Photography course book needed!

King of Groove

King of Groove

Messages
6,956
Name
King
Edit My Images
Yes
I am determined in 2008 to take my photography to new heights!

I have been thinking of doing a photography course such as the one they feature in Amateur Photography but it's £299 and as I work shifts it's not always easy keeping up with assignments.

I want to fully understand aperture priority, shutter priority, use of flash gun settings etc so really need a complete course in photography.

Can anyone recommend a really good type of photography course in a book which explains things perhaps step by step, loads of examples, things to try etc?
 
I just got one from my sister called "The Digital Photography Handbook," by Doug Harman. i think its quite basic but i find that helpful as it does explain stuff more easily and then progresses onto more complicated techniques and things with "Do's and Don't's" to take note of :)
 
HanC said:
I just got one from my sister called "The Digital Photography Handbook," by Doug Harman. i think its quite basic but i find that helpful as it does explain stuff more easily and then progresses onto more complicated techniques and things with "Do's and Don't's" to take note of :)
Click to expand...

yeah I agree with this... quick and easy to take in and kind of tells you in such a simple easy way that it's like hearing the photographers 'secrets' that most people don't want you to know.

Hardly comprehensive, but still a brilliant read - highly compelling!
 
Want a complete course....From the basics up?

Try the Open University Course that will start April/May 2008. Its costs about £155 or £40ish in Tesco's vouchers, is a 10 week online course. You will need about 10 hours a week for those 10 weeks, but works well with shift work.

Check out the OU website.
 
:O 299 quid where is that college :O thats expenisive geez. what level of qualification is it also?
 
I'm another that would recommend the OU course, a few of us on this forum were on it. It won't cover your Flash Photography settings, but will definitely cover shutter / aperture priority, in fact, getting out of auto and understanding the photo you are taking is what the course is really about. It does start slowly, but as it is on-line, there is a lot of flexibility on which hours of the week you commit to.

For me, around 10 hours per week was about right.

Something often overlooked about this course - it practically forces you to go out and shoot for your weekly assignment, you won't get that from a book unless you are very disciplined. You also get a free copy of Adobe Elements as part of the £155 and the course covers post processing including DVD's to keep.

Lastly, around this time of year, a few magazines have a supplement on how to use your camera as a small handy guide, I think Digital Camera magazine has one this month.

With the money left over, you could easily fit in a specialist course on the flash settings which you will get much more out of.

Jas
 
Quote from OU site, link below
"This course can count towards most of our degrees at bachelors level, and is equally appropriate to a BA or BSc. We advise you to refer to the relevant award descriptions for information on the circumstances in which the course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements of a qualification may change. You should think carefully about fitting 10 points into a degree that consists mostly of 30-point and 60-point courses.

Recognised by The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) as suitable preparatory work and a foundation for a Licentiateship Distinction (LRPS) in still photography. For more information about the RPS visit their website"

http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01T189
 
Ashers said:
wat qualification do u get from the OU course?
Click to expand...

I don't know where you are heading with your photography, but if you are still at a relatively beginner level, this course will be worth its weight in gold in the things it teaches you and the practical experience you pick up through the assignments.

You won't get a fancy certificate at the end of it, but you will definetly see an improvement in your photography.
 
I was given Understanding Exposure for Christmas and I already have a much better grasp of Shutter Speed settings, next up is ISO (I really struggle with that) and then Aperture.
 
alex1 said:
Want a complete course....From the basics up?

Try the Open University Course that will start April/May 2008. Its costs about £155 or £40ish in Tesco's vouchers, is a 10 week online course. You will need about 10 hours a week for those 10 weeks, but works well with shift work.

Check out the OU website.
Click to expand...


Thanks for mentioning this!

I've been looking at doing a photography course myself and had look at several but none seemed to offer what I was looking for in a course at a price I could afford. Having now read up on this OU course I'm seriously considering signing up for the May 2008 course.

I see that some of you on this forum have already been on the course, so can I please ask you if you could elaborate a bit more on the course, e.g. the quality of it's course materials, the kind of assignments that were set, etc. It would be most appreciated it. Thanks.

I'm an amateur photographer and my main area of interest is taking pictures of people.
 
That OU course does look good, sounds a bit like the project I had to do in the first year of my degree though.
I would keep be busy on my long summer off too.
 
Snakedance said:
Thanks for mentioning this!

I've been looking at doing a photography course myself and had look at several but none seemed to offer what I was looking for in a course at a price I could afford. Having now read up on this OU course I'm seriously considering signing up for the May 2008 course.

I see that some of you on this forum have already been on the course, so can I please ask you if you could elaborate a bit more on the course, e.g. the quality of it's course materials, the kind of assignments that were set, etc. It would be most appreciated it. Thanks.

I'm an amateur photographer and my main area of interest is taking pictures of people.
Click to expand...

The course materials consisit of a DVD with a licensed copy of Photoshop elements 5 and a DVD with video tutorials for photoshop elements. The OU website has the lessons which are published each week and a gallery where you upload your practical assignments for other students to comment on, (You are grouped with a different set of 19 other students each week).

Each week you read the lessons which cover the theory and tell you what your assignments are. (The assignments are practical picture taking ones which enable you to practice the theory you have just learnt). You also need to watch the video tutorials for photo shop elements. Then you upload your assignment to the website and others will comment on them and you can look at the others and make comments. There are also some course forums on the OU student website where you can have any queries answered.

After about the fourth week there is a 20 question multiple choice test and the final week assignment consists of you creating a slideshow of 10 images and making comments on them based on the criteria they set. They mark this and give you your final course score.

The course covers subjects such as composition, depth of field, exposure, shutter speed, but does go into quite a bit of detail. The course material quality was excellent. The lessons were interactive and very well done. I will post later a bit more detail about the assignments and lessons content when I have them to hand.:)
 
FWIW...this is my view on the OU course.

Everything that Alex1 has said is quite true, but I found the lack of feedback from the course moderators a big gap.

There are no interactive tutors; it's all down to the written word/videos and although other students give feedback on your images, "nice" doesn't really help. There are moderators on the forums (there are lots of forum categories and it gets a bit confusing to start with), but they don't comment on your pics. There were a few "experienced" photographers doing the course as they had switched from film to digital and wanted guidance, but the majority are all beginners.

I have found being on here regularly;posting and accepting (and hopefully learning from) criticism has been much more use. I also find that the magazines that have DVD's attached very helpful for post processing advice. Yes, getting Elements 5 for "free" was useful, but if you already have decent software for post processing, I'd think carefully before shelling out.
 
i have just looked at this as i am wanting to do a course in photography although it sounds good i read the feedback and it all comes back to no comments from experienced photographers,
what type of assisgnments are they?
do they give u a specific title eg "scenery" and u go out and take scenery pics upload and comment?
it doesnt really tell you on the site

also what do you get after?
or do you just write the title of the course on your cv and hope others think its an advantage?
 
Hi Kayleigh,
The assignments were quite specific usually...."go and take the same pics in portrait mode and landscape mode and see which is preferable and why"; "chose a colour theme"; "show movement"; "show depth of field" etc., so you could either go out and shoot new, or trawl your harddrive for suitable images. They prefered new, but would happily accept old.

As for qualifications....:LOL:....all you get are a few "credits" (points) towards any OU qualification you care to work towards (BA, BSc, diploma etc). Nothing specific at all.

I'm a graduate of the OU from a few years ago and normally I am full of praise for them, but this particular course just didn't hit the spot for me........but many others liked it.

Cheers,
 
Thanks for the comment PhotoStar
i cant normally get motivated for home learning, but thought as its the internet and im always on here anyway with all day to spare id give it a go but now im thinking to buy "understanding exposure" and read that =] will be cheaper!

Glitter said:
I have recently signed up to the following:

http://www.icslearn.co.uk/creative-skills-leisure-courses/photography/

and chosen the People and Children photography option....
Click to expand...
did you just pay £499 for it too?
 
Just bought "Complete Photography Manual" by Collins, it was £10 marked down from £25, hardback edition (from WH Smith). Prefer this one to Understanding Exposure, its explained things in terms I can actually understand, without dumbing them down.
x
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top