Online Classes: BetterPhoto.com

The quest for education continues…

I realize that sometimes it’s difficult to get the training and education we need. When I first started out, I was at my wit’s end trying to find classes. My local community college didn’t have any classes and I’d already taken the ones at the local adult education vocational school.

I had taken a class in college almost 20 years prior, so I had a basic knowledge and needed some more specialized instruction.

Then I found BetterPhoto.com

I ended up taking three classes from there; a basic “how-to” course on my particular camera model, a wedding photography course from Paul Gero and a studio lighting course from Vik Orenstein. This last class was the one that opened my eyes and my brain.

Yes, believe it or not, I learned studio lighting through an 8 week on-line course. Whoda thunk?

Each week there are lessons and homework. The lessons are digital documents that you read through at your leisure. Homework has a due date and each class has it’s own area on the website to converse with the other students as well as ask questions of the instructor. Homework photos are critiqued and valuable input is provided.

There are a series of 4 and 8 week classes that are geared from the absolute beginner to the photographer who requires some advanced education.

Classes are divided into four levels:

• Beginner
• Serious Hobbyist
• Intermediate
• Advanced

If you’re overwhelmed by the options, I highly recommend you start with “Fundamentals of Photography Made Easy,” taught by Jim Zuckerman (can’t go wrong here – he’s an incredible photographer!) or the “Learning Your Insert Camera Name Here” class for your model of camera. I took my Nikon class from Simon Stafford and was quite pleased. There are several instructors that teach this series, and I’m sure any one of them would be fine.

In the years since I have been a student there, I see that BetterPhoto has introduced a certification as well as specific course tracks. I’m not familiar with these options and cannot comment on them, but I will caution you not to get too caught up in that kind of thing right away. The reason for my BetterPhoto recommendation is as a source for you to get some solid basic skills under your belt if you have no other options for in-person instruction.

Use the link below to reach BetterPhoto.com and use the coupon code to get $20 off your first course: