Beginner Best Online Beginners Course

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Breton Top

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Hi,

I wonder if anyone has a view on best online beginners course? The ones I'm considering are:

1) OCA Open Foundations
2) BAPH Certificate followed by Diploma (Home Study rather than class based)
3) The Photography Institute

If anyone out there can let me know which one you went for and why please? Plus how you found it/are finding it?

Many thanks
Breton
 
The problem here is two fold.
Most older experienced members here like myself, have perhaps never heard of any of these people.
And Younger members may perhaps only have experience of one of the institutions if any.
So to get a balanced review will be extremely difficult.

I looked up the three on line to see what was available. and I was unable to find the OCA photography course.
The Baph would at least seem to be academically recognised.
And the Photography institute can easily be confused with the British Institute of Professional Photography which is an long established professional body.

Probably most of us who went down the academic route into professional photography studied at one of the established Further or higher education schools of photography. leading to a diploma or degree in photography.
However there is a very vocal group of mainly self taught photographs who firmly believe in the Non academic route of the hands on rough and tumble of experience, and learning on the job.

At the end of the day it is hard to tell the difference in attainments between the survivors of the two groups. As the majority of those starting out into photography as a profession, fail at the first one or two hurdles. There are a great many starters and very few finishers.
 
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Just to add to what Terry said.

As an entry to the world of professional photography, there's a place for a university degree if you want to enter a job which relies on having a degree. But just so you know, a degree in photography doesn't develop practical skills, they're usually art based and you're expected to enter with the technical skills or build them yourself alongside your studies.

A technical course, can be very useful, but you just leave with skills. As Terry says there's a number of ways to build those skills.

I'm a great advocate of training, but there are a great number of brilliant self-taught photographers too.
 
Thanks Terry & Phil - nice to hear your view on both sides. I found the details of the OCA via the BIPP website. I'm hoping a course will help plug my technical gaps and give me some focus/discipline.
 
I think you're wise to consider a course. The big advantage of a course over self study is that you should cover all the bases - with self study there will always be a temptation to skip the parts that you find boring. I (as the saying goes) knew nothing and taught myself all I know :D. On the positive side, we were poor and as a matter of principle I always read every word in any book I started - still do, as a matter of fact, bibliographies, footnotes (even those in languages I don't know). Probably obsessive behaviour... But if you can't pick the best books and read them thoroughly, a course is recommended by me in principle, but without any knowledge of course content.
 
Thanks Stephen - I think that's what I'm afraid of, missing or dismissing something important. Hopefully a good course and good reference material will keep me on the straight and narrow.
 
@bretontop I'd chose one with the most real-time interaction with the teacher and fellow students, or consider a classroom based course if possible for you.

Over the years if tried reading books, watching YouTube videos etc with some success. However I always sensed something was missing so started a course last year. This has proven to be very good, connecting a lot of the "dots" i had picked up and giving me a solid foundation to progress much further. Real time face to face interaction on the course I find is the best way for me to ask and get answered all my questions and learn. The extra confidence for the course has helped me get out there shooting more with much better results. Hope this helps.
 
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