Beginner Courses...books...for a beginner?

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Cally

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Cally
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Hiya Guys,

I only got my camera in Feb and still very new, I wondered if people could recommend on line courses to take? Books to read? I have DSLR for dummies, light science and magic (which I am reading through!) and how to take pictures of absolutely anything whilst I would really love more books I am mainly wondering about courses.

I would of loved to have done the Uni course but I hear that it's not all it's cracked up to be and it's 12k (online course) I don't have! I've got the basics down.

Mainly interested in portrait and studio shooting. I just feel like I am going round in circles reading the same thing but in a different way 5 times over and I have limited time with two kids and a business so really looking for something solid to work through then bits and pieces.
 
Cally said:
Hiya Guys,

I only got my camera in Feb and still very new, I wondered if people could recommend on line courses to take? Books to read? I have DSLR for dummies, light science and magic (which I am reading through!) and how to take pictures of absolutely anything whilst I would really love more books I am mainly wondering about courses.

I would of loved to have done the Uni course but I hear that it's not all it's cracked up to be and it's 12k (online course) I don't have! I've got the basics down.

Mainly interested in portrait and studio shooting. I just feel like I am going round in circles reading the same thing but in a different way 5 times over and I have limited time with two kids and a business so really looking for something solid to work through then bits and pieces.
Click to expand...

Hi Cally,
you don't say where about in the world you are...?

I found that only when a course is face to face that you got any value from it - and it is VERY dependent on the ability of the person holding it, so I would not take an on-line course.

A few years ago - when I felt in the same position as you, I did a course with Simon Young at the Blackthorn School of Photography which was excellent - but again location...?

Let me know where you are, and I may know of others who would be good people to train with

Brian
 
I would highly recommend Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Book Series. It's written in a very accessible style (albeit with some terrible jokes thrown in) and you can use them to work at your own pace.
 
I'm in the East Midlands if that helps, will have a look at that book. I've found an online course that looks really good but it's $120 so I may do that mid June as I am getting married 3 weeks today although it's very precise area and is more of a side course.

https://www.creativelive.com/courses/family-photography-modern-storytelling-kirsten-lewis but I like the style she works in, I can't imagine myself being a perfectionist with the way people look (I have to say one thing for sure I do know I am very people focused, not much interest in landscape and buildings although not saying I won't ever dabble in it)

I've had a look at local courses and can't find much, I did find one guy in Nottingham that was actually recommended but he is £500 a pop which I suppose is worth it but a lot of money to put down....

http://onlinestore.ntu.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=5&catid=25

Thank you so far :)
 
I did a part time A level evening course at the college in beeston. Was not a great deal of money. They also do a few short term courses in specific areas of interest, such as portraits
 
Me personally, I would refrain from any 'diploma' courses. I'm on the Blackford Institute diploma course for professional photography and I've done 5 of the modules and have now pretty much put it on hold. It cost around £350 and not many people seem to get anywhere near finished.
This isn't to say its not a good course (I personally think its OK as a structured learning system) its just nobody seems to get anywhere near the end of it.
Best thing to do is get out and play - try different settings, write down what you did, what your settings were, what light was available etc and see what works for you.
Most of all though - take photographs.
 
Thank you I will have a look into Notts a bit more to be fair it's slightly out of area so originally I didn't even look but this one was pointed out to me :) I suppose it's just sticking with things Jules I heard the Uni course was mostly all theory and people got bored easily and dropped out but to be fair what else would you expect from a degree? I am generally interested in Photography in all shapes and forms and I would most likey enjoy learning of the history and theory side just as much as the shooting and if I could go back now I would take that route but it looks like even with the on line degrees you may need A levels for the points and a portfolio (to be fair I haven't had much time to research but from the site I looked at last night you did)
 
I found a course on groupon which is ok. Also their is a free course on Alison.com about digital photography. Very in depth covers the histogram. Guy can be hit boring but he's very knowledgeable. And it's free
 
The Image Academy have this course http://www.theimageacademy.co.uk/#!facebook-offer/c1sis

Which I bought when starting out and I have found although informative isn't very engaging so I gave up on it. However I do believe it is an Adobe approved course so does get you Lightroom for the student price.

However a more casual and I found engaging tutorial was the FroKnowsPhoto guide to getting out of auto. http://store.froknowsphoto.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=0001

I got the DVD posted to me which took a week or so but I think there is a download option too. I watched this once and it all clicked and I haven't looked back since.
 
I would suggest watching some you tube videos

This guys stuff is good and straight forward.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4S07E5NC0R7pVuzBJ0e8Q

There are a couple of channels that are run by American photo shops that have some interesting stuff

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHIRBiAd-PtmNxAcLnGfwog
The lectures that on here are probably as good as the stuff on creative live

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Pksdbj37CdE00kmE7Z1dw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Pksdbj37CdE00kmE7Z1dw
I think the Gavin Hoey stuff is also worth a look.
 
Every photographer needs to understand are aperture, shutter speed and ISO, and how these related to each other and the effect each has on the image; and there are lots of online guides to these three.

However, I suggest you just take lots of photos and analyse them. If they were not what you had in mind when you took them, then what went wrong? If you cannot decide, post them up here and folks will help.

Dave
 
I would strongly recommend Lynda.com. There are so many subjects that are covered and they are all very, very good videos.

You can sign up for a ten day free trial. That's enough to start with. Sign up to that, cancel it and then go back and pay if you want to.

If you sign up for the annual premium you get to download the excercise files which will help with your post. Ignore the price, you can cancel as soon as you've signed up and still have access until the end of the trial.
 
I read the book understanding exposure twice and then did an online course with Shaw accademy which consisted of 10 modules covering the most common topics...

But most useful of all was getting out and taking photos and working out what worked and what didn't...
 
I did a course and we spent the whole time pushing 6x4s around a table trying to make other students LRPS panels. It was a complete was of time and money. It wasn't until I'd been going a few weeks when I mentioned it to someone whod ddone it before and agreed with what I thought. So make sure you get some feedback/recommendations before you start, which I suppose is what you are doing lol.

I have found that joining a camera club has really helped and the good folks on Talk Photography have also been very helpful.

I have got into portraits in the last year and can highly recommend Tony Northrup's book 'How to take stunning digital photography' It covers a lot of different genres but is very focused on portraits. There are also QR codes to video tutorials and if you send them a pic of yourself and register thery will crit your work, although I haven't done that yet.

Also check out Matt Granger, Scott Kelby and Karl Taylor on you tube.

But as said keep practicing and enjoy it!!
 
I did a course and we spent the whole time pushing 6x4s around a table trying to make other students LRPS panels. It was a complete was of time and money. It wasn't until I'd been going a few weeks when I mentioned it to someone whod ddone it before and agreed with what I thought. So make sure you get some feedback/recommendations before you start, which I suppose is what you are doing lol.

I have found that joining a camera club has really helped and the good folks on Talk Photography have also been very helpful.

I have got into portraits in the last year and can highly recommend Tony Northrup's book 'How to take stunning digital photography' It covers a lot of different genres but is very focused on portraits. There are also QR codes to video tutorials and if you send them a pic of yourself and register thery will crit your work, although I haven't done that yet.

Also check out Matt Granger, Scott Kelby and Karl Taylor on you tube.

But as said keep practicing and enjoy it!!
 
Some good recommendations on here already, especially the Bryan Peterson Book. Here's some links that should help. There's far more tutorials on these sites too.

https://photographylife.com/iso-shutter-speed-and-aperture-for-beginners
https://photographylife.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography
https://photographylife.com/what-is-shutter-speed-in-photography
https://photographylife.com/what-is-iso-in-photography

https://www.avforums.com/threads/ne...tographylife.com/understanding-metering-modes
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-metering.htm
https://photographylife.com/what-is-white-balance
https://photographylife.com/how-to-take-sharp-photos
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/histograms1.htm
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/histograms2.htm
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm
 
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