PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE

[geodar]

I have been interested in taking a photography course and every year I have a look through the free booklets that come through the door.

anyway the latest booklet to arrive has a part time course, hnd level for 2 years, two days a week at only £5000, with no discounts available on this course.

needless to say I won't be doing that course this year.

geoff

[bugmeister]

Strewth (as my Australian friends say) That seems rather steep when these days virtually all the technical knowledge is available online.

 

On the other hand that works out at maybe £40 per day for the tutor to show you how to put it together (hopefully from experience) and explain the details as well. Many day courses are double or triple that, so maybe it doesn't sound so bad when taken in perspective.

[colinb]

Strewth (as my Australian friends say) That seems rather steep when these days virtually all the technical knowledge is available online.

 

On the other hand that works out at maybe £40 per day for the tutor to show you how to put it together (hopefully from experience) and explain the details as well. Many day courses are double or triple that, so maybe it doesn't sound so bad when taken in perspective.

 

 

Sorry Buggy not working  5k still looks a big number from here   

[Leon]

wow!!!

[NannyFerret]

Check out the colleges near to you. Most of them do free or very low cost courses, especially if you are a pensioner.

[geodar]

still got a few years to go before I manage that one tina.

when I have been looking over the last few years they were running around the 3k mark, but no matter how I look at the figures I still think 5k is a bit steep, yes you get a HND qualification at the end if you pass, but it would take a long time to make that money back doing what I do.

i'll keep looking but not too hopeful.

geoff

[bugmeister]

 

no matter how I look at the figures I still think 5k is a bit steep, yes you get a HND qualification at the end if you pass, but it would take a long time to make that money back doing what I do.

I think that hits the nail on the head.

It all depends on why you're (thinking of) doing it, and what return you'll get from it.

[FUJI]

From the perspective of advanced years I do realise that for a young person the investment of a few thousand pounds in a pro photography course would be wise.

But for anyone of more mature years wanting to gain both theoretical and practical experience, then I would advise a longer and much cheaper way........as an example, when I retired and decided that photography would make a creative hobby with the potential to earn a few pounds here and there....I knew practically nothing about the intricacies of cameras and lenses, or the myriad of photographic rules and techniques.

I decided against joining a club because I had had enough of meetings, instead, I joined TIPF , posting horrendous pics from the cheapest Chinese bridge camera ever, the noise it made on start up and whilst focussing had to be heard to be believed......after a time of asking the dumbest questions ....our Phil and BP took me under the wings of their joint expertise ably assisted by other knowledgable members.......my confidence and abilities improved to the point when ( just like Leon) I took advice on purchasing my first DSLR a SONY A200 ...chosen because of its flip out LCD and ability for rapid shooting.

Since then , my expertise and camera skills improved beyond all expectation, I now use a SONY A55 and two other RAW shooting cameras plus a large collection of new and vintage lenses.....I now belong to and learn from not only TIPF but three other specialist forums .....other more than excellent tuition has been via ....YouTube....and through absorbing all kinds of photography books.....all at little outlay and done in my own time with absolutely no course pressures or overbearing tutor or students. Not forgetting the time TIPF member Bill spent a whole day passing on his expertise on many aspects of photography, camera and lenses ( plus a great pub lunch)......The proof.....as they say.....is plain to see........my abilities, expertise and confidence have grown beyond all expectations....I even surprise myself sometimes .....all at very little cost except for camera, lenses and two good tripods and bits and bobs.

To summarise then.........By joining photography forums, then with the help and advice from members, plus the use made of technology and the collecting and reading of dozens of second hand photography books learning Photography can be cheap and fun.

FUJI

[NannyFerret]

still got a few years to go before I manage that one tina.

 

Sorry, Geo, but I didn't check your age on your profile. lol, but you can still get cheap or free college courses at any age.

I am like Fuji. I learnt most from old books and another forum .

A very kind man on another forum helped me to understand my camera and how it worked.

I don't think I could take everything in if I went on a course and was with a lot of people as I'm not a person who likes being in crowds unless it is to photograph them. lol

[Guest DaveW]

I used to do night school photography for many years because the fees were reasonable. Then the education department decided to move the courses from the local schools to the university and make them more relevant to those wanting to take up photography as a career rather than a hobby. Most hobby night school courses now seem to have disappeared in Nottingham to be replaced by rather expensive one day private sector courses:-

 

http://www.goingdigital.co.uk/photographycourses/close-up-photography.php

 

If you work out how many people they would get on a one day course at £75-£80 a time that's quite a nice little earner and some are even more expensive than that. As Bug's says that works out at about twice per day what the £5000 course does, even though at first sight it looks more affordable!

 

http://www.lineandlight.co.uk/classroom-courses/basic-digital-photography-courses.html

 

http://www.photographycoursesnottingham.co.uk/

 

I would have thought a local authority photography night school lecturer, if they still existed, would have only got the equivalent fee of what a single one of those on the private sector students would have paid for the day? And there would have been about 10-15 students in their class in the past.

 

The private sector seems to have moved in to fill the gap the old night school courses at the local school left, but at much higher prices. Unfortunately photography seems to be a bit of a rip off compared to some other hobbies. When I was in a photo club the speakers used to demand as large a lecture fee for just coming from one side of Nottingham to the other as our cactus society lecturers do for travelling about 50 miles and then virtually just asking petrol money to give an evening talk.  The photo lecturers were all amateurs too, not professional photographers earning their living at it. In one hobby people do it for the love of the hobby, but with others everybody is trying to make as much money as possible from it and their fellow enthusiasts. One hobby everybody wants to pass on what knowledge they have gained for free, in photography a significant number always want to profit from it. 

 

To illustrate the difference in hobbies, for little more than the cost of that one day studio photography course in the last link I get a Cactus weekend conference in September from midday Friday to the Sunday evening with overnight accommodation in on suite rooms at Leicester University, with all meals plus wine with some of them, including 14 lectures over the weekend with two of the lecturers being brought in from abroad with their airfares and accommodation paid for them. But then the organiser who is a hobbyist like ourselves is not trying to make a profit out of us and only aims to cover costs.

Edited August 14, 2013 by DaveW