On Line Photography Course

[bayoung]

I have recently been given the opportunity to change careers and I would love to take pictures for a living. I have called a few studios that were hiring but a portfolio wasn't good enough, they wanted to see some schooling. I'm currently looking for a good mentor to see if I can hack it in the photography business but I would like to show that I'm taking some sort of schooling to go along with it. This brings me to my question...Are there any good online or learn at home photography classes that wouldn't get me laughed at when talking to a mentor or a future employer??.

Thanks for any help that comes along.

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[Big Mike]

I've seen a bunch of people sign up for a course at NYIP...but not too many of them finish it. From what I can tell, you really have to be into that type of distance learning...otherwise, it's not very compelling.

[plastii]

If you really need some schooling you can alos try your local park district, community college for some classes. I took a couple of classes at my local park district and I was very happy with it

[BAB]

As plastii mentions, community college courses are a viable resource for photographic education. You might also look into any local 4-year degree programs as well, to see if they might work for you. The On-line courses are also a good opportunity and NYIP has been around for along time, but as Big Mike pointed out, on-line learning is not for everyone. If you feel that after an honest assessment of your learning skills and needs, that you have the discipline and independence for on-line learning NYIP, is a good choice. There are other on-line programs as well that you might also look into.

[JerryPH]

Quite honestly... any employer that always exclusively prefers an "education" over years of experience and an excellent portfolio is ripping themselves off.

I am not under-rating what a good education does for someone, but we all know that the REAL education and knowledge comes after the formal education is long over with and real world experience has taken over.

Of course, trying to change a potential employer's mind is a waste of time.

I bet that if someone else came in there with a master's in photography and no real life experience, they would be the first to complain about their lack of real world experience. Sometimes you just can't win!

[bellacat]

I agree Jerry. I have looked into getting my masters in Photography more than once but keep backing away. As much as the degree is something I would like to have it not only costs a ton of money and really won't be the thing IMO get me that job. Portfolio's always speak louder than the degree. Really at this point the only benefit of getting my masters is to teach.

I would definitely look into the local community college. They will always have the basic courses to teach you the ins and outs of working your camera. From there you can figure out what direction you would like to take.

[monkeykoder]

Not a comment on photography classes but online classes in general aren't for people who need a reminder of deadlines (at least in my experience) if you're not a procrastinator you should be fine though a little frustrated but if you're a procrastinator DON'T EVEN TRY IT.