Betterphoto.com Review - During the past couple of months I have been taking a couple of classes over at Betterphoto.com. In March I took a 4 week class called “Digital Art Photography” and in April I took a class called “Achieving Visual Depth”. Both were taken from different instructors. Last year I took two classes, one an 8 week course called “Street Photography” and the second a 4 week course called “Closeup Photography”. In total I have spent close to $900 in online courses at Betterphoto.com. In my opinon the classes are not worth the money and I would be extremely careful when parting ways with your money at Betterphoto. Here are the pros and cons I have found in my experience with this online school.

PROS:

1. Students who sign up for a Betterphoto class are giving themselves inspiration to go out and take photographs. If you need something to kick start your hobby or if you are feeling like you need a shot of inspiration, the classes can do this. How much of this inspiration comes from you or Betterphoto can be debated.

2. The “Written” assigments each week are well though out and informative. ALL information you can easily get from a basic photo instructional book, but again if you’re not into books, these online articles can be helpful.

3. If you are interested in meeting other photographers, joining a class can help you get to know other people. A simple photography forum group is much easier and free of course, but this is a plus at Betterphoto none the less.

CONS

1. Critiques are almost ALL positive and very brief. You could write these critiques yourself. I feel comments from other students are much better in most cases. Why am I paying for an instructor then?

2. All instructors I took classes from didn’t answer questions much in the Q&A area. They glossed over this section as if they were a bit bothered that they had to even write additional comments. It’s not as if they are writing too much already.

3. The instructors are active the first two lessons and then they somewhat fade away thereafter. Betterphoto has a policy that you don’t get your money back after the second lesson has been handed out so it makes you wonder. They have your money, now they can move on?

4. There is absolutely no encouragement or motivation to finish the lesson material. I mean there are few if any emails, comments, or suggestions to get you moving a bit if you feel there is no activity in the class. Note that some classes only had one or two students participating. I feel the instructor could do a lot more to help move things along better.

5. Critiques were minimal at best. They usually were only 3-5 sentences and about 90% were positive. This is great for feeling good, but in order to learn you need constructive criticism. Betterphoto doesn’t want to hurt your feelings because they need you to sign up for more classes in order to survive. This is what my classes felt like and I think people need to understand that instructors do NOT want to hurt your feelings. Boy, if only Universities and High Schools were like that in my younger days. We would pass every test.

Note Betterphoto now offers a $79 critique your photo program which in my opinion is complete waste. With the comments I received in the regular class, I definitely know I’ll be wasting my money on that offer. There is just no meat to the comments like constructive criticism, tips, suggestions, or special techniques. Nothing. Uploading your photos to photo forums is much better. In fact, in forums you’ll get multiple pro comments instead of just one.

6. I wrote a letter once to Betterphoto about my disappointment with their class and instructors. All I got was a reply of we’re a small company.

In conclusion, I am done spending any more money at Betterphoto.com. I definitely did not get $900 dollars worth of material or comments that is for sure. I can recommend people to take one class to see what you think as I’m sure many may differ with my opinion. However, I think those who are really serious about photography will probably agree with much that I have to say. Betterphoto is too expensive for what they have to offer.

I should also note that since my last class a year ago, I have noticed that enrollment is way down at Betterphoto. I know this because the number of “spots left in class” announcements are almost non existent. This means that fewer people must be taking their classes. I could be mistaken, but I do notice less activity there now. In fact, my Digital Art Photography class only had one person in it….ME! ( Betterphoto doesn’t even tell you how many students are in the class before you sign up. )

Think about what else you can get for $180-200 for a 4 week class. Betterphoto offers four articles and about 12-16 photo comments with only 3-5 sentences each. That includes “Great job and nice photo”, so the quality is not always great.

The only thing Betterphoto has done for me is provide inspiration and motivation to find other ways to further my photography. Forums, books, friends, and other schools are much better. Plus you’ll save a lot of money.

I am glad I tried Betterphoto, but ultimately it disappointed me. I hope others have a better time than I did. Good Luck and happy shooting!

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