Schooling Options

[jaybyrd28]

Hello-
My name is Jason and I've been pretty passionate about photography my whole life. I recently decided that I wanted to pursue a career in it. I have a fairly natural gift for shot selection and editing but I'm sorely lacking in the mechanics of photography.

In particular I'm not able to take advantage of even 1/4 of the features on my Nikon due to being a more visual/instructional learner than a reading one. Sorry for the lengthy intro :blushing:, onto the question.

I started researching photography classes to learn things like camera operation and shot composition. So far I've found several 2-4 year programs that teach what I want to learn but these programs also contain:

a) Things I don't feel I need.
b) They're fairly expensive.

Are there workshops or seminars that can teach these skills which would encompass less time/money? I already have a BA in another field and quite honestly I've found it rather useless in application past the actual getting of a job.

I don't want to sacrifice quality of instruction obviously. Just trying to explore all my educational options. Thanks in advance for any replies. Much appreciated.

Jason

 

[Nasir]

IMO, the technical aspects that you will need can be learned through simply reading a good book and putting it in practice.

However, if you more of a visual learner, you might want to enroll in a one semester class at your local community college. Sure, the quality of the instruction won't be on-par with more expensive classes, but it will certainly teach you how to take pictures with manual settings and give you enough knowledge so that you can master it on your own with practice.

As for Composition... I am a firm believer that "good" composition cannot be taught. Sure, you can learn things like DOF and the rule of thirds, etc. but that can learned with an hour of reading online. If you want to master composition, take 10,000 exposures and make sure to learn from them - what you did well, what didn't work. Meanwhile, study as many professional photographs as you can until your eyes bleed and learn from them. Maybe even try to imitate the ones you like. I can guarantee you that after that, your composition will be drastically improved.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Do you have access to a a school that offers individual classes?...something like weekend or evening classes at a community college for example?

That would be a good option to investigate, and shouldn't be too expensive to try out.

What sort of photography are you considering? For many types, formal schooling will probably be a small advantage at a large cost of time & money. Real world experience will usually be your best source of information. And besides, photography isn't a career that requires certification.

If you are thinking of running your own company, then business education would probably be a good or better idea. A good salesman who is an average photographer, is probably going to be more successful (wealthy) than a great photographer who is a poor salesman.

 

[Bifurcator]

Schooling options: The VERY best in all the world hands down:

Google, Yahoo, or other search engine, and
YouTube.

 

[icassell]

Another possibility might be on-line learning. A friend of mine did the full NYIP (NY Institute of Photography) course and loved it -- and came out of it a pretty good photographer. There was lots of interaction.