What, In Your Opinion, Is THE BEST Online Photography Course For Beginners?

[Derrel]

I think Google was, and is, and likely will be for quite some time in the future, a very valid source for information about photo-related topics. Pick a topic, enter the search terms into a Google search, hit Return, and see what comes up. Peruse the results. Read some of the resulting pages. Watch the resulting videos. Learn.

I second the John Hedgecoe books; he wrote about 32 of them. Dated? Somewhat. Yet still, his books contain and convey some of the _BEST_ photographic instruction ever, as it relates to doing photography using an interchangeable lens, "serious" camera. I've recommended his books for the better part of two decades. I buy them, and give them to people who want to improve their photography technique and understanding. The best $5 you can ever on photographic instruction.

A Pentax Spotmatic, or a Nikon FM, or a Minolta X-700, or a Nikon D5300; the basic camera and lens and flash and photographic techniques have not changed much since the 1960's. Seriously.

 

[SquarePeg]

Understanding Exposure is a great place to start. Once you get the exposure triangle you can pretty much learn by doing. Lynda.com, Kelbyone and Creative Live are my favorite sites for tutorials. If you have Lynda free then I would start there. .

Googling and finding YouTube tutorials can be hit or miss but it will quickly familiarize you with which sources are good and which are a waste of time. Once you find someone who’s style and teaching method work for you, you’re off to the races.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

I wont stand behind one but there are a handful of places I regularly go for info and have learned most of what I need to from these places

Youtube Channels:

• FroKnowsPhoto - Lots of gear reviews which you may not need but lots of nuggets of info
• The Art Of Photography - Perhaps my favorite. Less gear reviews and lots of technique stuff which I really like. He also puts out photo assignments that you can get involved in on a pretty regular basis.
• Matt Day - Film focused which Im into but can really help your BW work and offers a lot of great advice.

Websites:

• Here! This forum is chock full of all the info you will ever need
• PetaPixel - Photo news, links to other articles, solid aggregation of info and a great compilation of stuff.
• FStoppers - Both photo and video info but really great content lots of new stuff all the time and solid advice

Books:

• The 3 classics by Ansel Adams
  • The Print
  • The Negative
  • The Camera
• The Hasselblad manual - Somewhat focused on the Hasselblad V system but lots of great info on photography either way. You can grab a copy on eBay for <5$ if you look around.

 

[keen.observer]

Try nyip.edu - New York Institute Of Photography. It costs, but is worth it. It is approved for VA benefits. Of course, there are many Youtube videos that can help for less money....but they do not issue diplomas. Tony & Chelsea Northrup, Adorama, photofonz, artoftheimage,TheCameraStoreTV, TheSnapChick, Maaeren Hellbron, Eric Rossi, Mike Browne, Jared Polin, and Matt Granger, are among the Youtubers who can give good advice / info on photo gear, and it's uses.

 

[keen.observer]

Countless books, ebooks, audible books, and videos, exist to help. Study: Exposure, Depth Of Field, Lighting, Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, and Composition, to start.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Stepping in quite late here - sorry. I haven´t been much in the forums lately and cleaning my inbox I just found this thread.
May I humbly suggest my youtube channel: PHOTO1x1 Free Photography Course
My goal is to make people understand photography in easy words and examples.