Better Photo schooling or just paid advice?

[Spider67]

Hi ,
A friend of mine is very enthusisastic about beginning to "study" photography in an online course with betterphoto.com.
So want to gather some information about the reputation of these courses and the diplomas they issue.
I am not trying to stzart a dispute. It's just a simple request if these corses can provide him with useful knowledge and contatcs for a career in photography´.
So your input is really appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[John Rountree]

The value of this kind of course seems quite dubious to me. The biggest problem I see is timely feedback, and what that feedback is based on. If your friend is going to make prints and send them to the school for critique there could be some value, though the opportunity to talk back and forth with the reviewer (teacher) is a very valuable part of a classroom course.
If phtos are to be e-mailed and viewed on someone's screen then I don't think there is much that can be learned, except some compositional guidance. Looking at images on a screen (that probably isn't calibrated the same as the screen where they were made) cannot teach anyone about how to print, or even how to really use photoshop ...you have to see EXACTLY what the student is seeing, and then make your comment. I think your friend would be better off to spend the money on film and processing. Submit the images to RFF (or another site, if so inclined) and ask for opinions, as there seems to be no shortage. I am sure that you and/or your other friends with an understanding of photography will be happy to mentor him.
As a photography instructor at a college I am sure I have a bias, but then I have never taken a photo course in my life either. It takes lots of work, a fair measure of humility, and lots of and lots of photographs. You become a photographer by taking pictures. BTW, short of teaching yourself, the last paragraph in Nikonwebmater's post is excellent advice. BTW, Bill Jay and David Hurn also agree that there are only two ways to learn photography ...learn from the very best, or teach yourself.

 

[photobizzz]

I have a $21 a year gallery on betterphoto.com but have never taken their courses for two reasons; as stated above I was very dubious about how much real instruction I could recieve, and the cost while not alot in the long run could be better applied to a local class or books that could teach the same thing. I find that 85% of the photos on the site are very amaturish, but there is some very good work IMO shown there. Most of it is done by DSLR, and while I do have a DSLR it is not my weapon of choice. If your friend is just starting out, I went to the library and checked out books. It is free and there is alot to learn, not only about composition but about the way light and optics work. I also learned to develop my own B&W negs by using a book.

 

[BillBingham2]

Photography is a very broad medium. It sounds like a sink hole for lots of money. I would add my voice to the find a local college, park district course, camera club as a start. Learning Anex had a great class on lighting, International Center of Photography had a kick butt class on flash. I learned my moneys worth a long time ago at the traveling Nikon School of Photography. By no means anything deep, but it gave me some great ideas and things to try.

Assisting is a wonderful way to watch and learn. As you get better some times you can shoot too (not in all cases). There is so much to learn about the technology (e.g. Lighting, Still Life) that I think it would be hard to get a well rounded education online. You do not have to assist full time for folks like wedding photographers.

I like the comment of two ways to learn, from the best or by yourself. I kind of think with the advent of the Internet and sites like RFF you could get reasonable feed back on stuff you try. The challenge is self development of a set of assignments. Should be enough photo class details out there on the internet to start from.

B2 (;->

 

[kuzano]

I'd be interested to see comments....

I'd be interested to see comments....

I took the NYIP... New York Institute of Photography correspondence course a VERY long time ago. At that time it was snail mail, real books and cassette tapes. They did what they said they would do. Critiqued my work and sent back tapes and a new book with each lesson. I see they are still in business. Their coursed helped me a lot. At that time it was that, or go to a professional school. I am on the West Coast, so the school of choice here seemed to be Brooks Institute in California.

 

[payasam]

All I know was learnt from looking at photos, helping people in their work, asking questions, and reading. Of late I have been learning a great deal from forums such as RFF. A formal course of study would probably have speeded up things. From the experience I have of teaching photography, I can say that once pupils have been taught the basics they can move ahead pretty fast on their own steam.