Where to get photography training?

[cayenne]

Hi all,

I've had my 5D3 since May. I've read and read...been shooting....etc.

But I do think I could really benefit from some kind of formal training....a photography class. I've been searching around in my area (New Orleans), and I"m not really found anything that seemed good, reputible...etc.

I've been trying to see if one of the local community colleges had a course I could audit..etc...but so far no luck.

What would ya'lls suggestions be, for looking around to find someone to give me training on all the basics, so I could get an organized education on the basics of the balance of ISO, aperture and shutter speed....depth of field, shooting backlit subjects, etc....

I've figure out a lot, but I'd really like to have a course in it...especially with regards to digital....to make sure I understand everything and maybe see if some concepts I've not known about play into it all too?

I'd really like a human led class....with assignments so I could bring in pics, and have them critique'd and suggestions on what did and didn't work with settings, composure...etc.


Thanks!!

cayenne

[jointdoc]

Cayenne,

I don't know all of the resources in the New Orleans area but I suggest that you consider stopping by the New Orleans Area Camera Club. http://www.gnocc.org/

I am a member of my local camera club and they are a great resource.  There are monthly competitions which are judged by independent professional photographers and educators.  They have classes before the meetings but best of all they know who what is available and who is good and who is not.

[And-Rew]

+1 on the local camera club.

They are invaluable.

You could also have a look on Flickr to see if there are any strobist groups in your area, as they can be extremely educational as well.

Quick look found this group... http://www.flickr.com/groups/nopa/
If they're not exactly what you want, they may be able to provide further information

[Halfrack]

Toss in chatting up your local camera store as they may offer group or 1on1 classes.

Plus https://www.fisheyeconnect.com/ has lots of different groups publishing their activities.  Smugmug user groups may also be in your area.

[cayenne]

Goodness, thank you for all the replies and suggestions!!!

I"ll give this a look!!!  The local club thing seems a great place to start to look into things.....

I'm not familiar with flickr and smugmug, so will look into those...

Keep any suggestions coming, and thank you for these so far, they look like good leads!!


cayenne

[RLPhoto]

Behind the Camera. 

[7enderbender]

Check meetup.com perhaps.

It's certainly great to have some live hands-on experience that way, class or otherwise. The other thing that I found is once you start looking into more specific questions and areas of interest that there are outstanding online tools available.

I came from film not too long ago and wanna say that I had most of the basics covered. But then there was this whole new world to be discovered that is specific to DSLRs. And I was never much of a flash/strobe user and it bugged me how clueless I had always been with that - and how poor my results had always been.
So other than participating in a local event/class through a studio shooter meetup group I found some great resources online starting with the famous strobist blog web site. Add a few good books to that and don't forget the manuals (and additional information on the Canon web sites) and it got me closer to where I wanted to be - and I went from reluctantly using my old Metz potato masher (nuking everything in its range) to successfully using complex wireless multiple flash setups with my favorite model inside a running shower...

[bainsybike]

The Open University in the UK run just such a course, which I can thoroughly recommend, having done it myself.  It's web based, so you can do it from anywhere in the world. Details here: http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/T189.htm

[Botts]

I've been trying to see if one of the local community colleges had a course I could audit..etc...but so far no luck.

Take a look at the college and/or university's for-credit options.  I know the schools up here in Canada wouldn't let you audit, but they will let you take the courses as a distance student.  I took a 3-credit (1 semester) course from 6-9PM every Thursday for $750 CAD.

[awinphoto]

www.creativelive.com... free education while the events are live....  Once the events are over, the courses are still cheap enough... you get training with some of the top pro's in the industry, and you get insight you wont get anywhere...  I got a BA from one of the top photography schools in the country and I still learn from creativelive... If they were around when I was at school, I could have saved thousands of dollars. 

[JBeckwith]

+1 for your local camera club.  I recently discovered mine and it's great.  There's a lot of information tossed around and it's also a great way to network.

[carlc]

I was in the same boat.  Looked high and low, finally settled on New York Institute of Photography.  Depending on your payment option choice, it runs about $1,000.  But I think it is well worth it and you do all the work on your schedule, not someone else's.

Pros:  Very, very thorough printed (study guide), audio (CD) and video (DVD).  Great individual evaluations by  your assigned instructor.  Six sessions, each with a final exam.  Easy to reach "student advisors" for questions.

Cons:  Some of the material is a little dated and they devote a good amount of time to film.  However, I found the film discussions helped me with the digital challenges.

I am about half way through and already see a marked improvement.  I would do it again!

[shutterwideshut]

Hi all,

I've had my 5D3 since May. I've read and read...been shooting....etc.

But I do think I could really benefit from some kind of formal training....a photography class. I've been searching around in my area (New Orleans), and I"m not really found anything that seemed good, reputible...etc.

I've been trying to see if one of the local community colleges had a course I could audit..etc...but so far no luck.

What would ya'lls suggestions be, for looking around to find someone to give me training on all the basics, so I could get an organized education on the basics of the balance of ISO, aperture and shutter speed....depth of field, shooting backlit subjects, etc....

I've figure out a lot, but I'd really like to have a course in it...especially with regards to digital....to make sure I understand everything and maybe see if some concepts I've not known about play into it all too?

I'd really like a human led class....with assignments so I could bring in pics, and have them critique'd and suggestions on what did and didn't work with settings, composure...etc.


Thanks!!

cayenne

You may try to check this out: http://www.betterphoto.com/courseOverview.asp?sessionOffset=&cspID=230

[TexPhoto]

The camera club is what I was going to suggest.  (I prefer to call it a photography club as ther are people who just collect cameras)

Meetup.com is a great place to find a camera club.  I found my first that way, and after i moved and could not find one, started my own.  Now we have 215 members.

[EOBeav]

Behind the Camera. 

+1

Just don't pay somebody to teach this stuff to you. You learn by doing and by networking from others. After awhile, you kind of find your own vision and how to translate it to pixels in a RAW file. You'll get it; just keep at it.