Digital photography has beginners all over the world
desperate to learn how to take better photos using their
digital cameras. Where can they learn the skills of good
photography?
A few years ago, I wrote an ebook to teach beginners the
basics of good photography. You know, aperture, shutter
speed, depth of field, lighting, composition; the sort of
things experienced photographers take for granted. In
recent times, I have been amazed at the increasing number
of people eager to get their hands on this type of
information.
With the internet seemingly taking over the world, and the
explosion in availability of books, ebooks and courses on
just about every subject, why is it so hard for a new
photographer to find out how to use their camera? It's a
mystery for the modern age, but I think I may have found
the answer.
If a person has a bad experience, especially if that
experience cost them hard-earned dollars, they will tell
others. And what they are telling me is that they are NOT
HAPPY with most of the photography courses and guides on
offer.
Many courses and workshops advertising 'digital
photography' have little or nothing to do with actual
photography. That's right, you can sign up to learn the
skills of better photography and not learn one thing about
taking better photos.
What you get instead is a workshop in photo-editing. How to
fix up your bad photos, how to superimpose rainbows and
birds into your landscapes and how to remove freckles and
pimples from your portraits. How to use software which, in
many cases, the customer doesn't have, doesn't want and
possibly can't afford.
Are these useful skills? Of course they are, but they are
not photography. At best, they are peripheral skills that
relate to photography, for people (and there are plenty of
them) who choose to go down that path.
The result could be a generation of 'photographers' who
know more about fixing up their mistakes on a computer than
about taking good photos in the first place.
If a customer pays you to teach them photography, they have
a right to expect that they will learn how to use a camera.
If they want to learn about computer software, they will
buy a different ebook, or sign up to a different course. If
you take their money, then sit them in front of a computer
for three days, you have not given them what they paid for.
If your customer asks for their money back - so they should.
I could take a pessimistic view, and think that some
photographers have become so lazy, so unskilled, that they
really believe digital manipulation is more important to
photography than skill with a camera. I prefer to think
that the customers I have spoken to have just been the
victims of misunderstandings and poorly worded advertising.
Whichever is the case, customers beware! Before you hand
over your money, find out exactly what you are signing up
for. If you want to learn how to take better photos, make
sure the course (or workshop, or ebook etc) is about the
camera, not just the computer. If software is a component
of the course, terrific - you are getting a well rounded
look at the world of photography. If it is the only
component, shop around; there are still people out there
who want to teach what you want to learn.
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Andrew Goodall is a professional nature photographer of
over 20 years experience, and has released two top selling
ebooks on the art and essential skills of photography.
Check them out at http://www.naturesimage.com.au
Andrew's simple belief is that with a small amount of
guidance, anybody can take better photos, no matter what
sort of camera they have.
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