[Pete Hillier]

Hi there i am new to photography. i have just bought myself a canon 400d camera and als got a tamron 70-300m lens . the pictures i am taking are fantastic compared to the ones i took with a point and shoot camera. i would quite like to get into photography a bit more seriously and dont know whether it is worth going on a course or just to practice a lot first. Any help would be much appreciated! also i understand that the camera i bought is the low end of dslr but is it able to produce pictures of quality for say a wedding. ( im not saying i am anywhere near to being able to charge for a wedding but just wondered for future reference) im new to this site aswell so dont know if ive posted this in the right section. anway thanks! Pete.

[Dabhand16]

Welcome to Pixalo Pete

I think courses are a good idea, but there are good courses and not so good ones. Much will also depend on the tutor.

You do not say if you have any grasp of the principles of photography or not, and you will need to find a course that will match your needs. The principals of composition and exposure are the same for film or digital photography, and many college courses do cater only for film, which would require you getting another (cheap) camera.

Evening and day classes will often be City & Guilds courses which will give you a qualification, but you might not want to be this formal and just gain some knowledge to make you a better photographer. In this event, you see lots of one day/weekend courses advertised in the magazines with a variety of topics, so maybe this would be a better way for you.

You can always gain knowledge here by asking questions and looking at others work too.

[Pete Hillier]

thanx for the quick reply. would it be better to do a practical course ie Where you attend a course or are these online courses any good. I suppose i am a beginner really although have been reading up a lot on how the camera works, exposure aperature and practising everything i have learned with the camera. I have quite a good understanding of light as i am a proffessional actor /tv Presenter by trade and am able to learn alot from the lighting guys. cheers Pete.

[WOODY]

AS GRAHAM HAS ALREADY SAID, THERE ARE GOOD AND BAD COURSES, I THINK YOU HAVE ALREADY FOUND THE BEST PLACE FOR LEARNING,HELP AND INSPIRATION .

THERE ARE VERY TALENTED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE ON PIXALO,REGARDLESS WHETHER YOU ARE A COMPLETE NOVICE OR PROFESSIONAL, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEBODY ON HERE TO GIVE YOU HELP AND ADVICE. DON'T EVER BE AFRAID TO ASK
NO MATTER WHAT THE QUESTION IS.

LIKE EVERYONE HERE JUST ENJOY YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY.

[Pete Hillier]

Thanks Guys! think ill keep on practising a bit and then find a course. Many thanx!

[Dabhand16]

Maybe it would be best to carry on as you are at the moment, see what you can gain here at Pixalo and keep an eye out for courses too. I'm old fashioned enough to believe that a live course would be better than an on-line one, provided the content and tutor is good.

For instance, Angela went on a 10 week (I think) course, but did not complete it due to it not doing anything for her.

[Angela]

Dabs is right, I chose an evening course which, on the face of it, should have given me a good grounding in the basics of SLR photography (aperture, shutter speed etc) - be it digital or film. Unfortunately, despite being a really nice guy and obviously knowing his stuff, the teacher was not a good teacher and I learnt very little from the course.

I then chose a 4 hour course with a local photogprahy training centre and I got much more out of that. It was still basic but was hands on and let you see what happened if you tried different settings. I needed to have that hands-on approach before the information would stick in my brain!

If you can tell is whereabouts you are in the country, someone might be able to recommend a local course for you.

[Whipspeed]

I did the City & Guilds level one, which was fairly basic and alot of the stuff I'd taught myself over 20 years messing with a camera, but it was good to refresh on some stuff and also learn some extra bits and pieces that I'd not picked up on.
It did make me photograph things out of my usual zone as well for the projects and I met some very nice people, so for me it was worthwhile. They also bought in a pro magazine tog for an evening talk as well which was good and he critiqued any photo's we wanted him to look at.
Your camera would probably take good photo's at a wedding, but I don't think it's enough to use as a pro wedding photographer, you may find you need something a bit more robust, probably another spare body, more batteries, more lenses, flashguns ..... the list goes on!

[Pete Hillier]

thanks sarah. will my camera stil be able to take proffesional looking shots? when would be the time to upgrade to a better camera obviously i still have a lot to learn. i suppose the question is did i choose the right camera as a beginner? also sorry about all the questions guys but are there any specific lenses that i should be buying in order to take great photos?

[Dutchie]

As the saying goes. Its you who makes the photo's. The camera helps you. Just a basic lens like 18-70mm or 18-135mm would do perfect. I've got the 18-200 which is a fantastic lens as well.

If you haven't already got a dslr, then look around on dpreview. And investigate of what you want the camera to do.

[bbarny]

I found myself in a similar position when I took up photography about 18 months ago. I joined a local camera club and have found it to be extremely useful and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend joining a club. It also gives you topics to shoot and you can also see examples of other amateurs work.

[Whipspeed]

Sorry, bit late replying. I think you chose a good camera to begin with, but as you increase in experience, you will know when you want to upgrade.
I personally don't think for offering a professional wedding service that the kit you have now would be good enough, keep the body as a back up, but go for some good quality glass. I don't shoot weddings, but there are members here who do and would be able to advise you what you would need. Have a look through some of the shots on here and ask what lens was used etc.
I personally didn't find a club very helpful, it was all competitions and the judges, even though some of my shots did well, I didn't find very good, I get much better critique and advice on here.
Best advice from me is to be your own hardest critic, really look at your shots & think would I want that on my wall or, would I buy this.