www.flickr.com/gp/harlequin565/10724j3664) It keeps students focussed, and forces them to practise. On the last lesson, it shows them how good they are because these boards always looked great. Fired them up for the next course too.

Have a good mix of theory vs practical. I broke my lessons down into theory for the 1st hour, then a 30min practical with a 30min review of their memory cards using their own images to reinforce what had been taught in the beginning.

I got really good feedback for hitting a balance of technical vs creative and it was something I strived for. The techy people liked the creative stuff and the creative people struggled with the techy stuff.

My lesson plans:
Beginners
1 - Intro: Different types of cameras, different parts of a camera, what makes a good photo. Task: Introduce themselves, "Notice things" challenge. Homework: Upload icebreaker to Flickr
2 - Project & Research: talk about themes, image review of pro photographer work around those themes to give ideas. Task: Class review of icebreakers
3 - Shutter Speed & ISO. Task: ICM 1 second exposures. Homework: Bring a portable subject next week.
4 - Aperture, Focus & DoF. Task: photos of portable subject with different apertures. Group review of "where you are" with your project.
5 - Exposure & metering. Explain how cameras meter, exposure compensation, lightmeter app. Task: Bag of themes game (pick a theme, shoot it, class has to guess the theme)
6 - Lenses, focal length & composition: crop factors, compositional tools (not rules), Task: Use a compositional tool, class has to guess what it is.
7 - Gear & Critique: Tripods, filters, software, apps. Crit vs feedback. Task: Class gives feedback on images - what they like, what they don't like.
8 - Review: Discussion of the different genres (portrait, landscape, street, documentary etc). Task: Project board reviews

OK, I've really gone on a bit with this... The Intermediate & Advanced courses were really just building on the blocks from the beginners course. I had one session on studio lights, one session on night photography and a lot more focus on research and creative thinking. A bit more detail too like raw vs jpeg, software workflow, the benefit of contact sheets etc.

Hopefully you can take what you like from this lot. Good luck. It's hugely rewarding - especially when you get those beginners who are clearly far better than you and begin to create some fantastic work.

Shutting up now...
Click to expand...
Stonking! I choked a bit when it got to tripods & filters, which sounded like a step or two too far, but apart from that ...!
 
Oh, and a couple more things if you've not taught before.

Really encourage questions. If you see someone frowning at something you said, ask them directly if they're ok, 'cos they're probably not. Tell them it's not that they are stupid, it's just that you explained it badly.

If you're running the course again, get feedback. As a subject expert you can forget how some things are automatic to you. As part of my teacher training, we had to "teach" how to make a cup of tea and every single person missed something out. Feedback will highlight the things you need to focus on.

Be prepared for people missing a lesson. Life gets in the way especially for adults. Worse is when they miss 2 weeks. I had a backup "text" document I could send to people to catch them up for each lesson - usually with youtube videos embedded.

You can be wrong - especially with the feedback. Encourage different opinions on images and be prepared to accept them. Having someone disagree with you about an image is good because it encourages others to speak out too and develop their own "vision" rather than everyone walking out with one single 'Instagram' view of what makes a good photograph.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Oh, and a couple more things if you've not taught before.

Really encourage questions. If you see someone frowning at something you said, ask them directly if they're ok, 'cos they're probably not. Tell them it's not that they are stupid, it's just that you explained it badly.
Click to expand...

That is a really good point.
I use to say (not in photography) that the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask.
That was always valid, from training apprentices to training adults in different fields.
Being able to ask questions is really important to learning and understanding.
 
Harlequin565 said:
I ran them for a few years at a local night school 'till COVID killed it and the feedback was well received.

Some things I learned. I have no idea what your teaching experience is, so forgive me if this is a bit egg-sucky.

For many people this will be their first formal education since school. They may be nervous and anxious about meeting new people and being in an unfamiliar environment. Don't be nervous. Put them at ease. Learn their names and use them. That way they learn everyone else's name and they become a group rather than a bunch of individuals.

Everyone is there for a different reason. You'll get gifted and talented beginners who just want to know how to take nice pictures off auto because someone told them that's what they needed to learn, old blow hards who are going 'cause it's free and they can teach the teacher a thing or two as well as everyone else in the class. Some people want critique, some people don't want critique. Some people who've been gifted a nice camera by their spouse and have no clue how to use it but feel like they should even though they are happiest with their phone... The list goes on. On the 1st lesson, have them tell you why they are there and what they want from the course. Make notes and adapt your lesson plans accordingly.

Don't get too technical with beginners. Not all of them will be there for that. Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focal length and maybe white balance and that's about it. On the beginners course, about half the class would glaze over when I started talking about stops so I left that for intermediate. If you've been working with the exposure triangle for years it's easy to forget how confusing it can be to someone who doesn't know. I once had to try and explain how 1/4 second was half of 1/2 second because someone just didn't understand it.

Stress in the course blurb that students need their camera manual with them. You will be surprised at the age and variety of cameras they bring and when they don't know how to change the shutter speed, or set auto ISO, or some other setting, they'll be looking to you. If it's Canikon you'll probably be good, but someone will eventually give you a camera that will make you pause. On Advanced it'll be worse. Trying to turn off exposure preview on an unfamiliar camera, during sessions with flash is frustrating and just gobbles time.

Have a goal. I set my students a project based on themes and by the end of the course, they had to produce an A1 mountboard with their images stuck on it (example: https://www.flickr.com/gp/harlequin565/10724j3664) It keeps students focussed, and forces them to practise. On the last lesson, it shows them how good they are because these boards always looked great. Fired them up for the next course too.

Have a good mix of theory vs practical. I broke my lessons down into theory for the 1st hour, then a 30min practical with a 30min review of their memory cards using their own images to reinforce what had been taught in the beginning.

I got really good feedback for hitting a balance of technical vs creative and it was something I strived for. The techy people liked the creative stuff and the creative people struggled with the techy stuff.

My lesson plans:
Beginners
1 - Intro: Different types of cameras, different parts of a camera, what makes a good photo. Task: Introduce themselves, "Notice things" challenge. Homework: Upload icebreaker to Flickr
2 - Project & Research: talk about themes, image review of pro photographer work around those themes to give ideas. Task: Class review of icebreakers
3 - Shutter Speed & ISO. Task: ICM 1 second exposures. Homework: Bring a portable subject next week.
4 - Aperture, Focus & DoF. Task: photos of portable subject with different apertures. Group review of "where you are" with your project.
5 - Exposure & metering. Explain how cameras meter, exposure compensation, lightmeter app. Task: Bag of themes game (pick a theme, shoot it, class has to guess the theme)
6 - Lenses, focal length & composition: crop factors, compositional tools (not rules), Task: Use a compositional tool, class has to guess what it is.
7 - Gear & Critique: Tripods, filters, software, apps. Crit vs feedback. Task: Class gives feedback on images - what they like, what they don't like.
8 - Review: Discussion of the different genres (portrait, landscape, street, documentary etc). Task: Project board reviews

OK, I've really gone on a bit with this... The Intermediate & Advanced courses were really just building on the blocks from the beginners course. I had one session on studio lights, one session on night photography and a lot more focus on research and creative thinking. A bit more detail too like raw vs jpeg, software workflow, the benefit of contact sheets etc.

Hopefully you can take what you like from this lot. Good luck. It's hugely rewarding - especially when you get those beginners who are clearly far better than you and begin to create some fantastic work.

Shutting up now...
Click to expand...

Harlequin565 said:
Oh, and a couple more things if you've not taught before.

Really encourage questions. If you see someone frowning at something you said, ask them directly if they're ok, 'cos they're probably not. Tell them it's not that they are stupid, it's just that you explained it badly.

If you're running the course again, get feedback. As a subject expert you can forget how some things are automatic to you. As part of my teacher training, we had to "teach" how to make a cup of tea and every single person missed something out. Feedback will highlight the things you need to focus on.

Be prepared for people missing a lesson. Life gets in the way especially for adults. Worse is when they miss 2 weeks. I had a backup "text" document I could send to people to catch them up for each lesson - usually with youtube videos embedded.

You can be wrong - especially with the feedback. Encourage different opinions on images and be prepared to accept them. Having someone disagree with you about an image is good because it encourages others to speak out too and develop their own "vision" rather than everyone walking out with one single 'Instagram' view of what makes a good photograph.
Click to expand...

Absolutely superb advice, many thanks. Lots to digest there and incorporate. Getting the group to feel like a group is a key point as well.

How many did you normally have in your classes? How many was too many? I’m thinking of a limit of 10 for the first round.
 
Tobers said:
How many did you normally have in your classes? How many was too many? I’m thinking of a limit of 10 for the first round.
Click to expand...

The classes were booked full at 15 I think with a long waiting list (this was a health & safety limit the college had). We usually had 1-2 no-shows for the whole course and 2 or 3 would drop out - mostly due to real life busy-ness, lack of childcare etc. I think I only had one course that had a full compliment from start to finish.

If you've never taught before, go low to begin with until you get used to handling a class. It's all in the marketing and if done well, you will get far more applicants than you have spots. For me, anything over 15 would have meant going a lot faster as the questions do slow you down considerably. You get less time to devote to individuals, and the whole thing stops becoming a tight social environment where you can really help people, and begins to become a broad brush canvas where you hope that as many as possible get the message.

The great thing about a classroom environment (instead of watching youtube tutorials) is that folks get to see how others approach the same subject and begin to get inspired, or understand that there are different ways to do the same thing.

Oh and handouts... I got great feedback on my handouts (https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/starting-a-business.724513/page-2#post-9065322) but folks were paying for the course so it was kind of expected. They are a lot of work but worth it.
 
That’s great thanks. Maybe I’ll go for 10 people max to start with.

I’ve done plenty of public speaking, giving talks at camera clubs, etc, so very comfortable with that side of it.

Noted re handouts - will have to ponder that one. I don’t want it to take over my life :)
 
As a totally beginner I agree with everything in this thread so far - aligning the theory to the practical application for me at least is key, eg a bird in flight or a sports game shutter speed being the most important, vs where I can trade off aperture vs shutter speed in darker scenarios etc (I’m aware that may make no sense as I am a total beginner but hopefully illustrates the point)

One thing that I am finding intimidating as a newcomer is the concept of raw images instead of JPEG’s, and with that the need to feel competent with software to make my pictures ‘good’

I’ve come to a slow realisation that much of what I see online likely isn’t how it came out of the camera, especially colours, high and low lights etc. and actually learning how to maximise my shots is going to be key.
Maybe too ambitious for beginners, but I, at some point, would also want to know the workflows/process to process images on my phone instead of laptop - unfortunately I’m in the camp of wanting to share far and wide quickly, and when I’m holiday or travelling it’s rare I’d have a laptop to edit
 
RAW v jpeg and how postprocessing works is definitely on the list. I’ve found inexperienced photographers can be astounded by what can be done with an image.

Thanks for your input.
 
Dadofsam said:
I’ve come to a slow realisation that much of what I see online likely isn’t how it came out of the camera, especially colours, high and low lights etc. and actually learning how to maximise my shots is going to be key.
Maybe too ambitious for beginners, but I, at some point, would also want to know the workflows/process to process images on my phone instead of laptop - unfortunately I’m in the camp of wanting to share far and wide quickly, and when I’m holiday or travelling it’s rare I’d have a laptop to edit
Click to expand...

Don't be afraid of processing, it's really not *that* difficult. You can also usually save your pictures as both jpg and raw format at the same time, so one can be used as a guide to help you with the other.

Start a thread about it if you'd like more help.
 
First course I went on was at a RSPB site - and I was confused right from the outset. If they're real beginners, then keep the first part really simple. By all means explain the triangle of ISO / Aperture / Shutter Speed - but don't start confusing people with stuff like 'wide open / wide aperture'. Just - 'smaller the number, smaller the depth of field'. And so on.

I came away baffled.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Don't be afraid of processing, it's really not *that* difficult. You can also usually save your pictures as both jpg and raw format at the same time, so one can be used as a guide to help you with the other.

Start a thread about it if you'd like more help.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the offer - first stop is getting a camera and then I’ve no doubt a thread will follow shortly after that
 
Bodian said:
First course I went on was at a RSPB site - and I was confused right from the outset. If they're real beginners, then keep the first part really simple. By all means explain the triangle of ISO / Aperture / Shutter Speed - but don't start confusing people with stuff like 'wide open / wide aperture'. Just - 'smaller the number, smaller the depth of field'. And so on.

I came away baffled.
Click to expand...
It's understandable. Photographers randomly say "you need a wide aperture" and then someone else will say "a wide depth of field". It's totally confusing for a beginner and totally normal to be confused. Only practise with it will help. The common "instinct" I discovered is for people to make the aperture "bigger" by turning a wheel "up" (to the right) which makes the f number go up, but the actual aperture goes down.

I did find a really good chart on the internet showing it in picture form which was much easier than trying to explain it without. Also had a couple of battered M42 50mm lenses to pass round so people could physically interact with it and see what happens because you can't see it on most digital cameras. That helped a lot.
 
I've never run a course on photography in my life but bear with me on this because I think it's highly relevant to the original questions...

Many years ago, I was asked to give a set of courses for a very large company that was converting from IBM mainframes to a largely Unix environment. There were four groups to be covered: front office staff, accountants, engineers and developers. Each course was carefully tailored to the participants' needs and I went through the agendas for each course very carefully with the training managers.

All went well with the first three groups and the feedback sheets were entirely positive. Then came the developers. Everyone seemed happy apart from one attendee, an older man who sat in a front corner seat, scribling furiously and never asking a question. Come the end of the course and once again, the feedback was very positive - except for one sheet which boiled down to "this was rubbish". At the end of each course I met with the senior training manager and we held a brief postmortem, so this time I handed him the complaint first. He looked at it, frowned, checked something on his terminal and sighed heavily.

"That's our fault", he said, "he shouldn't have been on that course. He was off work when you ran the office staff course. He's not far off retirment and very good on office management but he seems to think that it all went wrong when quill pens were replaced!"

I learnt a critical lesson from that fiasco: get feedback at the end of each session and don't wait to the end of the course to discover that an attendee hasn't understood a word you've said!

Nikon F 1991 59-12.jpg
 
Asking for feedback at the end of every session is a really good idea. Especially when I’m doing the first ones. I’ll add that to the list, thanks!
 
I am very much not qualified to give anyone tips on running a photography course. But I could perhaps just mention something which has not been discussed in the excellent advice above.

Learning styles. Everyone has an approach to how they learn most easily, and it is often described as VAK (Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic - bit of a mouthful, hence VAK). See It, or Hear It, or Do It. People have a balance between these. Some people find all three equally easy; others favour one or two. I find it very difficult to assimilate things I hear, but can remember pictures and really remember things I physically do. My wife finds it really easy to remember things people say.

If you can provide all three for a topic, your message should be received by all the audience.

Classical "Chalk and Talk", or nowadays "Death by Powerpoint" with a commentary, picks up the first two styles. The third needs a lot more care, but often it is the key difference between good and great.

Good luck!
 
That’s great advice. I plan on interspersing key points with practical work, and you’ve reinforced that I need to focus on that.
 
I have been evolved in photography since I was ten years old mostly professionally. I am now 90 and still in step with most new developments.

However I would be hesitant to suggest I know what people want or need to be taught about photography.

There is no doubt at all that most people start their photographic journey today with a smart phone.
They need to know nothing about photography, but can still capture outstanding images.
Many of them get involved with beauty filters and the like, and other bottled effects.

When they move on it is usually because of the need to improve their photography and video techniques to the now ubiquitous vlog, blog and other social media purposes.very few look to club, wild life, architectural, street, portrait or other conventional still photography specialities.
Fewer still ever learn or feel the need to understand specialist post processing techniques such as available in Photoshop.

People earn a good living feeding Facebook with no more than a phone, GoPro, drone or other action camera. Most of these never learn any thing that a traditional photographer would consider essential. What they have in common is their ability to communicate, and draw in their chosen audience. Few still photographers ever learn these essential skills.

Most specialist still photographers have a remarkably small audience for their images. Forums like this one are a dying breed. Markets for still images continue to shrink by the day. Sales of advanced cameras are just about holding their own but it is a remarkably small market, and it is not growing.

As to courses, I would suggest that where the skills need to be improved , and the biggest market lays, is mainly to do with social media,
This would include three main areas.
Drone photography
Video photography for YouTube and the like
And action photography including with action cameras.
Along side all of these is sound recording, editing, scripting and lighting. All of which are essential for quality presentation.

However what makes for a popular youtuber is communication skills, something that people want to see, hear, learn or be amused by, and most of all an appealing personality.
Photography is just the packaging.or media.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I should have thought something like:
Basic use of camera
Effect of aperture
Effect of shutter speed
Effect of ISO
How to choose the right lens
Composition with a wide angle
Composition with a standard/short telephoto
Composition with a longer telephoto
How to photograph a person
How to photograph a landscape
How to photograph a building
How to photograph a moving object (runner, car, dog etc)
Image saving and storage inc back-up
Getting the best from basic post-processing
Basic review image formats and printing
Posting pictures to the internet
Click to expand...
This is pretty much EXACTLY what I would want
 
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