college course

[crackthatoff]

there is a course at my local college (preston) 1st steps to digital photography
10 weeks 2hrs a week

any one done such a course and do they prove fruitfull to a beginner?

thanks !

[gingerpaul]

My dad has just completed one of these courses and his photography has really improved. He worked quite hard at it when he got home though so I guess it's as good as you make it from that point of view.

[Goldeeno]

Id say get on various forums and fire plenty of questions and shots you've taken. Someone will soon put you right. There are a few good books aswell. For the basics i find the Scott Kelby books quite good, very easy and well written. Gives you basic setups for lots of things from car shoots, to lightning, portraits etc.

Practice makes perfect, saying that ive never been on a course, it probably shows .

[CarMac]

I did a similar course a few years ago. It was really useful and I learnt a lot of things I didn't know before.

I'm now doing a City & Guilds course and already looking at what I can do next.

I'd say...go for it.

[Dibble]

Is that Preston College, or somewhere else (just thinking of doing something similar myself, and it's not a million miles from me)?

[crackthatoff]

Dibble said:

Is that Preston College, or somewhere else (just thinking of doing something similar myself, and it's not a million miles from me)?

its through preston college but the course itself is done at the jhon harris libary in preston town centre
tel: [phone]

i may see you there

[Timmy2TARs]

I would suggest finding out how the course material and content is managed. Reason being if it's not a standard course like the City & Guilds, then you may find that the tutor on a Tuesday night will have made up their own material and content and thus differs from what gets taught by another tutor on a Thursday night.

When I taught a 10 week course, the material, content, lesson structure etc was completely down to me. Not necessarily a problem, but it's then difficult to recommend what students might do afterwards when you have no idea about what gets taught in other courses at the same institution. For all I knew, what I was teaching may have been covered in an 'advanced' course and they'd end up paying twice for the same thing.

fyi I pitched my level slightly above the City and Guilds introductory level courses so it may be worth grabbing some details about them and asking your college how they compare?

eta: I eventually gave up on the teaching because the college gave absolutely zero support in developing the course, yet wanted the copyright for all my notes and materials.

Edited by Timmy2TARs on Tuesday 8th April 18:37

[EmmaP]

I agree with what Timmy has said. It might be difficult finding out the specific content of the course from the college as most tutors produce their own notes and lesson plans. Ask if the tutor can call you then you will know what level it is pitched at and if you need any prior knowledge or have the requisite skills for the level being taught. Colleges structure their courses differently. Some offer a whole 30/32 week course whereas others might offer three discreet ten week courses working from basic to intermediate, advanced. The quality of teaching does vary widely so my advice would be to go along and see the standard of the work produced by the students if possible.

Personal recommendations are hard to beat so ask around.

If you can get onto a City and Guilds course then do so as it is the best course I have ever taught.

Edited by EmmaP on Tuesday 8th April 21:43

[crackthatoff]

thanks very much for the replies, my mother is a lecturer and knows exactly what you mean.
I'm thinking now that as well as a beginners course, I may as well try and get some sort of qualification whilst I'm at it.
is there such a thing as a part time city and guilds?
thanks for your time again !

[EmmaP]

It's about ten years since I taught City and Guilds. I taught the one aimed at enthusiasts as opposed to the professional qualification. At the time you worked towards five modules. I stopped teaching it when they changed the course. Not many colleges offer it these days. I'd estimate you spending two years completing it. One student went on to work as a photographer. She was incredibly gifted. City and Guilds is great because it is so specific and therefore very difficult to deliver a bad product (I mean the course content as opposed to the quality of tuition).

Edited by EmmaP on Tuesday 8th April 22:58

[Timmy2TARs]

Should be. I did my City & Guilds course on a Wednesday night. I believe all the modules are available part-time but it would take ages and a lot of expense to complete it! I got bored and disillusioned with it early on. A lot of it is irrelevant nowadays.

I believe if you complete the course with distinctions then you are entitled to an exemption for the LRPS qualification. To my mind it's far easier to simply take ten decent photos and submit them so unless you really want the C&G qualification I reckon you'd be better off using this forum as a sounding board. The quality of photography of some of the contributors on PH is astonishingly good and you'd get good advice. The only thing you may perhaps not benefit from is having regular assignments, but that could be replaced by the monthly competitions with the added bonus that you wouldn't have to write essays!