Beginner Advice needed on photography courses

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Sheylara
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Hi, I was wondering if I could get some opinions/advice on photography courses.

I've been taking photographs on a point-and-shoot for a long time and have decided to take the next step, and possibly work towards becoming a professional photographer. Would it be worth the money to do some short courses from the start, or should I do free online courses and invest the money in equipment, instead?

If paid courses are the way to go, should I go for introductory courses, then learn everything else on my own? Or try to learn the basics on my own, then pay for more intermediate or advanced courses?

I'm hoping to have some feedback from people who have done courses, Well, any advice at all would be greatly appreciated!
 
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I did an introductory course a couple of tears ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I then went on to one of the NVQ noddy type courses, Level 1. Thoroughly enjoyed that too. Personally I would recommend doing an intro course and then taking it from there. Only you will know if it is worth pursuing after each course.
 
Thank you for your response, huxleypiggles. :) I know I will enjoy the course if I do it and I'm quite keen to. I just want to be sure that it'll be a worthy investment!
 
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I did a two part Introduction to your DSLR course when I first got my camera and found them really beneficial. I did it through Going Digital, they offer really affordable one day workshops. I also did loads of self teaching and then when I felt really comfortable with my camera then I did a posing / fashion workshop, which again gave me loads to think about and then built on it myself. I think a mixture of workshop / courses is a great way to go. And then you'll see if you want to invest in a more formal education.
 
A course like the ones your all describing cannot teach you anything that you can't teach yourself.. What a course like the above can/would do is fast track the info... face to face teaching is quicker than trial and error :)
 
I absolutely agree with Kipax, you can teach yourself everything these workshops offer, but it's nice to learn in a social setting every now and then when you can ask questions and it is immediately shown to you. I had a couple of lightbulb moments while attending workshops and then went back home and built on them.
 
@Andi_Vass: Thanks for sharing your experience with courses. :) I was planning to do whatever courses/workshops I can afford and at the same time learn as much as possible for free on the internet. It's just good to have confirmation that paid courses are not a waste of money. :)

@KIPAX: Thank you for your response! That was kind of what I was wondering myself. I know many photographers are self-taught but I wonder how much faster their skills could have progressed if they were to invest in courses.
 
Sheylara

Unless your photos are good. i.e. the composition is spot on, the images are at their correct exposure, they're not out of focus etc, you have a long way to becoming a 'professional' photographer.

There are lots of videos on YouTube on photography with tutorials.

If you haven't tried already, you can also try locating some local photographers around your area and have a one-to-one 'course' with them.

You might be interested in the following websites

Karl Taylor website
YouTube

Gavin Hoey website
YouTube

Serge Ramelli website
Youtube
 
A few years ago i did a btec course. Take a look at them. Full time or part time. It was quite in depth and learnt loads from it and it was very enjoyable.
 
Dael_Pix said:
Sheylara

Unless your photos are good. i.e. the composition is spot on, the images are at their correct exposure, they're not out of focus etc, you have a long way to becoming a 'professional' photographer.

There are lots of videos on YouTube on photography with tutorials.

If you haven't tried already, you can also try locating some local photographers around your area and have a one-to-one 'course' with them.

You might be interested in the following websites

Karl Taylor website
YouTube

Gavin Hoey website
YouTube

Serge Ramelli website
Youtube
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I know I have a long way to go, that's why I want to start it right so I don't waste any time unnecessarily by doing the wrong courses or I dunno, something. :p Thanks for the Youtube reccomendations! :)
 
Raincloud said:
A few years ago i did a btec course. Take a look at them. Full time or part time. It was quite in depth and learnt loads from it and it was very enjoyable.
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Cool, thanks for your feedback! :)
 
Have you spoken to your local camera club? Mine, and I am sure it isn't alone, offers a free beginners and improves course to members.
 
When I was in Buenos Aires (Argentina) 2 weeks ago, I paid a professional photographer as a "guide/photography" for a street photography. It costs me $175 for the day which was about £110-£120. It was worth the money. She came from Canada but lives in BA. It would've cost me no less than £300 in this country even £1,000 from someone!!!!
http://www.ameliamcgoldrick.com/

I don't expect you to fly to Argentina, but just knowing whether it is worth having professional photographer or not.
 
I went on a course for a day on how to use the camera etc when I was a beginner and whilst at the time I thought it was good I actually realise now that I could have saved the money by simply using Google, YouTube or even a decent book to learn the basics as there's loads of free information out there. Maybe the course I picked was wrong but it was a guide into DSLR photography. You could try it yourself and then go for a course if you feel it's better suited for you and your learning style though - just a thought.

It's entirely up to yourself with what you want to do but I personally would now only take courses if it's on a specific topic and not a general how to use your camera sort of thing.
 
MadWoman said:
Have you spoken to your local camera club? Mine, and I am sure it isn't alone, offers a free beginners and improves course to members.
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Cool! I guess I'll have to look around. Just did a quick google and found several clubs in my area.

dean&gem said:
Andrew Appleton is great I'm sure you'd learn plenty from him, he teaches everyone from beginners to high end professionals.

http://www.appletonphototraining.com/
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Thanks for the link! That's something I haven't really considered, finding a pro photographer to learn from. Sounds good. :)

GatoAzul1968 said:
When I was in Buenos Aires (Argentina) 2 weeks ago, I paid a professional photographer as a "guide/photography" for a street photography. It costs me $175 for the day which was about £110-£120. It was worth the money. She came from Canada but lives in BA. It would've cost me no less than £300 in this country even £1,000 from someone!!!!
http://www.ameliamcgoldrick.com/

I don't expect you to fly to Argentina, but just knowing whether it is worth having professional photographer or not.
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Nice! I like her business idea. Very interesting. :)

YoshiK1 said:
I went on a course for a day on how to use the camera etc when I was a beginner and whilst at the time I thought it was good I actually realise now that I could have saved the money by simply using Google, YouTube or even a decent book to learn the basics as there's loads of free information out there. Maybe the course I picked was wrong but it was a guide into DSLR photography. You could try it yourself and then go for a course if you feel it's better suited for you and your learning style though - just a thought.

It's entirely up to yourself with what you want to do but I personally would now only take courses if it's on a specific topic and not a general how to use your camera sort of thing.
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Thanks for sharing that! Maybe I will try to learn the basics myself first and see if I can manage, hopefully I'm not too stupid to pick it up myself, lol.
 
I found reading some of the old photography books pre digital were a great way of learning the ins and out of exposure and technique. Always good to have an idea of the theory before getting your hands dirty!
 
rich_ said:
I found reading some of the old photography books pre digital were a great way of learning the ins and out of exposure and technique. Always good to have an idea of the theory before getting your hands dirty!
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Good idea. Thank you! :)
 
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