Online photography instruction

I confess that I am a repeat offender when participating in photography workshops, both online and in-person instruction.

Years ago, a television commercial for Lay’s potato chips touted the slogan, “Betcha can’t eat just one!”.  Based on my experience, I would say something similar for anything to do with photography, especially opportunities directed toward learning. I bet you can’t take just one!

Photography education has evolved dramatically over the last thirty years. The plethora of online and in-person workshops, webinars, conferences, and events can be mind-boggling. In today’s blog, I will concentrate specifically on the online experience.

Let’s start with the downloadable courses. For a cost, you either download it to your hard drive or you’ll have a login to access the course. Within the login type of courses, there are a few kinds of access, at least for the ones I’ve participated in. In the first type you have infinite access to the course you purchased, in another type, there is an annual subscription to hundreds of courses, and finally, another which you join but only pay for the courses you purchase.

So where did I start and how did I know what to take? I began with a web search for photography workshops and courses. I browsed a few of the results, then I changed my search to specific photographers. I reviewed what areas of photography they covered and the cost and made my decision based on all those factors.

These courses consist of comprehensive structured modules that build on each other as you progress through. The ones I purchased started with an introduction to the photographer, their background and experiences, and an outline of what to expect. Each of the module’s content lasts anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour and a half. Each included clear and valuable information and tips on the topic. All demonstrated the topic with their images and a few critiqued additional images at the end of each module.

I found the downloadable courses worked well when you have time constraints and allowed me to work at my own pace. I would do one or two modules after work, or at night, then on the weekend I’d go out and apply what I learned.

Now let’s switch over to LIVE online events.  These piqued my interest for a few reasons. They have a myriad of different pros as presenters, a variety of content, and as a bonus, if you miss one of the sessions all are recorded. Your registration fee includes access to all the sessions and content for one year following the event.

 

These events have a clear schedule with times and details on each topic being presented and by which Pro, and yes there is an overlap. But, as I mentioned previously you have access to all the sessions via the recordings. The live events typically spread over one and a half to three days, with a participant chat box and a separate question box during each session. I’ve participated in events held by two different companies.  One event is one hundred percent live; in the other, some of the presentations appeared previously recorded.  The cost to attend ranges from two hundred to four hundred US dollars.

Besides the incredible content they offer during the day and critique sessions, they had gear suppliers and even happy hours. At the end of each day, they usually have a keynote speaker and a review of what’s to come the following day. So, be careful with your expectations of ‘live’. By far both events are well worth the price of admission for the content alone.

Before I wrap up talking about online learning I wanted to mention the obvious YouTube and podcast opportunities, along with e-books and webinars offered by some photographers on their websites. Most of these, as you may know, offer free content and are easy to access.

I believe in showing my support to those photographers with whom I utilize their free content. There are many ways in which you can also show your appreciation for all the content they provide that can be very affordable. Here are a few ways to show your appreciation for the content they work hard at providing. One of the newer things is ‘send them a coffee’, some you can do an annual subscription on their Patreon channel, or of course purchase their prints, or books, or use links they provide to purchase gear they use or review. Finally, if they offer in-person workshops consider taking one (I’ll review in-person workshop learning in an upcoming blog post). Finally, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and rate them! Believe it or not, it does help them.

Below are a few links to the online photography learning that I recommend, including podcasts and youtubers.

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In-person photo workshops