Business Venture - Photography Classes

[gimp]

You might try approaching your local school's continuing ed. division about offering photo classes in the evening or weekends. I have been teaching photo classes at my local school for about 3 years. The class runs about 15 or 18 hours over a 5 or 6 week period three times a year. It is appropriate for beginners and intermediate photographers and covers all the basic principles of photography both digital and film. The cost is kept very reasonable, about $95. There is a great deal of material available as teaching aids on the internet. It has been great fun for me and makes a bit of money to support my hobby. Good luck!

 

[holga girl]

As opposed to Larry the Cable Guy -- the cable company provides a specific service that the ordinary person CANNOT do nor can find a substitute (other than renting movies and watching network TV). Same thing with jewelery, or camera lenses, or shoes (well, maybe not some shoes).

larry the cable guy is a comedian

 

[Artograph]

Where do I sign up!!!????? LOL!!

Great idea!!!! ...I'd love to have that here!

:O)

 

[jenie_penny]

I think it is a great idea! I only do photography as a hobby mostly, or when the company I work for sends me to go take pictures of buildings completed, however it has been years since I studied photography in my college courses and I would consider a refresher course in my area, maybe one that's past the basics of apeture and f-stops, but will dive deeper into the principles of lighting and portraits. Lighting I think is where my knowledge has slipped the most...

I think you have a great idea, good luck!

 

[DeepSpring]

I have been giving it a little more thought and I decided to first start out trying a few one time work shops first. I was thinking that a fair amount of people not going to have an SLR or something similar but just want to get better using their point and shoots, some of which don't even have manual controls... I think?

SO anyways I'll try first to target the super beginners which is probably going to be the biggest market. I'll have my normal class set up already tho so after the 1 time workshop they can sign up for the full classes, at a discount because they came to the workshop.

 

[Efergoh]

Might not fly in some areas....

My town's community college has a very involved photography department with very reasonable tuition.

In an art starved community, you could probably make a mint, but it might not be so easy in Los Angeles.
Check out the competition before you jump in with both feet.

 

[sabbath999]

larry the cable guy is a comedian

Allegedly.

 

[Icon72]

As opposed to Larry the Cable Guy -- the cable company provides a specific service that the ordinary person CANNOT do nor can find a substitute (other than renting movies and watching network TV).

Sorry to go of topic but LMAO! :lmao:

If you know of an actual "cable guy" that made $21 million last year you need to tell me where. :mrgreen:


DeepSpring, I think you've got a great idea.

 

[JIP]

Allegedly.

Well you beat me to the punch..........

 

[Iron Flatline]

You know, you live in a town with LOTS of great courses.

Check out what UCLA Extension is doing (keyword; photography). The best (and most popular) course there has got to be Intermediate Digital Photography with Craig Mohr. It's ALWAYS sold out (thus proving your business intuition right.) He is brilliant, and the class is great for skilled SLR users moving from film to digital, but also people who are still learning how to really use all those endless sub-menus in their new dSLRs.

Also, Samy's Camera on Fairfax is building a whole training center. Lots of fun classes, including workshops and a computer lab. But they also offer courses up in Santa Barbara and out in the Valleys.

And the most fun of all is Julia Dean's place out in Venice. I have taken several workshops there, and they are brilliant.

They're all always looking for instructors, maybe you just want to use their infrastructure for a while before setting up your own program...

I really miss Los Angeles. I have yet to find anything comparable in Berlin. I used to take at least one course every quarter year, just to keep my head in photography.

 

[Helen B]

I teach free classes and workshops for various community groups, and if I was interested in getting into it commercially it would be a good way of getting known - it has lead to plenty of requests to do paid teaching. Apart from being enjoyable and rewarding, it also gives me good experience with a variety of equipment and at various levels that I would not have experience of otherwise.

There are times when you get treated disrespectfully because 'if it's free, it can't be good' but those times are rare. One-off free day or weekend workshops and classes work well, but the longer-term free courses have not done so well - there rarely seems to be the same commitment that people give to courses that they have paid handsomely for.

Best,
Helen