I’ve been into photography for roughly 15 years now, ever since 10th grade. Over those years my photography skills and knowledge has grown so much. Some of it just comes with experience. The more you shoot, the more you learn. A large portion of my growth has come from education. I’ve read books, watched videos, and attended workshops. I’m still not done learning though. As I write this, I have a training video running in the background. If I can pick up one new thing from a video, it’s worth it. Photography has become extremely popular in the last 7 years, but I still see photographers that don’t know what they are doing. There are so many educational opportunities for photographers out there, I don’t understand how people can stay the same.
Educational Opportunities for Photographers
The internet has opened up a new world for education. 20 years ago, people would have to read books or learn from a teacher. Today, you can grab your phone and learn about anything. The good news is that most of it is free as well. I’ve mentioned it before, but Creative Live is a great site for free training on a lot of subjects. I’ve also noticed that recently there are a lot of photographers hosting training videos or conferences online. Most are free while they are viewing, but cost money later. Right now I’m watching a video from The Wedding School, but I bet if you just Google photography seminar or summit, you’d find some other ones. Another great option is Youtube. I was browsing Prophoto’s channel today and they have hours of videos and so does B & H.
If videos don’t do it for you, there are opportunities to learn live. Just recently a university around here put on a weekend training session. I think it was two days and they had like 8 different presenters. I don’t think it was that expensive. I also know that organizations are a good place for training. The PSNWA has regular meetings with training, and if you’re a member, it’s free or really cheap. Also, Bedfords does some intro classes and maybe some more advance things. If you are a hands on type person, you can find a way to make it happen.
The last and probably least favorite route for most is reading. My goodness there is so much info out there. Writing a blog is the easiest method to get info out there, as you can see from my constant posts. The hardest problem is finding the right blogs to follow. There are some out there that don’t have usual information or maybe can’t convey it very well. Look around until you find a few that you really enjoy reading and can get something out of. Avoid the rest. You have more important things to do with your life than read 200 horrible blog posts.
I’m big into education, probably why I’m a teacher, and I believe in being a life long learner. Even after 16 years I’m still pushing and trying to get better. If you are really into photography, please go out and learn. Improve. Get better. The educational opportunities for photographers are out there. Take advantage of them.
