Thoughts on photography classes?

[dannybear]

Hey all, I was wondering what your thoughts are on photography classes? I had to take one in highschool and the teacher taught out of a photography for dummies book and now in college I had to take one for a reason against my choice and the teacher seems to be pretty clueless and has been showing biased opinions and Ive noticed both the classes have focued on digital manipulation more than taking actual photos, Is this what all photography classes are like or have I just been unlucky? What are your thoughts on photography classes?

 

[35mmdelux]

There is nothing like experience. Add a cheap beginners book off amazon. I'd suggest the most important part of learning is keeping notes on your shoots. Match the notes w/ your negs and you'll see where you need to improve. You'll learn a lot faster this way.

 

[swoop]

I taught a college photo class as a TA and yes I was biased. But my professor and his TA before me were the same. So I'm guessing they're all like that but I'm probably wrong.

I had a rule in my class, no cats. Someone once handed me a photo of a cat and I threw it in the trash. I also frowned upon photos of cemeteries but wasn't as irritated about it.

A lot of people take photo as an art elective. And a lot of schools are ditching the wet darkroom for digital. Some really good schools run both.

I think taking a basic photo class is a good thing. it teaches you the fundamentals. Photo 1 is pretty much understanding how to use a camera, develop film and make prints and it's really just a class where you coast. No one failed photo 1 unless you just didn't show up. All you had to do was make 12 prints mounted and matted and you passed. Photo 2 was where it got serious. Because those kids weren't there because they had to be.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I think a lot depends on the quality of the instructor as well as the type of photo program the school has. Some schools concentrate on fine art photography, others concentrate on commercial photography.

Regarding the focus on digital manipulation, when I was an art student in a university photo program (Indiana University), we spent much more time learning darkroom skill than we did learning to shoot photos. This was in the pre-digital era. Shooting is the easy part; the real work in photography has always been in printing and processing. Today, that is largely done on the computer since most people shoot digital rather than film.

Shooting skills were more important to commercial photographers because of the need to know a lot about complex studio lighting. Processing skills are now as important because commercial guys now shoot digital and post-process the files in-house rather than shooting film and paying a lab to do that work.

My teachers were good. My high school teacher was an elderly man in his late 60s who had an incredible enthusiasm for photography and art and a deep knowledge of technique and history of photography and art (he also taught painting, drawing, and computer graphics...he introduced the first computer art class in an Indiana high school when he was already old enough to retire!). He retired last year when the school he had spent more than 50 years teaching was closed as a budget cutting measure. He was in his early 80s! I ran into him a few days ago, and my old high school photo teacher is still in perfect health, and pissed he had to retire! He'd still be teaching today if he could.

My college photo teacher was very good too. He's also retired now, but he is still shooting and has gotten into digital quite heavily in the last few yrs.

 

[KenR]

I took several classes at the local community college and all were great. The instructors were first rate, the facilities excellent and the students dedicated and helpful. So I would definately look into what is available locally. On the other hand, the classes that I have taken at the ICP in NYC have also been top notch but may require travel and hotels for most people.

The classes definately improved my level of skill, both with the camera and in the darkroom. The feedback from the instuctor and the other students really tells you how you're doing (but can be harsh at times). Seeing other peoples work on an ongoing basis also pushes you ahead. So if you can, definately do it.

 

[Richard G]

TA=teacher's assistant (?)

 

[shimokita]

Great opportunity ;-)... dealing with a "clueless and biased" instructor in school is a good primer for dealing with a boss of the same bent later in life. Do the "required" ... then pick up the valuable threads in the class and go the extra mile (with or without extra credit) and you cannot go wrong.

I have taken "street workshops" that turned out to be less than expected, but still managed to get two or three points and some ongoing connections with other workshop members... so at the end I could say that I was satisfied.

Don't let the instructor determine your experience... a course is one/two semesters, a bad boss can go on and on. Constructive feedback may or may not be the way to go ;-)...

Casey

 

[Araakii]

There are some values if you get a good instructor, but it's not something that you can't get elsewhere by exploring yourself and talking to people who do a better job than you do.

 

[Muller]

To the OP, that sounds more like you had a few instructors that were shoved into those positions for one reason or another, and neither had any real experience (i.e. photography vs. photoshop), or desire to be there.

The instructor I worked with used a "Photography for Dummies" approach for his basic class, since that was where the students' level of understanding was; most of them had a DSLR, but didn't know how to use it aside from Auto mode. Some even admitted being afraid of using the other modes because they didn't know how. The instructor also considered students that only had a digital point-n-shoot as a challenge.

The goal of the class was simply to get the students to better understand the camera they used, and to take better photos than when they started, it was all down to the basics, and it didn't matter what brand was on the camera, film or digital.

He would also stress that no matter how many classes you took, or books you read, there was no replacement for getting out and shooting.

 

[35mmdelux]

I took a few foto classes in the late '80's with the wet room and all that stuff, lighting too. I was stunned several years later when I visited the old haunt and all I could see were rows of computers and a listing of classes for Photoshop.

 

[swoop]

TA=teacher's assistant (?)

Yeah. Though I pretty much taught Photo 1 and Photo 2 by myself. The professor was often either off somewhere working on a project or if he was there he kind of just hung out. And when he did give advice it was always very praising. It was kind of bothersome when I was his student that you could never get anything critical out of him.

But like I said Photo 1 was easy because most people there just needed the class. Photo 2 was where there was actual instruction on light ,shooting, developing and printing techniques. And in Photo 2 you could use whatever camera/film/developer/paper you wanted. Photo 1 was strictly 50mm lens on a manual SLR, Tri-X 400 in HC110 and Ilford RC paper so that if any of the kids had any trouble they could help each other out with developing and printing.

 

[Damaso]

Hey all, I was wondering what your thoughts are on photography classes? I had to take one in highschool and the teacher taught out of a photography for dummies book and now in college I had to take one for a reason against my choice and the teacher seems to be pretty clueless and has been showing biased opinions and Ive noticed both the classes have focued on digital manipulation more than taking actual photos, Is this what all photography classes are like or have I just been unlucky? What are your thoughts on photography classes?

There are good classes out there and good teachers (I teach private classes). That said almost everything you want to learn you can teach yourself, assuming you have the discipline.

The most important thing is to find a teacher whose work you respect before you spend any money. If it is at a school ask for a copy of the syllabus to see what will be covered...

No matter how good your teacher is it all comes down to how hard you are willing to work!

 

[John Lawrence]

The most important thing is to find a teacher whose work you respect before you spend any money.[/B]

Sage advice. Following this could save you a lot of money, time and effort, whilst helping to make you the photographer you want to be.

John

 

[Brian Legge]

I took two years of photography in high school (97-98). The teacher had professional experience and may have been doing some pro work when not teaching, though I don't recall the specifics.

Anyway, he started people out in the darkroom and then encouraged people learn about a digital workflow (scanning film, etc) as he believed it was the future of commercial photography and was an important skill set to develop.

Most of the class was about the results, not the technical details. Shoot a roll or two a week, show pictures at the end of the week. I spent all the spare time I could muster either either in the lab or on the computers. It was an absolutely excellent class and I really wish I'd kept in touch with the teacher.

 

[Bob Michaels]

It depends, like so many things. Not only does it depend on the instructor and level of the class, but it also depends on the students.

I am fortunate to have attended classes at an excellent community art school (non degree granting) for eight years. Also, I have friends who are professors at a nearby state college that grants bachelors degrees in photography. I have been a guest speaker at different photo classes. I have seen classes that were unbelievably good. I have seen classes with excellent themes and excellent instructors derailed by having a number of unqualified or unmotivated students. I have even seen some instructors who felt their vision was the only acceptable one. I have seen instructors that taught for the meager money. I have seen instructors who simply loved helping new photographers. I have seen instructors in advanced classes who only dealt with the ability of the final photo to deliver the desired result. One of the best photo exhibits I see every year is an after school project of 12-14 year olds who are given cameras, shown basic rudiments of exposure, and sent home to document what they feel is important to them and their family.

Other than photo 101 when made a mandatory course, the answer always is "it depends"

 

[peterm1]

Depends what you want to know - basic camera techniques and tricks of the trade, or artistic techniques. It might help for the former - not sure about the latter. I basically did a lot of reading and in the case of the artistic stuff I did a lot of looking at pictures. I found that looking at images helped me get a feel for what I liked and also get a feel for good v bad images. To put it another way classes will help you with things like understanding how to use your camera and how to compose an image for a good result. But its less likely to teach what to photograph and how to interpret the subject to get a great result.

As to digital manipulation I reckon that these days this is the equivalent of what they used to teach a lot of - darkroom technique, developing, processing and printing. Same, same really. Like I said classes mostly focus on the how to not the what.

 

[DanOnRoute66]

Ask questions of current or former students for a given instructor, if you can find them. A great photographer isn't necessarily a great teacher.

 

[Bob Michaels]

............................. As to digital manipulation I reckon that these days this is the equivalent of what they used to teach a lot of - darkroom technique, developing, processing and printing. Same, same really. Like I said classes mostly focus on the how to not the what.

Very true. Today you can easily find Photoshop classes, Elements classes, Lightroom classes, digital printing classes, basic darkroom classes, advanced printing classes, even classes in esoteric processes like wet plate, platinum printing, etc. All in addition to classes in documentary photography, landscape photography, studio lighting portrait, location portrait, architecture photography. Then there are large format classes, even short ones about how to use you D90, D300, and all the Canon models. The varieties are endless. Just like the quality.

 

[Damaso]

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