Photography courses online?

Lisa, just get yourself any old fully manual camera & a 50mm lens and first learn about basic exposure – there’ll be plenty out there on the web that will guide you through that primary & elementary aspect of photography first off & I’m sure it won’t be anything you have to pay for (even then, a basic photography book will only cost you some small change… buy one & sit down in a cafe for a while to flick through it), then take it from there…. Paul

Lisa, you just have to sit with Kevin for and hour or so and he is going to help you. Don’t need any online photography courses if he has time for you. And if you still want to go for online courses then in google searh for ” online photography courses” and there are so many of them. hope this is going to help
Yasin

Well, you really couldnt do better than right here on LS for most information, both technical and strategic. We have tutorials in the Resources section (growing all the time) that deal with editors, grants, and eventually things like agencies, JPG optimization, RAW to JPG workflow, contracts, negotiatiing, etc.

Plus anything you want to know, all you have to do is ask. People here are generous with their time and expertise, adn there is lots of the latter to be found here.

Finally there is no such thing as a wannabe, and you should erase that from your profile. You either are or are not a photographer, it is all about the attitude. Are you shooting? Are you intensely interested in it? got any personal projects you are pursuing? That makes you a photographer, maybe not a working or professional photographer, but a shooter nonetheless. No amount of coursework is going to teach you what you really need to know. No courses like “Find your Vision,” or “A Roll a Day,” or “Documentary 101” are going to make you a photographer. What you need to know is yourself. If you know who you are, you will translate that vision into photographic images, pure and simple. Here is a quotation from a photographer that pretty much sums it all up:

Life is about turning up. The more you get yourself out there, whether you wake up at 5:00 a.m. to pouring rain or not, the more you’re likely to experience the wonderful happenings that are going on all around you. Sometimes the most interesting visual phenomena occur when you least expect it. Other times, you think you’re getting something amazing and the photographs turn out to be boring and predictable. So I think that’s why, a long time ago, I consciously tried to let go of artist’s angst, and instead just hope for the best and enjoy it. I love the journey as much as the destination. If I wasn’t a photographer, I’d still be a traveler. (Michael Kenna)

You just got to get up everyday with the right frame of mind and shoot. The travelling is metaphorical, it neednt entail an actual trip to a Hot Zone.

Lisa – www.betterphoto.com Check out the photojournalism course.

Lisa – www.betterphoto.com Check out the photojournalism course.

www.photoworkshop.com
www.fotovision.org

Ultimately, there is nothing like getting out there and shooting. And as Paul said, above, start all manual and really learn about light, how to control the capture of the image you want.

Different people learn in different ways. A friend of mine is a computer geek and can read one of those 3 inch thick (that’s about 75mm) computer manuals from cover to cover and really know the subject. That doesn’t work for me. I need to learn something, practice it. Think of something I want to achieve, go learn how to do it, then practice it. It’s an on-going process. Still learning, still practicing.

To echo everyone else, Life is the greatest classroom of all. I’ve learned more from life and getting out and shooting, trail and error then I did in any classroom. The classroom teaches you how to shoot a photo, but life teaches you how to be a photographer.

Lisa,

I agree with Paul: 1 camera, 1 lense, 1 emulsion type, use it in manual mode – learn to use it like it is part of your body, look at the master painters for inspiration and to see how they feel light, google the web and ask at LS for Q&A. IF you can afford digital the instant feedback and bottomless film will help you improve quickly.

Take chances.. if you are not making mistakes you are not trying hard enough.

And remember what the great Ernst Haas said: “There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are. “

Hi,

Thank you all for advices or suggestions!! I really appreciate your answers.  They are very helpful.

I'll read that manuals, start shooting. More questions will be posted soon... ;)

Lisa

Hi, Lisa,

Also check out the Master Photographers Tell You How column at Takegreatpictures.com.

And there are some good tutorials at Luminous Landscape (though many are landscape photography oriented).

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/index.shtml

W

Hello Lisa,

It’s getting repetitive, yet, I agree with everyone else on going out and shooting. I would recommend a digital camera too. Preferably with an all-manual option. Now, unlike a few friends here, I believe that practising the vision of photography is more important in the beginning than the technical details – I still shoot a lot on a point-and-shoot digicam, and the results are nice.

I would recommend that you get a camera that can allow both automatic and manual controls (if not a dSLR), learn to visualize the frame in mind, and then inside the camera – in the beginning, let the camera do the calculations for you… and SHOOT! Once you are comfortable with getting the right frame at the right time, gradually move on to fully manual control – because no matter how intelligent today’s machines get, the AI is what it means – “Artificial Intilligence”.

And don’t forget the most important learning tool – observation. Observe other photographers, their photographs, the light, how it changes, reflects and softens. Observe how we look at a good landscape, from point to point, eyes traveling over interesting stuff in the frame… these observations will teach you a lot of things that many (especially technically inclined) books will forget.

Photography is just as much an art as it is a science. Enjoy the art and practice the science! Of course, for all questions, we have the fantastic LS!

Good Luck!

-Harshad