the uwe does photographic degree but i need to do a peoject first. what do you call projects or is it like saying lanscape citiscape portraits would you call them projects
I did the C&G 1,2,3 back in the film days. What nearly 100% of I learnt then applies now. The C&G courses are very "practical" but in a good way, they dont scrimp on the the technical. The degree courses are more academic.
Just to give you an idea how confident you need to be / can be, once you really have the technical stuff under the belt.. I shot my last wedding with a post-it note under the screen protector, and I produced some of my best work yet.
I digress.. In addition to that, I have a degree in Optics, and a HTEC in medical physics and physiological measurement (which was mainly imaging). What that gives me is a really good base understanding of light, and lenses, and optics.
I came into this as a lad who always had a camera, who then worked and studded the ancillary subjects, including photography. For me, I was 3 steps ahead of the C&G course. I had read the books, learnt, experimented, made notes etc.. If you have a scientific sort of mind, and the patience, and good observational skills, you can learn the science / camera craft bit yourself. there are no short cuts to actually learning it though
Here is the important bit
What the C&G or degree courses don't tell you is how to do business, or marketing. How to handle people, and people skills in general - and it is this bit that will make or break you. It doesn't cover issues like copyright or contracts, or other really important legal stuff (the degree course may outline this)
TBH, unless you do a separate arts course, it is unlikely you will learn about posing, composition or anything that will help you aesthetically ether. The degree courses look back at classical stuff in this respect
Again, you can teach this to yourself, but you need to be disciplined, methodical and reasoned (as well as having an artistic eye)