With dismal success taking online photography courses lately, I have discovered a few better (maybe obvious) ways of improving my photography skills.  If you’re in the market for an online course from Betterphoto or PPSOP, I would seriously consider the following as a cheaper and perhaps more effective way of learning. 

First, take time out and participate in some of the many great photography forums around the internet.  I like to check out Dpreview and Nikoncafe since I am a Nikon user, but any photo forum will work well.  Many who frequent these forums seem to talk mostly about camera gear or lenses however, I recommend to look beyond this and try participating in the “photo challenges”.  Or at the very least upload your photos and ask for feedback.  Believe me!!  You will get much better feedback from doing this than spending lots of money with these online courses.  I really expect much more from online courses, but it’s simply not there.  I found I received much better quality in both good and bad critiques from photo challenges and forums.  Of course, some of the feedback is coming from amateur photographers, but quite frankly their comments cover more range and depth than any of the online courses I have taken from either PPSOP or Betterphoto.  Plus, some amateur photographers are very talented and bright.  Experience may only be the difference and that’s all!

Second, you need to get out and shoot, shoot, shoot!!!  I really believe you need to be out almost everyday shooting your camera.  I make it a point to go out as often as I can.  Then in the evening I sort through my photos and send them to family, friends, upload to my online galleries, or submit them for feedback at photography forums.  I’ve been playing guitar for over 20 years, and what I know in music didn’t come overnight.  I had to practice until my fingers would literally bleed sometimes in order to improve and get to where I wanted to be.  So practice is probably the most important thing you can do.  I took classes from PPSOP and Betterphoto primarily to motivate me to get up and practice shooting my camera.  Both online courses were extremely successful in some form or another in doing this.  Unfortunately they didn’t provide much more than that to want to keep going with the courses.  Perhaps I’ve gained some confidence to the point where I can now start uploading photos to forums and know that they aren’t that bad.  If you are afraid of showing your photos, I can’t recommend taking an online course enough.  They will help you to overcome your shyness or fear of displaying your pictures.  After that, take control and save yourself a ton of money.

Third, I recommend to read, read, and read even more!!  Photography books and picture books are actually very helpful and quite good.  Now that I know that online courses are literally taught word for word from most of these books, I am now confident that I will not miss a thing if I just stick to the photography books or DVDs.  If you don’t believe me, take “Understanding Exposure” at PPSOP and you’ll see what I mean.  I felt I bought a $395 book in that class.  In any event, some fabulous books are coming out and I have snapped up quite a few.  Later I hope to start writing my thoughts on some of the ones I felt have helped me the most.  I have also found the DVDs from both Betterphoto and PPSOP to be quite good as well.  Much better than the $300 plus courses for sure, so definitely save some money and go for the videos first.  Wow!  The DVD should be priced at $395 and the classes at $19.95!!  That is exactly how I feel about the value sometimes.

Participating in forum discussions, creating a gallery, reading photography books, and practicing with your camera are about the best I think one can do to achieve great photographs.  If you need a kick in the pants from someone to get you out shooting, then an online course might be the best thing to try as well.  Or you could simply tell your husband or wife how much all of your camera gear and lenses cost in total.  If either doesn’t give you a swift kick in the pants to get out and photograph, then you may just be in the wrong hobby or profession.    Enjoy and happy hunting!

Related posts

Our Random Articles

More Links