Photography Course

[christian.rudman]

It's not easy, and that is part of the fun. Like clanthar was saying, there is very useful application of photographic degrees, especially in teaching. If I had gone on and finished my 2-year with the community college I went to the very next year I could have been teaching their fundamentals class!

The technical knowledge gained from structured learning environments is not to be ignored. Composition and lighting techniques are things to be learned and it is very helpful to have someone knowledgeable teaching you how to do it. I do not mean to detract from the degree'd photographers on here, merely wanting to keep you from heading off to massive debt (like me) without other alternatives.

And as KmH points out, everyone's learning styles are different. Some can only learn through structure and rigidity and others have to learn off-the-cuff, I'm the latter personally. I find self-education to be one of the most rewarding experiences in personal growth, and that's one thing I personally felt I was missing out on with my photographic classes. Not to mention I was assimilating some of my instructor's aesthetics. :meh:

That all said, go your own way, and don't count photo school out. Brooks Institute in California is a good school to look at too. I would avoid online photo schools like the plague, just my two cents.

Good luck on paving your pathway!

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Universities offer certification programs that teach not only picture taking but also provide eductaion on the business. Sure can't hurt me to attend.

I'm not looking for a photography career by any means, but I'm attending the following courses at my university:
Photography Introduction
Photography Intermediate Lighting Introduction
Studio Lighting Advanced
Business Essentials for Photographers
Digital Image Management

These should take no more than two years and again I just wanna' do this as a hobby.

Good luck. Again, I'll go through the program. "For me" they can teach me much more than I'll learn on my own reading, youtube, or questions in a forum.