Photography Courses Midlands/Staffs

[ThyJones]

Hi there.

I'm looking to progress/learn more about photography. At the moment, I have the gear to be going out and taking photos, but sometimes they don't come out as expected, or just look bland.

I'm sort of looking for it to all fit together, and am thinking that a course where I can ask a few questions, perhaps go out to various locations and ask advice at the same time as trying things may be the way to go.

There are no courses i've seen online that jump to mind, a lot seem to be distance learning which I don't know if would be suitable?

Any suggestions please? Or is it better to go out there, take a fair few photo's, read some books, try more and post up for critique?

Thanks for the help

 

[ThyJones]

anyone care to comment?

 

[faddius]

There's nothing wrong with distance learning, it will make you think more about your photos and give a certain element of structure to your learning. But if you're looking for more direct "how do I do x y & z?" it probably won't be suitable.

Grab some books, two great starter books are;

Understanding exposure by Bryan Peterson
&
The photographers eye by Michael freeman

The first will give you an overview on how to create certain effects using exposure settings such as shutter speed.

The second will give you tips and more in an insight into composition with shapes, angles & colours.

I also like to browse bookshops regularly for books, looking for anything that captures my attention, whether it is a book on a certain technique, a collection of photos on a certain subject or photographer who's work interests me.

Posting images on here will get you good feedback and advice. People won't necessarily give you positive feedback, which is good as far as I'm concerned, you won't learn if people always say "great shot". I always ask for honest opinions and take all comments on board, as people will often point out a downside in an image I hadn't noticed. It is a great way to learn & get feedback.

Always be critical of your own work. Look at your shots and always ask yourself honest questions. What do you like about the image? What don't you like? Why? What caused it? What would fix the issue if you repeated the shot? It doesn't hurt to do the same to other peoples work, asking yourself how you would do it differently.

Spend lots of time looking at other peoples work, see how they do things. Whether it's on here, Flickr or where ever. Don't be afraid to ask people how they've done something if you find an image or effect you particularly like. It is easier to approach people on here in that regard as some Flickr users never reply or use their accounts very rarely. For example, I never knew you could create star flares using a very small aperture, but I asked how it was done and I got a very pleasant response explaining how.

Try new things, experiment, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but at least you learn from it. The tutorial section on here is a useful resource.

I don't know of any direct learning courses in your area, you may want to try a part time college course, so call around, have a look on the Internet and you may find something.

Lastly, only you can tap into and unlock your creative side. Sure, it can be encouraged, nurtured, built upon and refined, but creativity cannot be taught if the spark isn't already there in my opinion.

 

[bernieraffe]

Good advice in previous post.

I've created an online course of around 50 short videos on Udemy that you might be interested in. Click on the banner at the top of this page for more information.

Cheers,
Bernie

 

[srichards]

The Going Digital courses are quite good. There are a few venues that aren't too far away.