Photography courses

[Jeepmedic46]

Is it worth getting the Journal of Wildlife photography or National Geographic Masters of photography?

 

[Flipper]

Go to your local Jr. College and sign up for a photo class. They can teach you everything you need to know. Rule of thirds is a big one. Then shoot......shoot........shoot.... then when you think you have shot enough shoot some more. Lots cheaper now that the old film developing days, now you can shoot hundreds of photos a day FREE! Hope your doing better with your back.

 

[Road]

Is it worth getting the Journal of Wildlife photography or National Geographic Masters of photography?

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I teach photography, off-camera lighting and software, among other things. Not everyone learns the same way. What works best for you may not for someone else.

There are four basic styles of learning:
- Visual: watching someone do something, then doing it yourself
- Auditory: Listening to someone explain how to do something, as in a classroom with an instructor
- Reading: Information gained from having a book, magazine, how-to manual, etc
- Doing: Hands-on experience

Which are you? In seeing you on the forums, my impression is that you enjoy and appreciate interaction with others and the confirmation that you're on the right track. I'm not sure you'll get that from a subscription or CD.

If you know from experience you learn best from publications and CDs, that the knowledge gained stays with you, and you can afford the expense, then go for it.

Personally, I have not found that most subscriptions or expensive videos/CDs are worth it. I learn best by doing it myself, experimenting over and over, checking the results, then modifying my technique. As @Flipper wrote, shoot all you can, then go out and shoot some more. You'll find you start doing things automatically and making decisions on the fly that improve your images.

edit: Here's an interesting article you may find helpful, in that it includes some tips: Eleven Different Types of Photography to Help You Become a Better Photographer

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Roaddude - On the Road In North America - ROADDUDE

Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.

roaddude.com

 

[Jeepmedic46]

Go to your local Jr. College and sign up for a photo class. They can teach you everything you need to know. Rule of thirds is a big one. Then shoot......shoot........shoot.... then when you think you have shot enough shoot some more. Lots cheaper now that the old film developing days, now you can shoot hundreds of photos a day FREE! Hope your doing better with your back.

Thank you, I've been getting out as much as I can and shooting. Starting to get the hang of it. Slowly but surely. my back unfortunately isn't doing to good these days.

 

[Flipper]

Thank you, I've been getting out as much as I can and shooting. Starting to get the hang of it. Slowly but surely. my back unfortunately isn't doing to good these days.

Sorry about your back, I will be coming up on my year anniversary for my surgery next week. So far so good. Doc says I will always have the pain but I can deal with that. I am really lucky and grateful I’m not in a wheelchair.
Lets see some of your favorite pix! Remember your rule of thirds! Shoot shoot shoot.

 

[Munga Brown]

For me... no.

I started shooting professionally when I was 15 (sports. HS & college games for small newspapers).

I tried taking those self-taught "courses". Not even close to improving.

College courses sucked. I didn't learn anything, and was basically teaching the instructor. Horrible experiences.

I really started learning & improving when I began "interning" at a commercial studio. Then I started freelance assisting. Then I became a go-to on-call assistant for several studios. Then I accepted a full time first assistant gig at one of the larger (volume wise) studios in Sacramento.

It was the most fun I had ever had at a "job". We shot nothing but commercial advertising work - people, product, food, architecture, studio, location- I learned sooooo much!

After about 9 years of assisting and darkroom production, I opened my own studio. I shot for Intel, Verizon, the City of Sacramento, Los Rios Community College District, many businesses... all kinds of products, producing conceptual images of wide varieties.

But then, what was once fun, became mundane. And then digital imaging hit. Soon, ad agencies/design firms started "hiring" photo students as unpaid interns. The students had their cheap Cannon/Nikons they scored at Best Buy and couldn't produce a quality image to save their lives, but the design firms/ad agencies got to keep more of their client's ad dollars.

It became harder & harder to convince my clients to pay for professionalism, so I ended up closing shop.

I haven't tripped a shutter for about 16 years now.

Bottom line, just like making music.... shoot with someone better than you. That's where you'll learn the most. At least that's how I learned the most. Enjoy!

Edit: Oh, and for gawd's sake... don't just shoot from eye level! Every single day I see small hoards of folks hiking their bags/backpacks full of gear up & down the coast trail, with their camera mounted to a freakin' tripod, set at eye-freakin'-level and I wanna scream STOP IT!! STOP IT NOW!!!!!! Take your tiny little camera off the stupid tripod (and climb up on the third step of a lightweight step stool... oh, you don't have one, do you?) or kneel down... lay down... or hold it at waist level... try not looking through the viewfinder... ANYthing but that boring, eye-level crap.

Sorry. Rant over.

 

[M Rose]

Edit: Oh, and for gawd's sake... don't just shoot from eye level! Every single day I see small hoards of folks hiking their bags/backpacks full of gear up & down the coast trail, with their camera mounted to a freakin' tripod, set at eye-freakin'-level and I wanna scream STOP IT!! STOP IT NOW!!!!!! Take your tiny little camera off the stupid tripod (and climb up on the third step of a lightweight step stool... oh, you don't have one, do you?) or kneel down... lay down... or hold it at waist level... try not looking through the viewfinder... ANYthing but that boring, eye-level crap.

@Munga Brown, this is great advice, @KRose and myself learned a lot from it. My dad was telling me all this tech stuff for Kallie’s new camera. Telling us to use the 50mm lens most of the time, use the zoom lens sparingly, etc etc... I finally told him... this isn’t a 35mm film camera where you have to watch your picture count Dad...We have 124g of storage so far, and that’s a lot of rolls of film. We can experiment with various lenses, filters, techniques, and styles of shooting... don’t like the picture... delete it. Then there is the whole world of photo editing (which is what I want to get into). Take that one great shot and make it perfect, or that one not so great shot and make it better. There is so much one can do.

@Jeepmedic46, glad to see you’re still around. Sorry to hear about the back pains. I know mine go down when the temp warms up. Keep moving around buddy. It helps.[/QUOTE]

 

[Munga Brown]

Digital photography... photography period... isn't about taking as many pictures as you want because they're "free", they're not.

Shutter count. You shutter has a life span. Granted, it's extended, but it's there.

Photo editing... I can't tell you how many times I revisited contact sheets and "found" images that I initially overlooked as being "meh". Easy on the delete button. Editing sucks!! Sitting at a computer for hours & hours, using a dedicated computer, calibrated monitor, on & on. And the key is, and always has been, to use the digital "tools" sparingly. If you try to make a "meh" shot better with the application of filters, it's gonna look like a "meh" shot that's had layers of filters applied to it.

 

[M Rose]

Digital photography... photography period... isn't about taking as many pictures as you want because they're "free", they're not.

Shutter count. You shutter has a life span. Granted, it's extended, but it's there.

Photo editing... I can't tell you how many times I revisited contact sheets and "found" images that I initially overlooked as being "meh". Easy on the delete button. Editing sucks!! Sitting at a computer for hours & hours, using a dedicated computer, calibrated monitor, on & on. And the key is, and always has been, to use the digital "tools" sparingly. If you try to make a "meh" shot better with the application of filters, it's gonna look like a "meh" shot that's had layers of filters applied to it.

I get shutter count... but I was meaning that I can take more pictures at one time and experiment more with digital than I could with 35mm film. On to digital enhancements... I have been working with photoshop since it came out. And I really enjoy doing that kind of stuff. My pc has two main uses, CAD, and digital art. And no I get what you’re saying about the “meh” shot. Some pictures can’t get touched up any better... and digi filters look like Mimi’s make up.

 

[Munga Brown]

... and digi filters look like Mimi’s make up.

Bingo!

 

[Boort]

@Jeepmedic46

Is it worth getting the Journal of Wildlife photography or National Geographic Masters of photography?

As @Road and others have said how useful these series are will depend on how you learn.

Before you purchase either of these head down to your local library and see if they can get it for you via ILL (Inter-Library Loan) This will allow you to borrow the courses for a couple of weeks (sometimes more depending on the policies of the loaning library)

You can watch the Masters of Photography series on Amazon for either $40 or $60

For Me I can watch tutorials like this to refine a process but not so much to learn it. So I like to get hands on with a small group or a workshop. Look for a camera club in your area, being around local photographers will help you find out great places to shoot various subjects and which local workshops are worth going on (and which are not!) Reach out to NECCC if you're still in Mass. Looks like they are hosting a conference in your neck of the woods later this year. NECCC Photography Conference

Don't discount youtube for learning and refining your photography processes, Esp. for learning the software side of the process. I posted some of my favorites in the Budget Friendly Digital Photography (Cameras and Gear) started by @KRose & @Slimpartywagon.

Here are some others:
General, wide range of photography topics

Fstoppers​

Fstoppers

Fstoppers is a community of photographers, videographers, and other creative professionals focused on sharing reviews, photo tricks and tips, tutorials, and ...

www.youtube.com

​

Improve Photography​

Improve Photography

Improve Photography is one of the largest photography communities on the web with over 1 million followers on social media. Many of the videos on the channel...

www.youtube.com

​

Dave Morrow​

Dave Morrow

Full time landscape & wilderness photographer. https://www.davemorrowphotography.com

www.youtube.com

Lightroom/Photoshop tutorials:

Sean Bagshaw​

Sean Bagshaw

Photoshop and Lightroom techniques, photography and adventure.

www.youtube.com

​

f64 Academy​

f64 Academy

It is our goal to bring you the finest Photoshop and Photography education. As the aperture (f.64) implies, we deliver tack sharp, clear and concise educatio...

www.youtube.com

​

Pix Imperfect​

PiXimperfect

PiXimperfect, hosted by Unmesh Dinda, is a free resource for learning Photoshop and Lightroom. We believe in learning the concept, rather than learning the s...

www.youtube.com

​

Anthony Morganti​

Anthony Morganti

I am a photographer, trainer and retoucher living in Buffalo, New York USA. Through my website http://AnthonyMorganti.com and my YouTube channel, I hope to h...

www.youtube.com

Nightscapes shooting and planning:

Lonely Speck​

Lonely Speck

Lonely Speck is all about the best astrophotography tutorials, tips and reviews.

www.youtube.com

​

Kenneth Brandon - Dark Sky Chaser​

Kenneth Brandon - Dark Sky Chaser

This is my personal channel. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to go with this. For now it's a place to put my Time-Lapse videos! Here's some of the gear ...

www.youtube.com

PM me if you are going to be in Colorado, the group of photographers I run with tends to get together about once a month. Some times to get out and shoot and others to shoot the breeze by looking over shots we've taken and help each other get better results.

Boort

 

[Road]

@Jeepmedic46


As @Road and others have said how useful these series are will depend on how you learn.

Before you purchase either of these head down to your local library and see if they can get it for you via ILL (Inter-Library Loan) This will allow you to borrow the courses for a couple of weeks (sometimes more depending on the policies of the loaning library)

You can watch the Masters of Photography series on Amazon for either $40 or $60

For Me I can watch tutorials like this to refine a process but not so much to learn it. So I like to get hands on with a small group or a workshop. Look for a camera club in your area, being around local photographers will help you find out great places to shoot various subjects and which local workshops are worth going on (and which are not!) Reach out to NECCC if you're still in Mass. Looks like they are hosting a conference in your neck of the woods later this year. NECCC Photography Conference

Don't discount youtube for learning and refining your photography processes, Esp. for learning the software side of the process. I posted some of my favorites in the Budget Friendly Digital Photography (Cameras and Gear) started by @KRose & @Slimpartywagon.

Here are some others:
General, wide range of photography topics

Fstoppers​

Fstoppers

Fstoppers is a community of photographers, videographers, and other creative professionals focused on sharing reviews, photo tricks and tips, tutorials, and ...

www.youtube.com

​

Improve Photography​

Improve Photography

Improve Photography is one of the largest photography communities on the web with over 1 million followers on social media. Many of the videos on the channel...

www.youtube.com

​

Dave Morrow​

Dave Morrow

Full time landscape & wilderness photographer. https://www.davemorrowphotography.com

www.youtube.com

Lightroom/Photoshop tutorials:

Sean Bagshaw​

Sean Bagshaw

Photoshop and Lightroom techniques, photography and adventure.

www.youtube.com

​

f64 Academy​

f64 Academy

It is our goal to bring you the finest Photoshop and Photography education. As the aperture (f.64) implies, we deliver tack sharp, clear and concise educatio...

www.youtube.com

​

Pix Imperfect​

PiXimperfect

PiXimperfect, hosted by Unmesh Dinda, is a free resource for learning Photoshop and Lightroom. We believe in learning the concept, rather than learning the s...

www.youtube.com

​

Anthony Morganti​

Anthony Morganti

I am a photographer, trainer and retoucher living in Buffalo, New York USA. Through my website http://AnthonyMorganti.com and my YouTube channel, I hope to h...

www.youtube.com

Nightscapes shooting and planning:

Lonely Speck​

Lonely Speck

Lonely Speck is all about the best astrophotography tutorials, tips and reviews.

www.youtube.com

​

Kenneth Brandon - Dark Sky Chaser​

Kenneth Brandon - Dark Sky Chaser

This is my personal channel. I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to go with this. For now it's a place to put my Time-Lapse videos! Here's some of the gear ...

www.youtube.com

PM me if you are going to be in Colorado, the group of photographers I run with tends to get together about once a month. Some times to get out and shoot and others to shoot the breeze by looking over shots we've taken and help each other get better results.

Boort

.

- Now there's a great list of links! Cool to see yours, too.

.

 

[Ralph]

I can recommend Andrew St. Pierre White (Hope I write it right)
His chanel YT gives an opportunity joining for his photography courses and they are just great. He is an OVERLANDER himself and that is why it's so interesting...