photography courses

[spud]

Hello everyone, I'm new to photography and have a general question. Is it beneficial to spend money on photography classes or are you of the opinion that practice and lots of it makes you a better photographer. I'm currently using a 40d and 5d mk2 with 16-35L and 24-105L and plan to get the 100L macro very soon. My interest are generally landscape and floral types of photos. Your opinion is much appreciated


spud

[Sean Setters]

Honestly, I'd say online forums targeted to your interests are a great start. Yes, it's always beneficial to learn from a pro. However, you might want to exhaust all your free and/or cheap avenues before shelling out your hard-earned money for a photography class. Join a few floral or landscape groups on flickr. Buy books from photographers you admire (much cheaper than taking a course, and you can learn on your own time). Then make time to do whatever you've learned.

[Gina Franco]

However, you might want to exhaust all your free and/or cheap avenues before shelling out your hard-earned money for a photography class. Join a few floral or landscape groups on flickr. Buy books from photographers you admire (much cheaper than taking a course, and you can learn on your own time). Then make time to do whatever you've learned.
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Any books you'd recommend as must-reads? Anything you personally loved? I'd rather read on my own than take an online course, but looking through Amazon's inventory is overwhelming. Thanks!

[Sean Setters]

My interests lay in portraiture (and, more specifically, the use of small off-camnera flashes in portraiture). My favorite book reflects that: Joe McNally's [i][url="http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shoe-Diaries-Light-Flashes/dp/0321580141/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1267117148& amp;sr=8-1]Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes[/url][/i]. The only bad thing about Hot Shoe Diaries is that it's very Nikon centric. Other than that, the principles are still the same.


I also greatly respect the author of <span id="btAsinTitle"]Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography, Kirk Tuck, although I do not own the book.

[Chuck Lee]

Hey Sean,


What about David Hobby @ www.strobist.com ?


You learn a couplle things over there too, didn't ya?


Cause, I know I did. Still do.

[Sean Setters]

Hey Sean,


What about David Hobby @ [url="http://www.strobist.com]www.strobist.com[/url] ?


You learn a couplle things over there too, didn't ya?


Cause, I know I did. Still do.
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Absolutely. That's ground-zero for off-camera small flash use; it certainly is required reading. He also has a collection of DVDs that I've heard are quite good (I don't own them, though), but they'll set you back about $140 or so. To be honest, I've probably learned just as much from the strobist flickr group as well.

[Gina Franco]

My interests lay in portraiture (and, more specifically, the use of small off-camnera flashes in portraiture). My favorite book reflects that: Joe McNally's [i][url="http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shoe-Diaries-Light-Flashes/dp/0321580141/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1267117148& amp;sr=8-1]Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes[/url][/i]. The only bad thing about Hot Shoe Diaries is that it's very Nikon centric. Other than that, the principles are still the same.


I also greatly respect the author of <span id="btAsinTitle"][url="http://www.amazon.com/Minimalist-Lighting-Professional-Techniques-Photography/dp/1584282304/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1267116414& amp;sr=8-3][i]Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography[/i][/url], Kirk Tuck, although I do not own the book.
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Thank you, Sean. And thanks so much for the links!

[Dan Fleming]

Any books you'd recommend as must-reads?

I have found Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure and Learning to See Creatively to be fairly helpful for starting out. The one is more technical than the other, but photography takes both science and art! If you don't want to buy them, and live in the US (I don't know if you can do this outside the US, hence that caveat, someone more knowledgable can correct me), you can go to a bookstore, and pull the book off the shelf, read it, put it back. If it is really helpful then buy it, otherwise look at others in the section and find one that works for you. That is what I have done.

[Gina Franco]

Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure

This book comes up a lot in online discussions, mainly in passing. I'll take your advice and see if I can find it at the bookstore. I guess I'm looking for books that are both technically and creatively challenging, but that won't leave my understanding in the dust. Thank you!

[bob williams]

Spud, I do agree with Sean. There are a lot of great resources on the net, in the bookstores and probably some in your community and most are very inexpensive, if not free. However, taking a course from a reputable photographer can greatly ease the learning curve as well as provide valuable and sometimes painful critiques of your assignments. Some courses can be very valuable in assisting you to find "your" creative perspective. I have taken one online course and found it to be worth every penny and I am planning on taking a few more as funding permits. You have some nice equipment, why not learn to take full advantage of it.

are you of the opinion that practice and lots of it makes you a better photographer

Aboslutely. Regardless of where you find the knowledge----practice, is the only way you are going to be able hone the skills and techniques you learn.


If your interested in online courses, check out http://www.ppsop.com/ it has courses that would benefit just about any photographic interest and the instructors are all verywell known in thier own ares of expertise. If I had to recommend a first course for a beginner, it would be Bryan Petersons "Understanding Exposure" which is based on his book of the same name.


Hope this helps,


Bob