Which course would you take?

macs

macs

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Rich
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I have been keen on photography for a few years and have been driving my wife mad trying to get the best out of a middle of the road compact. Last month i treated myself to a Nikon DSLR and would like to learn some more tips and tricks on using that. To achieve this I have been thinking about taking a course and have found a couple locally - 1 is a one day course run by an independant company and is biased towards learning about the camera and its controls whilst the other is 4 evening sessions and run by a local college and is a good mix hands on photography with tasks for the next session and image manipulation.

As I don't really know what i'm doing with post processing I think the college one would be best but I wonder if i'll get the best knowledge and tips on actually using the camera and photography oportunities from the independant company - can anyone advise me or is it just something I will need to decide for myself?
 
I have done many open university courses, try them.

Also there are many people such as

http://www.adrianoakes.com/

He gives talks to our club see his site, I have booked him privately to give me training on Photoshop, his charge, one to one inc travel, £25 PH, that is dirt cheap for a pro.

Look around.
 
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I would have thought that you'd get more personal attention on the independent course, and as it's a full day thing, it'll be hands on. College courses are great (i've done a darkroom course as well as city and guilds at level 2 and 3), but you are likely to be one of 15 - 20 people in a classroom for 2-3 hours of an evening when you might well be knackered. having assignment is good though, they'll help you to think differently and photograph things you wouldn't normally.
Pro's and cons I suppose, it all depends on how much time you have to commit, and how much Money you want to spend on it.
 
I wish the independent ones had an element of image manipulation then I would definitely do one of those as I suspect they will be more creative.

I'm in Nottingham so if anyone can recommend a course in the east midlands area that would be ideal...
 
As you have only just purchased this camera my advice would be to go out and practice with it, get used to what relates to what such as ISO-shutter speed -and aperture and leave the finer setting alone initially. If you went on a course on how to get the best out of the camera I suspect you would be bombarded with so much information half of it would be forgotten by the next day.

As for post processing I mainly use Adobe Elements 9 (new version is Elements 10). Within elements you can always use the help files which go through with videos on what your trying to do via a direct link to Adobe.

Anyway thats what I would do with a camera I am unfamiliar with, if thats any help

Realspeed
 
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Hi,

I have just been researching this myself and the prices vary widely. I have just been bought a course for Xmas, in Wiltshire with photography workshops. Will let you know how I get on...

www.photographyworkshops.co.uk

TEHI
 
Beent thinking about doing something like these myself, fine with motorsport but would want more from say a wedding or portrait stuff. it sounds like the independent one would be better to get to grips with the camera controls more.

or there is always free advice on here, post up some shots and people will give advice on what to change.
 
I got my first camera in August this year and I spent hours on YouTube watching tutorials and then practicing on my camera. I would of liked to of gone on a course but I set myself the challenge of teaching myself, and this week I've had my first piece of Photography work togging a dress rehearsal and a panto for a school :) Was very hard but valuable experience and the staff and students love the photos and want to buy some :D
 
Google is your best friend!
learn the basics, go out practice,identify problems, come back and research again.
Also, When I was learning, I found looking at the Exif on flickr very useful, try analysing why the photographer used this particular setting, what effect does it have on the outcome etc.

you can learn a lot from just reading guides online, I wouldn't advise on taking any big money courses unless there's a specific field of photography you'd like to explore.

Of course, that's just my opinion :)

Enjoy your new camera!
 
edthesock said:
Cheers for the link geezer. Did you do any photoshop with them?
Click to expand...

No I have not done any photoshop with them yet but if their other courses are anything to go by then it should be up to scratch.

I use Aperture 3 for post processing and apple do a free pro lab course :)
 
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