Photography Course

[M-J-B]

I'm thinking about enroling, but have no idea what I'm looking for....

I have a basic understanding of the equipment I use, but thought I would benefit from time spent with people who do know what's what.

I live in West Sussex and am open to suggestions......have any of you guys been to evening college or completed a correspondence course?

I've seen one from the Photography Institute. Seems to cover all aspects and is in depth, is a 12 module course which is suggested takes 24 weeks to complete. Cost is £500, not sure if that's OTT for this type of course?

Thanks.

[M-J-B]

Bump

So nobody has been on a course and has any advice to offer?

[Super Slo Mo]

I did a City and Guilds course (evenings) a few years ago. I think a lot of it depends on the quality of the lecturers. For instance, our first year lecturer was superb, made it really interesting. Then in the second year, we had a different chap, who wasn't so good. He was a good photographer, but a poor lecturer, and the result was that attendance fell until they discontinued the course. C&G are (or were in 2006) stuck in the past, a large proportion of the course labours over the niceties of Black and White film and the technical aspects of it.

Obviously, being a local FE College, the fees weren't too expensive, nothing like the £500 you mention, but for that kind of money, you'd be hoping to have a very high standard of knowledge imparted to you, with a good standard of tuition.

Good luck if you decide to go for it, let us all know how you get on.

[MartinP]

I finished a City and Guilds course at my local college this summer. It took three years of 5 Saturdays per term (the college offered the course as evenings too) and cost around £275 per year. As Super Slo Mo says, it does make a big difference who you get as a tutor. I was very fortunate with my tutors but heard bad things about some of the others. I managed to avoid film in the first year but around 25% of the final 2 years was black and white film, which in spite of having reservations about, I eventually enjoyed and it did force me to think more about the shot before hitting the shutter button.

I think the advantage of the college course was getting to play with lots of kit that you might not otherwise get access to such as medium and large format cameras, studio lighting, fully equiped dark rooms etc and the relatively low cost for the number of course hours. I certainly learned a great deal and think my photography has moved on a lot from where it was before the course.

It would be interesting to hear from somebody who has done a correspondance course. Personally I got a lot from talking with the others on the course, something that would be missing by doing it remotely.

Hope you manage to find something suitable.

[mojjo1]

I've just started a 20-week evening course in digital photography (just done first week) and i've learnt more in the three hours than I thought I would, it was great!

I'm new to photography and spent a lot of time reading up info and techniques on various forums and on-line guides but for me, being sat in a class with 10 others, all discussing and solving issues together is way better.

Depends on your tutor and your enthsiasm, but i'm really enjoying the course and part of it is to take a variety of shots for a portfolio, and this is something I wouldn't of done without doing the course.

Chatting to other photographers helps heaps too!

[M-J-B]

Thanks guys - some interesting info there.

I tend to agree that a college course with other students is benficial, nothing like talking and comparing notes on a one to one basis.

Mojjo1 - where are you doing your course are you happy to offer more details - i.e. What level/structure of the course, cost etc?

Thanks

[Oldred_V8S]

MartinP said:

I finished a City and Guilds course at my local college this summer. It took three years of 5 Saturdays per term (the college offered the course as evenings too) and cost around £275 per year. As Super Slo Mo says, it does make a big difference who you get as a tutor. I was very fortunate with my tutors but heard bad things about some of the others. I managed to avoid film in the first year but around 25% of the final 2 years was black and white film, which in spite of having reservations about, I eventually enjoyed and it did force me to think more about the shot before hitting the shutter button.

I think the advantage of the college course was getting to play with lots of kit that you might not otherwise get access to such as medium and large format cameras, studio lighting, fully equiped dark rooms etc and the relatively low cost for the number of course hours. I certainly learned a great deal and think my photography has moved on a lot from where it was before the course.

It would be interesting to hear from somebody who has done a correspondance course. Personally I got a lot from talking with the others on the course, something that would be missing by doing it remotely.

Hope you manage to find something suitable.

Bracknell and Wokingham College by any chance? I just finished a C&G course there this summer, was on the Monday evening course, like you had reservations about the amount of Film processing etc, but in the end really enjoyed it.

[MartinP]

Oldred_V8S said:

Bracknell and Wokingham College by any chance?

[Ebo100]

I've done a couple of different courses and would recommend this site:-

http://www.goingdigital.co.uk/

The company is run on a francise basis with a instructor covering a particular area so will have a good knowledge of the area you will be photographing. I attended the composition course in Robin Hoods bay in North Yorkshire and found it a great day out and I learnt loads.
Prior to that I attended a course run at our local adult learning centre and loved the assignments as you are forced to take photo's on a variety of subjects perhaps outside your comfort zone.
I would also recommend joining your local camera club as each club will hold many competitions throughout the year, again on a variety of themes and you will find you improve as you enter the competition and see the photos that others submit. there will also be experts in the club that can point you in a particular direction.

[pphillpot]

Garage studios in Brighton (not sure how far west you are in Sussex) offer a number of courses:

http://garage-studios.co.uk/courses

I've not been on one personally, but they seem to get good feedback on the brighton flickr forum.

[mojjo1]

M-J-B said:

Thanks guys - some interesting info there.

I tend to agree that a college course with other students is benficial, nothing like talking and comparing notes on a one to one basis.

Mojjo1 - where are you doing your course are you happy to offer more details - i.e. What level/structure of the course, cost etc?

Thanks

The course is in Southampton, Hampshire and the exact coursename is an 'ncfe level 1 award in creative craft using digital photography'.

The costs weren't too bad, I think £183 + exam costs of £43. Although I had a limited choice of courses as most started back in September, although in addition some colleges do have some new courses starting in Jan.

Ed

Edited by mojjo1 on Wednesday 17th November 13:37

[Oldred_V8S]

MartinP said:

Oldred_V8S said:

Bracknell and Wokingham College by any chance?

Love the shots on your web site, I am currently putting a web site together for my own work. What rig did you use for the T350 shots?

Edited by Oldred_V8S on Wednesday 17th November 14:03

[clk55pete]

These a good...

http://www.oca-uk.com/distance-learning/photograph...

[M-J-B]

Thanks guys and very interesting.

I've phoned and spoken to the Brighton option and the course sounds interesting and along the rith lines.

I will probably go down that route and see how it pans out.

Cheers

[ian in lancs]

clk55pete said:

These a good...

http://www.oca-uk.com/distance-learning/photograph...

eye wateringly expensive though!


re the original post I have looked extensively and gave up after pitching up for a CGLI L2 course and told my port would be expected from graduating CGLI L3 / Full Time students. Humph! Back to square one!

All the stuff I found was either too basic or full time courses. Surely there's a demand out there for improvers.

[pphillpot]

M-J-B said:

Thanks guys and very interesting.

I've phoned and spoken to the Brighton option and the course sounds interesting and along the rith lines.

I will probably go down that route and see how it pans out.

Cheers

I'd be interested to hear how the course goes if you go ahead with it. I've been thinking of signing up to one of theirs for a while now, maybe I'll take the plunge in the new year.