Short Course (digital photography) & lens Q
Discussion
Being a complete newb in the world of photography, and specifically digital photography, I think it would be prudent of me to get on a short course. having looked around, I have shortlisted 2:
http://www.thephotographyschool.co.uk/
http://www.lsptraining.com/
Has anyone been on a course aimed at beginners? Has anyone been on either of the courses I've provided links for? Are beginners courses any good/worth the money? (around £275 for 2days).
Im planning on getting a Nikon D80 kit. Will the Nikon AFS 18-135mm lens be good enough for me for now, or would it be wise to invest up front in a Nikkor 18-200mm AF-S DX VR lens?
I don't have anything specific in mind regarding the types of photos I want to take, I just want to be able to start taking better photos and to understand how to get the best out of the camera.
cheers
http://www.thephotographyschool.co.uk/
http://www.lsptraining.com/
Has anyone been on a course aimed at beginners? Has anyone been on either of the courses I've provided links for? Are beginners courses any good/worth the money? (around £275 for 2days).
Im planning on getting a Nikon D80 kit. Will the Nikon AFS 18-135mm lens be good enough for me for now, or would it be wise to invest up front in a Nikkor 18-200mm AF-S DX VR lens?
I don't have anything specific in mind regarding the types of photos I want to take, I just want to be able to start taking better photos and to understand how to get the best out of the camera.
cheers
Quinny said:
Hi will
I bought a 350D last year, and quickly realised I didn't have a bloody clue how to get better results from the camera.
What brought it home as to how crap I was that a mate and me went to the same venue (BSB) with the same camras, and lenses and his pics were far superior to mine.
I enrold at a local college introduction to digital photography course, 10 evening classes of 2 hours each, for about £50, to say it was value for money would be an understatment, learnt loads, just basic stuff but it gives you somthing to build on.
I'm going to do a more advanced course soon, if its anything like the other one I'll be a proffessional soon
My advice would be, check out what your local colleges offer, and save the money you would have spent on expensive courses for more kit
Rule No 5: A man cannot have to many toys
Quinny - unfortunately I wouldn't be able to guarantee that I could make a weeknight-based course over a fixed duration otherwise I would certainly be up for doing one.I bought a 350D last year, and quickly realised I didn't have a bloody clue how to get better results from the camera.
What brought it home as to how crap I was that a mate and me went to the same venue (BSB) with the same camras, and lenses and his pics were far superior to mine.
I enrold at a local college introduction to digital photography course, 10 evening classes of 2 hours each, for about £50, to say it was value for money would be an understatment, learnt loads, just basic stuff but it gives you somthing to build on.
I'm going to do a more advanced course soon, if its anything like the other one I'll be a proffessional soon
My advice would be, check out what your local colleges offer, and save the money you would have spent on expensive courses for more kit
Rule No 5: A man cannot have to many toys
thanks for the input though !
hoping some others can chip in tomorrow
ukwill said:
Im planning on getting a Nikon D80 kit. Will the Nikon AFS 18-135mm lens be good enough for me for now, or would it be wise to invest up front in a Nikkor 18-200mm AF-S DX VR lens?
D80 is a nice camera, I have a D50 myself and am considering one.I would def. reccomend the 18-200mm, I have ...
18-55
55-200
70-300
... and use them all. 18-135 will be pretty good, but you'll lack the "zoom" of the 200mm
Of course it depends on what you shoot, and where to draw the line.
M
mph999 said:
ukwill said:
Im planning on getting a Nikon D80 kit. Will the Nikon AFS 18-135mm lens be good enough for me for now, or would it be wise to invest up front in a Nikkor 18-200mm AF-S DX VR lens?
D80 is a nice camera, I have a D50 myself and am considering one.I would def. reccomend the 18-200mm, I have ...
18-55
55-200
70-300
... and use them all. 18-135 will be pretty good, but you'll lack the "zoom" of the 200mm
Of course it depends on what you shoot, and where to draw the line.
M
anyone else have any words of wisdom for a newb???
Rather than shelling out for an expensive course, do you have any mates who are into their photography and already got the kit.
You may find that if you shoot a common subject you will be able to learn an awful lot by just taking to them and find out what settings they use etc. For instance a friend of mine i work with is well into his photography and has a lot of very expensive canon kit, 20/30D and several L series lenses.
Now although he has the kit the thing he's lacking in is the know how of what settings to use at the right time and circumstance. We both have a strong interest in aviation so we went last Sunday to the Flying Legends show at Duxford. He was checking what settings i was using and asked a lot of advice during the day. Granted I'm no Pro but at least i could provide him with the information (that in my opinion) that would have been best.
Half the fun though is experimenting for yourself and trying different settings to see what gives the best result. I've never taken a photography lesson in my life and have self taught myself on all aspects of photography. There is still masses that i dont know even after 20+ years of photography but i will keep learning, thats for sure!
One final thing i'd say is that there is a huge difference in knowing the theory and actually putting it into practice. Some photography rules work the majority of the time, i.e. rule of thirds. But then rules are made to be broken and i have seen amazing shots that totally ignore the same rule.
Whatever camera and lenses you choose, you will have fun no matter what...
I cant shed any light on Nikon gear though, I'm a Canon man...
You may find that if you shoot a common subject you will be able to learn an awful lot by just taking to them and find out what settings they use etc. For instance a friend of mine i work with is well into his photography and has a lot of very expensive canon kit, 20/30D and several L series lenses.
Now although he has the kit the thing he's lacking in is the know how of what settings to use at the right time and circumstance. We both have a strong interest in aviation so we went last Sunday to the Flying Legends show at Duxford. He was checking what settings i was using and asked a lot of advice during the day. Granted I'm no Pro but at least i could provide him with the information (that in my opinion) that would have been best.
Half the fun though is experimenting for yourself and trying different settings to see what gives the best result. I've never taken a photography lesson in my life and have self taught myself on all aspects of photography. There is still masses that i dont know even after 20+ years of photography but i will keep learning, thats for sure!
One final thing i'd say is that there is a huge difference in knowing the theory and actually putting it into practice. Some photography rules work the majority of the time, i.e. rule of thirds. But then rules are made to be broken and i have seen amazing shots that totally ignore the same rule.
Whatever camera and lenses you choose, you will have fun no matter what...
I cant shed any light on Nikon gear though, I'm a Canon man...
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff