FunkyL Loc: MD

For me, the advantage of a facetime course with a teacher in the same room is the ease of asking questions and having a real time conversation. It's especially good if the subject has unfamilliar technical terms that make it hard to know how to ask the right questions. My local community college offers continuing education/life long learning courses, at reasonable prices, and often with a "senior" discount. I've taken them on several subjects, and once I have a basic understanding of the subject, I find it easier to learn from books or on line courses going forward.

dandev Loc: Enumclaw, WA

Lynda.com is often free through your public library system. Check it out.
Adult Ed - or continued education through a local community college is a good place to learn. I've taken all the photo classes mine offers.
And camera clubs are good. I've belonged to one for 5 years. They are usually very inexpensive.

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

I think that there are so many other venues at little to no cost besides taking online courses that outweigh the expense. One such place is www.cambridgeincolour.com. If you are on a computer, you will see the word "tutorials" at the top; if on your phone, look for the 3 vertical lines on the side at the top and click on it to reveal the word "tutorial." Either way, clicking on it will give you so much information about EVERYTHING you need to know about photography. The best part? It's FREE and will take you on a wonderful journey. Take your time, there's a lot to cover, much like there would be in a classroom setting.
Next, some have mentioned The Great Courses and the Cd's offered with Joel Sartore. This is a great suggestion, however, if you're not in a rush to get them, it is WELL worth your time waiting until the Christmas season because almost all of the courses are discounted nicely.
Finally, nothing beats learning from pros or very good amateurs and a great place to meet them is through a camera/photography club in your area. You can find one by going to www.meetup.com, registering your name and email, then enter your zip code and search for "photography clubs." Real simple but well worth your time. Some clubs may charge a small fee, some may not, but it will put you in contact with some pretty good photographers and classes.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

When I took my photography courses (for credit at the local junior college), quite a bit of the class time was valuable. But a lot of it was not about anything new, since I'd been shooting for a long time and well understood the basics of film speed, exposure, lens performance, and the like. But mixed in with that was quite a bit of new information, like 'calibrating' the camera's metering and exposure systems. The true value, though, was on lab nights, when all of the instructors and professors were in the department and available. The informal discussions that were possible on those nights, almost 30 years ago, are still fresh in my ears and still impact my photographic process an decisions today.

Similarly, when I participated in my short (3 day) night photography workshop last summer, the class sessions were very valuable. But my assigned ride to our night locations was in the car with the instructor. The two or three hours of time that we had together for discussions each night as we were going to and coming back from our shooting locations were and are irreplaceable. Our visits about photographic and non-photographic subjects also continue to feed my process and decisions.

The point of all this is the value in my mind, if you can afford it, of the live educational experience. There is not a substitute for it. It's why, in graduate school, all of us in the department had an assigned office and were expected to maintain office hours for a significant part of each day. This time fostered discussions among ourselves and also facilitated informal time with faculty members, who would periodically make the rounds and stop in for a time of conversation. The learning during those times would be impossible to duplicate in an online course or individual reading.

Now...I realize that live classes may not be available and that even if they are available, they may not be affordable. But I am an advocate for them if at all possible.

Good luck with your training and educational endeavors, whichever path you decide to take.

Archboo3 Loc: Central Florida

I would start by going to Adaroma.com or B&H Photo. Both offer online viedos on all kinds of phtography issues or interests. You might start by looking for there online videos by Byan Peterson, and Mark Wallace. Those are 2 guys that I really like. The next place I would consider going to is Kellybone.com., it's a membership, a year at a time. I am member and anytime I buy a new camera this is my go to place about the camera. But more importantly is that the offer all kinds of courses, from beginners to Pro's In any subject you can image that has to do with photography (Basices to Bird, landscape, senice, portrait, on and on)

2mdman

For an in-depth understanding of the science behind photography, you can take this FREE online course from Harvard called Exposing Digital Photography @ http://digitalphotography.exposed/. There is not much about technique but if you want to understand how your camera operates, how sensor works, the physics behind light and color profiles, then this course is well worthwhile. For technique, I'd recommend Tony Northrup's book Stunning Digital Photography.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

Check out the Kelby One courses. Worth the investment.

JohnM Loc: Springfield, Illinois

New York Institute of Photography was a wise course for me. Worth the time and effort

Latsok Loc: Recently moved to Washington State.

There are some very good on-line courses dealing with different aspects of photography, offered by CREATIVE LIVE. Photography is just one of many topics they cover (they also have courses on starting your own business, physical fitness, nutrition, etc) via subject matter experts, and you can watch it live during scheduled live streaming, or during replays. If you want permanent access to specific presentations, you can purchase the course and watch at your leisure. Topics cover things like basic photography, landscape, wildlife, wedding, sports, architecture, night photography, photographic composition, understanding various lighting situations, etc. There are also presentations on camera equipment, accessories, photography trends, photoshop techniques, storage and archiving, and many other advanced topics.

You can google them on creative live.com and decide if you are interested. Good luck. I also took up photography for fun after retiring and together with travels, find this hobby fascinating.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Being "medically retired" I'm assuming you have a medical background, and not a medically disabling issue. You would probably be a good reader, having a medical background. Get one of the aforementioned books on photography, and a book on the camera you have or intend to use, and read both. This way you can apply what you read and have the assistance of the book about the camera to help. Also, if into a specific realm of photography, some reading specific to that would also be helpful, and a little reading or journey into "art appreciation" may help you with the artistic vision. The folks here will also be of great help. Good luck in your venture.

was_a_guru

Highly recommend Creative Live. Several courses by John Greengo on Fundamentals of Photography. Very comprehensive and detailed course. Plus excellent pdf slides of what he presents in the class. Good for future reference.

radiomantom Loc: Plymouth Indiana

I agree 100%. If you have a good camera club in the area, you cannot find a better way to improve your photography. I have been a member of several photo clubs for over 50 yrs. and have been the president of two of them. And i'll admit still learning new things.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Lynda via local library free and thoroughly covers Photoshop, Lightroom and more

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

My local library carries the Great Courses photography course. Most Libraries can get it for you. when you finish with it, you will have learned a LOT and Joel will seem like family...

AlfredU Loc: Mooresville, NC

Can't resist answering this one. Online courses are good for some things. I don't think learning photography is one of them. I was one of the first if not the first in the US to create one of these courses for learning banking software in 1979. I ran a leading consulting company specializing in online or eLearning for 31 years. And I don't recommend it for photography.

I teach classes in photography in person now. I recommend that people purchase a book by David Busch written specifically for their camera to learn the camera. Our classes start from there. The one thing 80% of my students point out as being the most valuable aspect of the class is doing the assignments and getting individual feedback on their work. Online courses don't do that. Find a good local class.