Photography classes?

[romymichelle21]

Whoever might notice, I recently posted a question on the photography boards about a particular camera I would like to consider purchasing. Well... I've had a thought.

Throughout the life of my flimsy little 2 mp Canon, I was behind the lens (or, tiny little screen, rather) for the several years I had it. I'm one of those people who is never IN pictures because I'm taking them. I watch fireworks shows, parades, all the fun stuff - from the little screen. I'm often teased when accompanied to Disneyland/Disney World with significant others that I just stop far too often to take pictures of things!

So I've been asked, why haven't I pursued schooling in some area? Well, nothing has peaked my interest. Not enough to go to school for it, anyway. (I hated school). If I took classes on something - I'd have to really love it! I've been thinking lately - what do I love, exactly? Well, you can't make a living off being a Disney fan! Weddings are great, but it's hard to get started in that area since there's no real schooling or training for it. But photography, hmm... I could take classes on that!

My question is, what are the options for getting into the photography field? I know I couldn't necessarily make money off the things I take pictures of as a hobby, but I'm interested in photographing weddings as well.

Aside from classes/training, my thought was that initially, I could post ads (Craigslist or something similiar) to do wedding or engagement shoots for free. I would prefer that they pay a professional photographer as well - as I would just want the experience, and I'd feel bad if they weren't satisfied with my work. I would give them the photos on a CD (no prints) at no charge as well, and in return - I receive photos I can use for a portfolio or website gallery.

As far as I know, for classes, options are limited. There are community college courses - but in the descriptions I couldn't find mention if they are geared towards film cameras or digital? And I'm purely interested in digital. I also found the website for the Academy of Art University, which is located in San Francisco (I am not!), but they do have online courses and offer AAs, BAs, Masters, and Certificates. This would be great for me (I seem to move a lot...), but when I added up tuition for online courses, it totaled out to $39,600

That may be normal - I have no idea - but I wasn't thinking I necessarily had to do it in a traditional college setting (where I would obviously need lots and lots of financial aid). So, what I'm wondering is, what are the other options, if any? Are there any kinds of private classes - outside of community colleges & art schools? Or could I possibly get away with just setting out on my own and building up experience?

And, for any kind of class (aside from traditional financial aid), is there some kind of grant or loan system for purchasing a camera/laptop/all accessories? I would imagine that anyone going into these classes wouldn't necessarily have all the needed goodies right off the bat! And on that page - do you find that laptops are necessary, or just helpful in any way, in this field?

Ok - I think I'm done - sorry if this is a million and a half questions! I honestly don't know where else to get this information from REAL, experienced people, who can actually write back So please, if you can, post me some tips!

Edit: Some of my photos can be viewed on my DeviantArt account! But please don't take them too seriously - I'd like to think they could've been much better with a nicer camera!! But, just for example's sake... my DeviantArt.

 

[Suburbanmom]

Last October, I took a class in portrait photogaphy at my local rec center. It only cost $54 and I had 6 sessions with a professional commercial photographer who brought in sample lights and sets for us to play with. I got waaaayyyy more that $54 worth of knowledge. Try local community centers or YMCAs. Even the beginner classes could be valuable. Good luck!

 

[MICKEY88]

Aside from classes/training, my thought was that initially, I could post ads (Craigslist or something similiar) to do wedding or engagement shoots for free. I would prefer that they pay a professional photographer as well - as I would just want the experience, and I'd feel bad if they weren't satisfied with my work. I would give them the photos on a CD (no prints) at no charge as well, and in return - I receive photos I can use for a portfolio or website gallery.

my DeviantArt.

the wedding idea sounds interesting, but if they are hiring a professional they trust, why would they want a second photographer... it would complicate the formall poses and most likely cause problems with the photographer they hired..

as for a class, try the New York Institute of Photography, an excellent correspondence course you take at your own pace, and can make monthly payments...

that's how I got started..

as for a laptop, for the most part it certainly isn't neccessary, but can be useful for certain things,

I do a lot of on location Model shoots, I recently bought a laptop, so the model and I can review the photos on site to make sure we got what we wanted

 

[madge]

Last October, I took a class in portrait photogaphy at my local rec center. It only cost $54 and I had 6 sessions with a professional commercial photographer who brought in sample lights and sets for us to play with. I got waaaayyyy more that $54 worth of knowledge. Try local community centers or YMCAs. Even the beginner classes could be valuable. Good luck!

I did something similar - took a 2 classes last semester through our community college's continuing education department. Our teacher is the director of product photography for an online shoe website - he brought in some of his professional equipment, and spent 2 hours teaching us how to set up simple studio lighting. It was really cool, and I learned a lot from him. Now that the class is over, I'm having withdrawal. LOL.

 

[crazydadguy]

I am currently enrolled for the spring term for a beginning digital photography class at my local JC. It falls under the journalism major, but I dont care about that so much. They also have an advanced class that I am hoping to take the following semester.

 

[AndrewWG]

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the New York Institute of Photography. I am currently enrolled. Although this is a great set of courses and I am certainly learning alot, I have to say that it disappoints me that it is still completely film photography based. They do send out small booklets describing digital photography as a supplement to the course, but the majority of the class is based on shooting with film. The general concepts are the same, but there are many parts that I am simply not interested in such as types of film, how film works, B&W vs color, etc. Digital is a completely different medium. So far, I am only through Unit two of six. Maybe it will get better after all of this film stuff. I am more interested in composition, metering, etc. As I said, I have learned ALOT already, but they really need to get with the times and put together a comprehensive digital program. To give you an idea of the outdated stuff, the books they send are copyright 1978 or 1979 and reprinted.

So, I guess my advice would be like the others, to look into the junior or community colleges in your area. Enroll in NYIP in a year or two to give them time to come up to speed. I believe that they are working on it as we speak.

 

[DVC Jen]

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the New York Institute of Photography. I am currently enrolled. Although this is a great set of courses and I am certainly learning alot, I have to say that it disappoints me that it is still completely film photography based. They do send out small booklets describing digital photography as a supplement to the course, but the majority of the class is based on shooting with film. The general concepts are the same, but there are many parts that I am simply not interested in such as types of film, how film works, B&W vs color, etc. Digital is a completely different medium. So far, I am only through Unit two of six. Maybe it will get better after all of this film stuff. I am more interested in composition, metering, etc. As I said, I have learned ALOT already, but they really need to get with the times and put together a comprehensive digital program. To give you an idea of the outdated stuff, the books they send are copyright 1978 or 1979 and reprinted.

So, I guess my advice would be like the others, to look into the junior or community colleges in your area. Enroll in NYIP in a year or two to give them time to come up to speed. I believe that they are working on it as we speak.

Andy - hopefully this "complete redo" of the course they told me about - remember they still haven't sent me my unit two - will be geared more towards digital and significantly updated.

Maybe we can both cross our fingers. If it is - and I were you I would call and request units 1 and 2 materials all over again so you have all of the updated stuff. I will let you know if and or when I ever get my next unit.

 

[AndrewWG]

Andy - hopefully this "complete redo" of the course they told me about - remember they still haven't sent me my unit two - will be geared more towards digital and significantly updated.

Maybe we can both cross our fingers. If it is - and I were you I would call and request units 1 and 2 materials all over again so you have all of the updated stuff. I will let you know if and or when I ever get my next unit.

Yeah, that is what I am hoping for. I am certainly going to contact them about it if there is significant material changes. If it is just audio tape to cd, I'll survive with the tapes I guess. I'm finally done reading through Unit 2, I just have to take the pics now...

I will say that what I like about the program is that it forces me to think about what I am doing. Otherwise, I usually just go out and shoot without putting any thought into it and usually get unsatisfactory results. Now that I have to think about it, even if I mess up, I think more next time and eventually get the shot I am looking for. More importantly, I know why I got the shot. Used to just be luck, now I'm starting to see that my "lucky" shots are more educated guesses than luck.

 

[MICKEY88]

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the New York Institute of Photography. I am currently enrolled. Although this is a great set of courses and I am certainly learning alot, I have to say that it disappoints me that it is still completely film photography based. They do send out small booklets describing digital photography as a supplement to the course, but the majority of the class is based on shooting with film. The general concepts are the same, but there are many parts that I am simply not interested in such as types of film, how film works, B&W vs color, etc. Digital is a completely different medium. So far, I am only through Unit two of six. Maybe it will get better after all of this film stuff. I am more interested in composition, metering, etc. As I said, I have learned ALOT already, but they really need to get with the times and put together a comprehensive digital program. To give you an idea of the outdated stuff, the books they send are copyright 1978 or 1979 and reprinted.

So, I guess my advice would be like the others, to look into the junior or community colleges in your area. Enroll in NYIP in a year or two to give them time to come up to speed. I believe that they are working on it as we speak.

wow I thought I had seen on their website that you had a choice of film or digital,

on another note, many colleges still base their courses on film..

my stepdaughter just completed a semester in Italy, she took a photography course there... they only teach film, so we had to get her a 35mm camera for the course, and we got her a nice digital for all her personal, tourist stuff.. I set up a zenfolio account for her so she could upload all her pics, I could view them and also download them to our home pc, so her files were backed up, plus that way she managed to get by with just 2 2gig cards..

 

[MarkBarbieri]

You might try a local photography club. I've been a member of a few. They typically have speakers that give talks about topics. They also provide leads to people wanting photographers as assistants or to come shoot events. It's not uncommon to get a request for a poor couple looking to have a very cheap or free amateur shoot their wedding. They also let you know about workshops coming in your area.

 

[romymichelle21]

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the New York Institute of Photography. I am currently enrolled. Although this is a great set of courses and I am certainly learning alot, I have to say that it disappoints me that it is still completely film photography based.

This is true, apparently they don't offer the 'Complete Course' in digital - but they mention there is a 'Short Course'. I can't find any info on cost on their site, so I guess I'll have to have it mailed.

Aside from that - I did find some other options for online photography classes. Has anyone heard of these?

MLK Studios They are located in SoCal, so I guess it would be easier for me to find out if they are legit!

School of Photography This one made me The quality of the website is questionable, to say the least. Not very professional looking.

Picture Perfect They have a very nice site, and it seems their setup involves paying for individual classes as opposed so a whole degree-type program. (Although, they run $200 to $400 apiece!)

Better Photo They also have a nice site, and per-class payments. They are more expensive, but it seems that the classes cover a broader spectrum than just - "taking pictures of pets or rocks".

Proud Photography Sketchy - they're really trying to sell you something instead of teach you! It's like, "But wait, there's more!".

Stare Photography Another sketchy one.