shiraz

I live/work in a fairly remote part of indonesia where there are no photography clubs, shops etc...so, i want to ask UHH's their opinions on doing online photography courses. i have looked online and many claim to take you to a 'professional' level by the end of the course; does anyone know of any good quality courses aimed past the beginner level? Are online courses a waste of time? Is experience and the internet a better/cheaper option? any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Shiraz, I have not taken anything online, so I have no experience with that at all. But I've been taking brick and mortar for two years now. My personal view is that any course that is designed to make you learn is never wasted. The question then becomes if a course is worth what you will learn vs what you will pay. I'm sure many online courses are very good, but others will have to clue you in as to which.
What I do think is that by just scouring the internet is helpful to improve your technical side, by visiting sites and forums such as the Hog, but they don't every really teach you composition. The problem I feel is that the internet in general is not designed or structured to teach you. It's too random unless you are already indoctrinated into a structured learning patch, at which point you can continue to bring pieces into your knowledge base to build upon what you already know to be a pathway.
So what I'm saying is, take classes and use the internet for research to answer the questions that are being asked by structured courses.
Asking about going to school is a little like asking someone that has driven only the family mini van, how to drive a banked turn at 200mph. You can look on the internet all you want, but until you've actually driven a banked turn at 200 mph, you don't really know.
Good luck
SS

SimmonsCreek Loc: Missouri

I agree with this. I have looked into a lot of online schools for photography and ultimately decided I would just join forums, message boards and online groups. There are also several 'free' courses you can take online. Groups are good because they have 'assignments' that you can participate in and then get critiques on your work. They will tell you where you might need to improve, what you could have done better at. The ones that I am a part of are very nice. Wish you luck in finding what will work for you.

Woodham Lock Loc: Woodham UK

Have a look at these-same company

http://www.karltaylorphotography.co.uk/

http://www.takeabetterphoto.com/karl-taylor-photography-training/

dweise Loc: Florence, KY

Like others I have never taken formal Photography classes. But I have learned quite a few things by taking FREE courses at About.com. They have a Photography courses at: http://photography.about.com/od/photolessons/ Again I have never taken this course but it might be a good place to start.

Hope it helps.

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

some i think are way over priced. i checked out some photo clubs in my area and found they were set up by a pro useing them to push a $$$ classes.

rdgreenwood Loc: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

I teach a course "Intermediate Online Digital Garden Photography," and think it does a good job of introducing new concepts to my students. The course is totally non-synchronous (that means all instruction is delivered without simultaneous interaction) and depends on the students becoming engaged and following the lesson plan. All that may sound like mumbo-jumbo, so let me try again: taking an online course means the student has to get off his butt and try what he's being taught.

I think it can work. The course has to be carefully thought out, the instructor has to look at what he'd do in a classroom and find ways to duplicate the experience without the shared space, and there have to be lots of opportunities for the student and instructor to communicate. If all of those things are in place, there's no reason for the course to fail.

Before you go negative on asynchronous courses, let me tell you that I just finished a synchronous course on PSCC and found that its delivery was not successful for me. ("for me" is an important phrase here, because if a course doesn't work "for you," it's worthless no matter how carefully it's developed.)

The instructor for the course I just finished went so fast that I was often confused about where he was or what he was doing. He used keyboard shortcuts that were unfamiliar to me, and the provision for interaction--we were told to key in our questions--was worthless because the very process of keying in questions led to my falling behind the narration so that more questions were introduced. I paid $150 for the course and hope that I can learn something when I go over the lessons again.

If--big "if"--you're suited to learning in an online mode, online instruction can be great. But that means you have to be someone who doesn't need to touch a camera, stand next to a subject, stop and practice what you've just learned, or pause for thought in order to digest the information that's just been fed to you. Don't discount online learning, but make sure it conforms with your style of taking in new information.

billjohdoittoday Loc: Arkansas

Sharp, I'm gonna [respectfully] disagree with you here. One of the best places I've found to learn composition is Flickr. It's not a site of "formal instruction," but scanning a few thousand photos, finding the 50 that are really good, and figuring out for myself why they're good has been an education for me. There are other Flickr-like sites out there where one can browse for hours. Parts of UHH, too. I've taken a few on-line classes; and I've bought some DVD classes; I've bought more books than I want to account for; and I've hung out at places like UHH. I've learned "something" at each venue. And for the OP, far from off-line educational opportunities, I think the web can be a wonderful teacher/school.

achesley Loc: SW Louisiana

This forum, Join these email lists, http://digital-photography-school.com/, http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/, etc. Run a search on free digital teachings. I've taken a few online courses ( 2 ) but really didn't learn any thing more than these different forums.