Are you self-taught?

Overdraft

Interested to know if most of you photographers are self-taught, rather than having done courses?

Those who are self-taught, did you just go down the trial and error and practise, practise, practise route?

Did you get help/advice from an experienced photographer, use books, websites, etc? Or, of course, Boards.ie?

Would really like to know how you all went about learning your trade/hobby. Thanks.

OnLooker

I love practicing. Never took in a course.

You can see the difference every time you go out.

Roen

I'll be quick on this one.

Three years in college, but learned the majority of what I know now from self study and internet forums. So you could say a bit of both.

All college did was turn me so off photography that I didn't take a photo for about five years.

Calina

I have done a digital imaging techniques course. Most of what I know about photography I have cadged from other people, including my brother in law when i was about 12 years old. He had a dark room and a deep respect for the work of Ansel Adams. This still has an impact on my black and white conversions.

nilhg

I was going to say that I'm totaly self taught, but that wouldnt be true, I've learned from folks on here, on other sites/forums around about the internet, books/magazines and by going out and taking loads of crap photographs.

Digital photography and the internet are well suited for quick feedback.

To answer the question, I've never done a formal course in photography either in the real world or online.

sasar

Bought my first camera just a bit over a year ago.
Used only M mode on my camera as I thought that would be the easiest way to understand what is light and how it works.

Then I did some basic SLR course which was mainly about film and darkroom. That helped to understand what is photography.

And of course magazines, internet, books and even youtube.

kjt

Still shooting as a hobby but I'd love to get a bit more serious in the coming months. Everything I know is self-taught and from online forums like this one. I took up a course last year with the Dublin Photography centre on Camden st and lasted one/two nights. I was bored to death.

opti76

the best resource is youtube believe it or not.
and the usual magazines

pippatee

Ive never done a formal course, but I've learned so much from the internet....

If you have a passion for photography, the web is a great resource...

Ruu_Old

Trial and error here and plenty of it. The only way to learn in my opinion. I am joining a club later this week to get to know other peoples methods and so on.

*Dallas

anything i know i learned from google/boards/you tube etc or trial and error with my camera.

Trojan911

I'm looking to do a basic course just to try & understand the in's & out's of what to do.

At the moment I'm taking lots of images & then experimenting by changing the settings etc & reading up on the manual, internet research & talking to professional photographers, as my job puts me in the same place as them on quite a few occasions.

thebaz

Roen wrote: »

All college did was turn me so off photography that I didn't take a photo for about five years.

thats interesting , years ago i was in Kevin street doing computers , but wanted to study photography instead , but my Dad put me off the idea , due to lack of jobs etc., anyway i was really jealous of anyone who got to study photography. When i was up in Leinster House recently i met someone from the photography course, and she said hardly ayone from her photography course was actually working in photography .
Me, i guess i'm self taught , although i do the odd bit of part time stuff, doing a PS top up from Peter Cox in June , did a Digital Beinners course over a year ago -- i think in photography you'll get stale if you stand still.

City-Exile

I never did any course & never thought of myself as being a photographer. When some of my pictures were used in football programmes, I gained more confidence & invested in more equipment. At the time, I was just taking what the editors told me they were looking for.

I've read a few books & found information on the Internet.
Over the years, I've got advice from Ray McManus, Dave Maher, Donall Farmer & Morgan Treacy. Likewise, I try to pass on any tips & advice, when I can. I think the biggest advantage is that I'm a sports fan & can read games.

Since I've joined boards, I've got a lot of advice on portraits & landscapes, which is part of my photography that I'd neglected before.

Without any formal training, I'd have to say that I am "self thought."

YogiBear

kjt wrote: »

Still shooting as a hobby but I'd love to get a bit more serious in the coming months. Everything I know is self-taught and from online forums like this one. I took up a course last year with the Dublin Photography centre on Camden st and lasted one/two nights. I was bored to death.

I did the DCC beginners course just over a year ago except I didn't have my camera then so I think I wasted my time.. I found the course interesting enough though as a complete beginner.
Other than that trial & error, books & internet..

AnimalRights

Overdraft wrote: »

Interested to know if most of you photographers are self-taught, rather than having done courses?

Those who are self-taught, did you just go down the trial and error and practise, practise, practise route?

Did you get help/advice from an experienced photographer, use books, websites, etc? Or, of course, Boards.ie?

Would really like to know how you all went about learning your trade/hobby. Thanks.

Self taught, none of my mates into Photography.
I just take lots of shots, grab an odd piece of advice here, I got the 100mm Macro Canon lense the other day and took lots of shots, I def learned stuff.
I know no Photographers....wish I did, I looked round Clontarf Cricket ground today for Kensutz but didn't spot him.:(
I also get some advice from the internet, I really found Canon's basic website totally helpful.
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/enjoydslr/part1/1B.html

WeekOldPencil

Completely self-tought, but being a member of deviantart.com helped big time, mostly chatting with other photographers. As to where it got me...

http://vitoldus.deviantart.com/ and http://www.weekoldpencil.com/

When I look my early photos i feel deeply ashamed...

Cheers

V

Overdraft

Very interesting, self-taught and trial and error are winning hands down here, not too many course-takers.

Must have a look at YouTube, some of you say you found it useful.

Keep the answers coming, it's great to hear how everyone got going.

whyulittle

Overdraft wrote: »

Must have a look at YouTube, some of you say you found it useful.

If I come across something new I want to do in PS, I just Google it and get a few video tutorials returned.

WeekOldPencil

Overdraft wrote: »

V
Must have a look at YouTube, some of you say you found it useful.

Speaking of YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK0r5LCs3DY
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0rKBVDb7f8

Hugh_C

Initially taught film by my sister, then experimented, self-taught, self-read, made loads of mistakes. I may do a darkroom course sometime soonish.

kensutz

No courses done and none intended to get done either.

Muineach

WeekOldPencil wrote: »

When I look my early photos i feel deeply ashamed...

I'm the same, dodgy PS all over the place with me, really really bad :rolleyes:

peasant

"taught" ?

I don't take it that seriously ...it's a hobby

WeekOldPencil

Muineach wrote: »

I'm the same, dodgy PS all over the place with me, really really bad :rolleyes:

I somehow steered clear of PS (most of the time anyway) in my early digital days...

run_Forrest_run

no formal training. Lots of browsing this forum and magazines etc. Seriously the internet is just amazing for photography resources and as someone else said here already, youtube pretty much covers any topic you want to learn about.

I was often tempted to take a course but I know I would end up resenting the person giving the course if they go against my own taught way of doing something, despite it maybe being the wrong way

ThOnda

Well, self taught about the technical part of photography, but I got lot's of information and support about the meaning and attitude of photography from my local photo-club.
Reading books, visiting exhibitions, talking to people, understanding the basic of the type of photography I would like to do. Yes, self-taught.

Fajitas!

My father was into his photography, which helped me learn the basics, I did an art portfolio course after my leaving cert, which had a photography module... Which I enjoyed, but after about 3 months in the darkroom, I just went out and bought a DSLR. The module was very old school. Then, NCAD and into the FA Media Dept, which isn't photography specific... You learn the technical skills yourself, but the college is all about what you're taking and why. All the time, I was learning from forums and mates too. Bit of everything really.

Borderfox

Self taught and sometimes I find that better as I am not hemmed in a box of this aperture for this shot or rule of thirds this and that. Seems to have served me well so far

conair01

i'm self taught and read loads! made mistakes during the way and prob will make mistakes in the future. went to a course once the guy giving the course asked what i knew on the first night, i realised i knew more than what he did!!! obviously i never went back..:)

magicbastarder

trial and error - i'm not going to say self taught because a teacher needs skill...

AnimalRights

Thread starter maybe should have included how long have you being doing Photography...unless this has being done before?
almost 4 months but only 3 weeks properly, ie more than automatic setting.

thebaz

AnimalRights wrote: »

Thread starter maybe should have included how long have you being doing Photography...unless this has being done before?
almost 4 months but only 3 weeks properly, ie more than automatic setting.

oh i wish (or do I) i was only 3 weeks again , i've been photography on and off for years , but seriously , celebrating a year soon

LaVidaLoca

and proud of it.

I can never understand when I hear of people doing 2 year courses in photography.

The technical basics of photography can be taught in under an hour. The rest is all about shooting, shooting, shooting. Sifting through what worked and what didnt, learning why and then shooting some more. Thankfully with digital now, you can go from being a total noob to a decent amateur in a few weeks, if you've got the eye.

I think people get hung up on the technical side of it cause they think that to be 'pro' you need this and that schmancy-fancy lens and all the rest.

In reality being a good photographer is more about thinking on your feet, having the balls to snap photos when you should and not being shy around people: A lot of it (with regard to people anyway) is about what doctors would call 'bedside manner'.

Covey

Self taught here also and still on a steep learning curve.

ThOnda

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

I can never understand when I hear of people doing 2 year courses in photography.

I can't agree with you. There is more about photography than the technical point of view. And even from the technical part of photography, many courses can provide you with ton's of information, explanation and experiences that can save you a lot of time and also a lot of money.

It depends on what is the quality of the course and what is the aim of the course. I know few schools where I wouldn't have a chance to get even interview, not to mention possibility to study. I know, I am not good photographer, but I would be more than pleased to attend really good course to help me get to the level of photography I can only dream about.

OK, back to work now :-) I have to pay bills and save money for DSLR :-D

Duchovny

Well i never took any course, i might still do, but i usually learn the things by reading on internet or asking questions, good to share ideas with friends and experiences as well...

Its good you get plenty of tutorials online

mcdonnells

Hi, Bought my DLSR last August, after lots of practive I have completed the Digital Beginners intermediate course and found to really benificial. definetly boosted the learining curve. Hope it helps4
S:D

LaVidaLoca

with this:

There is more about photography than the technical point of view

Thats precisely my point. Most of it is art: Once you've been taught the technical basics, it's all about getting out there and taking lots and lots of photos.

I can certainly see why somebody would do a short evening class in photography or something like that. But why on earth would you spend 2 years studying it full time? You'd be far better off learning the basics, then taking the money you would have spent and jumping right in: Get a DSLR and some lenses, and start taking photos! Submit them to magazines, work for a local newspaper for a while. Whatever.

Calina

I don't think it's that simple any more.

When I started using a film SLR, it was a near fully manual camera (in fact it was aperture controlled until I searched the internet for a manual adaptor for a 20 year old camera and struck gold).

At that stage, I had shutter speed and aperture to play with and the number of buttons on the camera, together with what they could do, was fairly minimal.

Now, if you buy an entry level DSLR, you can cheat by going on fully automatic, but if you want to do anything more complex, there is a selection of menus to play with, the RAW vs jpg politicised argument, yes, the aperture, the shutter speed, but now, also, things like ISO, exposure compensation, white balance settings. All this makes the technical side of photography a little more complex than was previously the case. Not only that, if you are really interested in the story around photography, the different styles, then there is a more than adequate amount to keep you busy for a few days, and, places that offer two year courses often have facilities available to you, like darkrooms and studios that might not be easily or economically procured.

nilhg

Would you really call automatic mode cheating Calina?
I wouldn't like to start an argument about this but surely the only person you would be cheating would be yourself? All that power and flexibility in the camera and using it in the equivalent of 1st gear.

Calina

It depends. If you're only ever going to use it, I'd question the wisdom of buying a DSLR in the first place.

If it's a brand new camera, it's a useful way of learning how the camera measures light (for example) to see what settings it automatically chooses.

If you really want to get the best out of the camera though, at some point you'll have to take control.

On a related subject, there was a fascinating thread on one of the sports photography fora about a year ago on the subject of whether you could really call yourself a good photographer if all you did was spend about 100000 on the top flight equipment, use your name (they were talking about some ex baseball player) to get tournament passes and use the camera on fully automatic and then use your name...

at some stage you have to learn what your equipment does and why you mightn't use it (which explains all my exploration of PS lately).

Rojo

Learnt all I know bout photography from me da, a darkroom course and on here. Do photography in college now - a lot of people don't get why I chose it... It was the only thing I wanted to do in 3rd level. Sure, I may as well give photography a shot before I end up in IT like the rest of you lot..

ike

Self thought - through asking questions, practising, googling and reading and more practising

elven

LaVidaLoca wrote: »

with this:

Thats precisely my point. Most of it is art: Once you've been taught the technical basics, it's all about getting out there and taking lots and lots of photos.

I can certainly see why somebody would do a short evening class in photography or something like that. But why on earth would you spend 2 years studying it full time? You'd be far better off learning the basics, then taking the money you would have spent and jumping right in: Get a DSLR and some lenses, and start taking photos! Submit them to magazines, work for a local newspaper for a while. Whatever.

I'm not sure how working for a newspaper or submitting shots to magazines actually improves your photography, and especially if you're talking about the 'art' kind - if I read your first sentence correctly that is. Simply taking lots and lots of photos is part of the process of developing but without something else, it won't get you very far.

I feel like I've reached a stage where I'm floundering slightly. I could do some mindless, technically competent, commercially pleasing stuff but it feels empty - and yet I don't know where to go from here. If I had the facility to take a 2 year course that would give me the opportunity to develop my approach and have a mentor of some kind, I'd jump at the chance - as it is i feel like there's a gap between these night courses where they tell you the technical whatnot that I'm just not interested in, and then there's the full on art photography courses where you may be at the mercy of the taste of the tutor, and the prejudices of your fellow students, and heaven forbid you shoot anything aesthetically pleasing...

Anyway. It all depends where you want to take it, I think.

magicbastarder

it depends on what you want from the course. obviously, a formal qualification can help for getting a job, and being exposed to all sorts of types of photography and situations (if the course offers this) will obviously make you more confident in a situation you haven't been in before, especially if there's pressure on you - not just by helping your adaptibility, but also your confidence.

and being exposed to all sorts of photography can help broaden your imagination; stuff you hadn't even considered possible, possibly.

anyway, for me, i just want to enjoy my photography; i've no real ambitions to make a living out of it, so i'm happy to plug along making mistakes.

Paulw

magicbastarder wrote: »

obviously, a formal qualification can help for getting a job

Why obviously? And what qualification will get you what job? I've yet to see any photographic jobs advertised requiring a qualification. The vast majority only require a portfolio.

Many here who submit to papers and such just have a portfolio of good work. I don't think I know any photographer with a formal qualification in photography.

The important thing about photography is knowing what works and what doesn't, and what is required by the client.

Mind you, no posting from the OP about his knowledge/experience in photography.

Fajitas!

Paul, qualifications are most certainally important in getting jobs, not nessicarily for reportage/sports images - I don't think they'd be the most requiring though - Other areas are more appreciative of qualifications

it depends on what you want from the course. obviously, a formal qualification can help for getting a job, and being exposed to all sorts of types of photography and situations (if the course offers this) will obviously make you more confident in a situation you haven't been in before, especially if there's pressure on you - not just by helping your adaptibility, but also your confidence.

and being exposed to all sorts of photography can help broaden your imagination; stuff you hadn't even considered possible, possibly.

Hit the nail on the head there.

I'm self/internet thought myself.I follow the trial and error method and basically just try to view my work as harshly as I can and next time I try and lessen the mistakes I had previously made.Clubs,courses or detailed books would definitely help me but I prefer the way I'm doing it at the moment.Once I have the technical basics I'm happy to just head out shooting.

ThOnda

In good courses, you are given different tasks. And that opens new doors for you. To try something new, different, other style, other type of photography. And that is completely independent from the technical stuff.
Good mentor can give you hints and opinions, or forward you to works of other photographers to show you what is possible and what is still to be made possible.
I really do think that courses and lessons have relevant place in artistic education, because they can show you something new and you could be interested in that.
Not to mention that you don't have to pay extra money for studio and naked girls :-)

Overdraft

Paulw wrote: »

Mind you, no posting from the OP about his knowledge/experience in photography.

It's nice to know I'm still in your thoughts Paul.

You must have skipped past previous posts of mine, shame on you.

Unlike your good self I'm a complete amateur. Twenty years ago I thought I was bound for photographic greatness, armed with my rusty old 35mm, but real life and a lack of talent got in the way.

But after retiring from years of court and legal reporting part of my newspaper job was choosing photos for a supplement I edited, and later our magazine. I also commissioned photographers whose work I admired. Needless to say they had to be technically excellent, but that 'good eye' I keep harping on about and originality were the key factors for me.

All of which reawakened my interest in taking photographs (remember - I take photographs, I'm not a photographer ).

My technical knowledge is abysmal - eg shutter speed is a mystery to me - but I have a good eye...if only I knew how to put it to good use.

That's why I'm so interested in how people here found their way in photography, ie courses/self-taught, etc.

And that's why I appreciate honest C&Cs, that's how people learn.

As in any area of life it's important to acknowledge your weaknesses, rather than resent those who point them out....it gives you a chance of making progress.