Jessica M
Forum Enthusiast
Has anyone taken classes at LSP? I'm considering their 7 week program and would like to hear what others thought of the school.
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Thoughts about the London School of Photography
- Thread starter Jessica M
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AlbertTheLazy
Veteran Member
I've had a quick look at their site and didn't find a '7 week programme'. Can you provide a link?
What do you expect to get out of the course? I'm always a bit wary of intermediate length courses like that unless they are tightly focused on a particular subject.
What do you expect to get out of the course? I'm always a bit wary of intermediate length courses like that unless they are tightly focused on a particular subject.
Well I've never heard of the LSP before and I'm in London.
As Albert has asked, what do you want to achieve?
I think short courses/workshops are a good idea if you need a quick lowdown on a particular topic or technique, but a 7 week 'general' course that doesn't lead to any recognised qualification is something I'd want to know a lot more about before parting with my money.
Jessica M
Forum Enthusiast
AlbertTheLazy
Veteran Member
So it takes you from needing this:
In 7 weeks?
Good grief!!!!!!!!!
Forgive me if I seem cynical, but I doubt if many potential employers would find that credible. Even less would it prepare you for going freelance on your own account.
To put it in perspective, I spent three years at college studying photography back in the days when there were far more job opportunities.
And that was to get nationally recognised qualifications, not some sort of certificate of attendance.
I made a career out of it, but some of the others on that course never found a job.
I honestly think it would be three and a half grand down the drain.
If you are looking for professional qualifications start here
If it's a hobby thing try the Royal Photographic Society.
- Master the principles of photography and feel at ease with Focus, Exposure and Composition.
In 7 weeks?
Good grief!!!!!!!!!
Forgive me if I seem cynical, but I doubt if many potential employers would find that credible. Even less would it prepare you for going freelance on your own account.
To put it in perspective, I spent three years at college studying photography back in the days when there were far more job opportunities.
And that was to get nationally recognised qualifications, not some sort of certificate of attendance.
I made a career out of it, but some of the others on that course never found a job.
I honestly think it would be three and a half grand down the drain.
If you are looking for professional qualifications start here
Loading…
www.bipp.com
If it's a hobby thing try the Royal Photographic Society.
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Savannah0986
Well-known member
I wouldn't waste my hard-earned fivers. Go out, take 50 or so photographs, go home, look at them. Work out what you did right, what you did wrong; adjust the settings on your camera where necessary, and get back out there and try again. No so-called 'school' can teach you to take photographs which are pleasing to YOU.
Savannah.
Savannah.
I would try to narrow down what you want to improve on and then perhaps look at some online tutorials on lynda or even YouTube. There's so much cheap and free info out there that actually does help. Three grand is a lot of money, think about all the gear you could get with that it would probably be more valuable finding some pros in your area that would take you as a second photographer for free and learn from them. Then they become references if you ever apply for a position somewhere
Peter Del
Veteran Member
If you are in the UK, enroll at an adult evening course, although some are bad, some are good. Join your local camera club. Take lots of pictures and study them.
Peter Del
Peter Del
Jessica M
Forum Enthusiast
Well, I'd like to thank everyone for their input.
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AlbertTheLazy
Veteran Member
Not necessarily.I've known people do it.
Is this a question on your behalf or are you making assumptions about the OP?
For example, for the OP we don't know age, current photographic skill levels or expectations. For you, ditto, but I CN make a couple of assumptions (!) from your post.
Either way, the first thing to do is a self assessment of aims and needs.
We don't know if the OP wants to break into the business or just improve basic skills for the fun of it.
If it's the former then it requires a few decisions about:
- what field of photography,
- Employed or freelance
- Full/part time
Then for both there's a need to honestly assess existing skills and knowledge and to make a sensible assessment of what level one wants/needs to acquire.
And for anyone wanting serious advice like you asked for the question needs to include some info about all these things.
Savannah0986
Well-known member
Why are you telling me this? Reply to the OP, not me.
S.
S.
a_c_skinner
Forum Pro
Assuming you are in the UK I'd look for a combination of good books (Langford's book seems OK), joining a club and having days out with people who offer them. One of the changes since digital is that a lot of people run courses as you can snap, view and critique very rapidly. You need to choose someone whose photos you like. I'm idly thinking of Heather Angel for flowers and had a day with a bloke who was OK. I'm 40 years in and didn't really expect to learn a lot but we did deal with my complete inability to do anything with UWA lenses other than buy them. Now I can do almost nothing with them, which is a huge improvement.
Langford's book is I think a good starter. It will expose lacunae of ignorance and give ideas. Then see if you can settle to a club.
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Andrew Skinner
Langford's book is I think a good starter. It will expose lacunae of ignorance and give ideas. Then see if you can settle to a club.
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Andrew Skinner
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Glen Barrington
Forum Pro
is that they completely avoid the single most important reason for professional training. That is, the sort of cross pollination of ideas that occurs when people with different backgrounds and ideas come together.
Sure people get to do a 'meet and greet', and even get to share a bit about their photography, but that isn't the same thing as the sort of day-in, day-out, interaction where you can judge their ideas, test them out, and discuss why they worked and failed over coffee.
Sure, the short courses will give you the knowledge of the technology and of the 'conventional wisdom', and that's not a bad thing. But you can always get the knowledge and 'conventional wisdom' from books and the internet. The sort courses can't provide same level of experimentation, invaluable social interaction, and subsequent understanding that comes from the longer programs.
The short programs have their place, especially for those of us who prefer to learn in a structured environment, but if you can afford the money and the time, I think the longer courses offer more long term value for the money spent.
Brad Bohland
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Not much encouragement here.
Here's another take along similar lines:
"There are many great photographers and legendary artists who once attended college, but in this day and age if you’re looking to run a small business in the creative realm, you don’t need a degree-on-the-wall to do it. What you do need is a strong body of work, some experience and a lot of good friends."
https://fstoppers.com/business/first-step-becoming-successful-photographer-dont-go-college-34257
And from the ever-controversial Ken Rockwell:
"Photography is self-taught. Ansel Adams' only formal education came from working one summer in a San Francisco photo lab. I and everyone I know who does this for a living taught themselves. I read books and practiced.
It's nice to have a degree from a photo school, but costs more in money and lost career time than it's worth. If you have what it takes you can teach yourself faster. If you don't have the eye, no schooling will teach it to you.
Far more important than learning photography, which is self-taught and not particularly difficult, is to learn what you really need to know, which is to learn how to run your own business in a very competitive world."
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/go-pro.htm
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Like the other folks here, I'm skeptical that in a 7 week class you'll be able to develop your skills to the point that you can be competitive as a pro.... But if you don't have that expectation and have the money to do it... and if the school has a really good reputation, it might be worth it. If you're starting out without knowing much about the medium, then at the very least this class might help you to know if it's something that you'll want to pursue in greater detail. I didn't follow the link, but I'm guessing that the course is a pretty basic premier on a few different kinds of photography; techniques, subject mater, approaches, etc... Maybe the thing to do is to take the course and then expect to find one or two kinds of photography that you're really interested in, collect the gear that you need for that stuff, maybe take another more specialized course or two and do a lot of work honing your skills. It might just turn into something that you love doing and you'll create your own body of work, maybe pursuing some gallery shows... or maybe you'll want to try your hand at some kind of professional photography, but if you go that route, expect to spend a while (much longer that the length of the course) to really develop your skills and just as importantly developing a great portfolio that you can use to get work...
I think that sometimes taking a really immersive, concentrated course like what I'm assuming that you're talking about is a great way to get started with a new skill... Once you've done that, you can decide where you want to go with it, or even of you're interested in it at all...
I think that sometimes taking a really immersive, concentrated course like what I'm assuming that you're talking about is a great way to get started with a new skill... Once you've done that, you can decide where you want to go with it, or even of you're interested in it at all...
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