Online photography education ideas?

[Ryan Hall]

I'm considering enrolling in the Photography Institute's online class when I have the money on hand. Has anyone here taken their online class. Are there any other online classes you could recommend?

Thanks!

Ryan

 

[rdzmzda]

in my opinion thye arent going to teach you anything more than what a whole bunch of reading and taking photos is going to teach you posting on here for critiques looking at good photos and see why yours are or are not there etc.... i think in person would teach you a lot more than online but i dunno never taken the course at the end of the day it couldnt hurt but you may get more enjoyment out of doing a lot of reading and saving that money and buying an awesome lens

 

[bradsperry]

that is going to be a "point of view" answer. if you want to get serious and try to make money in this profession ..... look at the background of who your instructor will be if you take ANY course. my answer to you ... any course would be better than just buying books, taking pictures and posting on any forum.... why? .... in a curiculum based course your going to be inspired and taught through theory and positive feedback, which you will very seldom get on a web based site such as a forum. yes, sometimes you will get positive feedback from such a site/forum, but ... the hard fact is the majority of the time the feedback you will get is biased and unjustified and 75% of the time there will be a response with no information how to change or how to do it better. the chances of somebody with honest credentials being on a forum are small, although the possibility is there.
if your just looking for a hobby and to be a better photographer .... well..... books, magazines, taking pictures and posting them on a forum for unprofessional slaughtering would probably be the cheaper and better route for you.

 

[rdzmzda]

jeez brad you completely bashed my opinion haha im taking you off my friends list....ok j/k no ok i agree with you for a hardcore professional it would be beneficial to go through a "LEGIT" instructor someone that actually gets the idea....

 

[bradsperry]

jeez brad you completely bashed my opinion haha im taking you off my friends list....ok j/k no ok i agree with you for a hardcore professional it would be beneficial to go through a "LEGIT" instructor someone that actually gets the idea....

lol ..... sorry, no bashing intended. that was not directed at you. it's just that forums tend to have a "negative" feedback and it tends to push new photographers away.... not giving them a reason to try more.

 

[Overread]

Meh I tend to find forums as a good place to learn and develop - never really had a bashing problem - a lot of it can be how you present your work and deal with responces (often I read replies that are factual and harsh, not unkind, but they are written in a factual manner rather than a conversational one - often these get taken as an insult then the thread tends to die)

AS for courses - if you going to pay I would say the best thing is to find some way of learning in person rather than online. Online is always retrospective and the people advising can't be there when you take the shot - they can't tell you what sort of lighting your in and how best to approach it. That is a limitation and it takes longer to learn this way (I find) as you have to make every single mistake and can't avoid them.