MISSION: The mission of this program is to prepare students for employment or advanced training in commercial photography, portrait photography, wedding photography, industrial photography or the photographic digital lab industry.

Program of Study Includes:

This program consists of a planned sequence of courses.

PGY0180 – Black and White Specialist (500 hours) – Includes training in the areas of safety, principles of the digital camera, creative controls, lines of composition, perspective, available light exposures, and using a portable flash.

PGY0182 – Photography Specialist/Lab Technician (200 hours) – Content includes training in the following areas: Adobe Photoshop, making prints, scanning images, and outputting digital images.

PGY0183 – Portrait Photographer (500 hours) – Content includes training in basic portrait lighting, lenses and their effects, creating low and high key portraits of men, women and children, bridal portraits, business portraits, creating model composites, window light portraiture, and creating environmental portraits.

PGY0185 – Commercial Photographer (450 hours) – Includes training in computer tethered digital cameras, commercial lighting, multimedia presentations, table top product photography, architectural, and product photography and preparing a business plan.

Looks good, do it.
I have found you usually have a better student to instructor ratio in tech schools. And, often the classes are taught by working pros. The quality of education you receive is going to depend on the instructors, there are good and bad in Universities and Tech schools so it doesn’t matter.

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So basically I am not a professional but I would appreciate a camera which provides better results than the ones I have had/used before.

If possible I would like a camera with image stabilization, Live view LCD and colour control (especially flesh tones) as these are helpful for portrait photography. Fast multi-point auto focus and lots of external flash options would be a bonus.

The biggest problem I have faced with previous cameras is that the flash can wash people out (i.e. make their skin appear white/blue due to the harsh flash) I know that this can be expected when taking photos indoors/at night time but I am wondering if their are any cameras with settings that would help this as all I am asking for is decent quality photographs where people appear flesh coloured! I would like to spend between £150-£250 but can definitely pay more for something which is noticeably better.

Any suggestions would be appreciated and if you have any sample photos (preferably portrait style shots) taken on the cameras that I can see then that would be a bonus.

Thanks all!

Well if you want to do GOOD portrait & wedding photography then your options are pretty much to get a DSLR. You will just never get the results with a fixed lens and the small sensor of a compact – for one, your depth of field options will be severely limited (something extremely important in wedding/portrait photograph). Despite all the ‘blah blah’ as you put it they are better for this sort of thing.

If you must go for a compact I’d recommend something like the Canon G11, that has a hotshoe for off camera flash. However the G11 is almost as expensive as an entry level DSLR. The reason some flash looks awful is because its used on camera. You need to get it off camera, especially for portrait work. The G11 will allow you to get a flash or two & operate them wirelessly with a trigger on the hotshoe.

It just depends how seriously you want to take this (& to some extent how seriously you want others to take you). Judging by your Q I’d guess – not very.

David Hobby of the well respected Strobst site (well, amongst off camera flash users anyway!) reviews the G11 & its off camera flash capabilities here;

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/12/canon-g11-review-one-month-in.html

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To my surprise, my friends did not own the type of basic digital camera you are used to seeing everywhere. They had very large, high-tech devices with long noses, equipped with high resolution lenses which had a such a high zooming capability that one may have mistaken them to some paparazzi. One of them had taken up photography lessons and had influenced all of the others to buying this sort of cameras. When he first came holding that huge camera around his neck we were all very curios to discover all the features it had.

This was the first step to discovering the beauty of photography. We had no idea then that mere curiosity will take us ti a totally new world that we would have never discover otherwise. Then we started to practice, taking a few pictures every now and then and learning how to use the various features of the camera. We began to practice on how to focus effectively without cutting out on balance and then moved to zooming. My first shots were not all that great, but after a few days of practicing and more practicing | started to see some progress. For one week I used the SLR of one of my friends.

When I started to really enjoy it, I decided to buy my own camera. My friends told me that was their plan all along. If I knew it back then I would have probably been mad, but now I was thankful for making me discover photography. After practicing for a week or so, we decided we could start our journey to becoming real photographers. We began with portrait photography and then decided to move on to landscape pictures. We went out on a trip just to improve our skills. The destination we chose was supposed to be a great target for photography as it featured beautiful forests, a great atmosphere and plenty of wildlife. When we got there we were more than impressed – it was really breathtaking. We couldn’t have asked for a more suitable place for taking photos.

Then I really felt something different for the first time in my life. Something that cannot be explained in words. It just felt and it was amazing. Photography can teach you to appreciate things in a totally different way, regardless of how small or big they are. You see the beauty in every detail an then how all of these little things complete each other to make a whole – and this offers you a completely new vision. I now think everyone should try photography at least once. Even if only because it gives you the opportunity to see more beauty in the world – and the feeling is incredible.

Alex Don
http://www.articlesbase.com/digital-photography-articles/why-you-should-become-a-photographer-737945.html

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Always let yourself shine through in your photos and never be afraid to do what it takes to get a good shot. If there is action around town then get shots of the action that nobody else is getting and if not still get those shots nobody else has.

Good luck and who knows maybe someone will see your shot and want it for their site or magazine or what have you. Even if not maybe someone will take a liking too them!

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