Recommend an on-line photography course

[jj2908]

Good evening fellow enthusiasts

For not other reason than to make the most of my Nikon D5100 and be 'better at it' Im looking for an on-line photography course that will help me mater the basics. Ive found 2 online providers but would like recommendations of where my £3-500 might be best spent

Cheers JJ

[rich888]

For pure quantity look no further than Youtube and type in 'nikon d5100 tutorial' whereupon both good and bad advice can be found!

Alternatively visit:

https://www.youtube.com/user/thatnikonguy

or

https://www.youtube.com/user/WeeklyImogen

[steveatesh]

OP consider Karl Taylor's master class which comes On DVD or download.

I used them when I got my D5100 and found them invaluable. Takes you through everything you need in a very clear way, plus the various subjects to photograph.

Excellent value in my opinion.

[The_Jackal]

The Kelby stuff is good.Or their books.

[nitrodave]

Get a couple of good books and study them. There will be some specifically for your camera. I learnt plenty when i got a nikon 3300 recently just from books and getting out and using it in different secenarios

[Beggarall]

You may find all you need by searching through Youtube and other on-line tutorials. I was in exactly the same position as you and found this course very helpful - good material and good Tutor-style feed-back - https://www.institute-of-photography.com

[jj2908]

Thank you everyone. I too had found the photography institute Beggarly, you're the 1st to mention the online course, which of course is a significantly larger investment compared to say the DVD's or the free youtube videos, would you mind elaborating on why you found the course to be so good?

Cheers

[Beggarall]

jj2908 said:

Thank you everyone. I too had found the photography institute Beggarly, you're the 1st to mention the online course, which of course is a significantly larger investment compared to say the DVD's or the free youtube videos, would you mind elaborating on why you found the course to be so good?

Cheers

Hi - well that is big ask but I will try to explain my position and what I found useful.
I have had digital cameras since they first came out and before that SLRs (and others) that had to be loaded with film. I was always interested in taking photographs but only occasionally took anything that you could call either memorable of technically sound - mostly snaps and family holidays. I remember sending the films by post for developing and then being really disappointed when I excitedly opened the package to find a load of really boring prints - if there was one good one in every packet of 24 prints I would be happy. Actually (as an aside) I am not sure my "strike" rate has got much better but at least I understand what is wrong and with digital you can take zillions of shots and get almost instant feed-back.

So, back to the narrative, I finally bought myself a proper digital SLR having had a series of "pocket" cameras but found my pictures weren't getting any better. I was hesitant to use any of the options other than "auto" and truthfully didn't understand what everything did. I therefore hunted around for some sort of instruction. There weren't quite as many on-line tutorials as there are now and Photoshop was only in its second or third iteration and was (I thought) just for the pros. The course with Institute of Photography was advertised on Amazon Local at cut price and I thought I had nothing to lose and signed up.

There are a range of courses. Most take the form of video or power-point type tutorials followed by a pretty simple MCQ to try to underline the learning points. There are then exercises or assignments which ask you to submit your work which is then critiqued in a helpful and constructive way. After you have completed all the modules there is a final assessment of 3 or 4 images which are critiqued in detail and you end up with a certificate - not sure that is has any real meaning but the organisation has been validated and now recognised to allow student (NUS) status.

What I found particularly useful was that you could go at it at your own pace, it covered the topics in a logical sequential manner, that expert opinion/guidance/feed back was only an email away and there was access to "chat rooms" with the tutor and a bulletin board for students to ask questions/post photos etc. The course has transformed my understanding and interest in photography. The course itself will not make all your photos perfect, but does lead to a level of understanding when things go wrong and access to help to try to put things right. I never knew there was so much to learn - but ultimately the key to progress is practice.

I am sure there are lots of other courses available and I cannot comment on those. I do know that IoP often come out with cut-price deals so it is worth looking out for those - or even write to ask for one! I have found it extremely useful - but it is only a starting point. Hope that helps

[jj2908]

Thank you every one, especially Beg.... very helpful indeed

[sgrimshaw]

Worth taking a look here too:

https://deals.geeky-gadgets.com/deals/elearning#/3...

click on the Photography tab to just see the photography related ones.

[garybezz]

Has anyone on here any experience of Mike Brownes courses?
http://www.photographycourses.biz/
I really like his stuff on YouTube, very down to earth and straightforward.
I am probably going to go for his 7 building blocks course (which may be of interest to the OP)