Joined: 16 Jun 2011
Posts: 6
Location: Nuneaton, England, UK
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:53 am Post subject: six week college course.....is it worth it?
As I am new to photoshop and digital photography, I looked up night school and college courses and found one that has a six week (6 lessons) at £60.00. Obviously, its a hobby tutorial, no certificates or achievements, BUT am I throwing money away? Looking at this (and other) forums, looks like I could learn just as much here!
Any ideas or recommendations, ie, Photoshop for Dummies etc?
Thanks
Joined: 20 Dec 2008
Posts: 710
Location: Oklahoma PS Version: photoshop cs5 OS: win7 pro 64 bit, i7-3.2g, GTS 450,
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:25 pm Post subject:
hi ace,
your questions is difficult because I know very little about your
first i consider myself a novice and am selft taught ..it a hobby with me.. . my biggest weakness is i don't practice enough and just hit the tutorials that i need....
your questions is difficult because I know very little about your
1. how much experience you have with photoshop and with what version?
2. do you consider your self a beginner or novice at this stage...
3. hhow familiar are you with the terms, transform, gradients, adjustments layers, curves and levels .. camera raw ..
4. now since it obvious the camera is important is that a dslr or point and shoot.. there a couple of things you can do with a dslr that you can't do with a point and shoot.. in the majority of case...
5 what area are you really interested in ie; retouching. repairing, enhancing, modeling, etc ....
the back info would give me alittle more confidence in my replies...
now with any course always important to take a look at the syllabus and the course summery or it outline , to see what they cover!!! could very well be that the course already covers things you know and hense possiblity of a waste of money and time.... that 6 week course sounds like it a very basic course to learn just the tools and basic uses of the tools ...but I have very little info to base that on...
now there is a lot of stuff out there both free and commercial cd/dvd that can take you thru the basics and intermidiate or get your from beginner to novice ..
hopefully some people jump in with some good suggestions...
so what you might want to look at is maybe investing in a good book that comes with a good cd ... now photoshop for dummy i am leary of those kinds they deal with just the very basics..... i would invest in books that are around the intermediate level..... I don't have my booklist handy.... you might want to look at katrine's books ...one of the books is on retouching and she considered outstanding in that field ....
now there a ton of graphics/text tutorials and video tutorials..... there good stuff and bad stuff.... i suggest makin a folder to hold those one tht you really like you'll find that folder will get large smiling....
here some examples...
a. an old site and limited number of tutorials but i consider these good basic tutorials... very usefull ..
http://www.digimods.co.uk/tutorials/tutorials.htm
c. burt monro very good.... this video a sample plus you may like this one on different ways to change, correct colors .... but look at the other tutorials he has and you can download his videos..
http://revision3.com/pixelperfect/colorize
now for forums... pick 3 or 4 that you like... maybe a couple that basically deals with questions and answers and another where submit images for help to improve them/// those kinds you see different techniques and tools to get the same results.... learn a lot on those
Joined: 16 Jun 2011
Posts: 6
Location: Nuneaton, England, UK
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:37 pm Post subject:
Thanks for the useful advice.
My camera is a canon EOS 450 DSLR with a fixed 50mm lens and a 35-210mm lens. Has Photoshop essentials 6, which I appreciate IS an old software, but I'm keen to get started.
I did some photography many years ago, but the cost of film and processing soon put me off.
Oh, I have NO experience at all with ANY digital work. The friend I brought my camera and kit off was very good, but has moved to Wales (hes serving Armed Forces personnel) so any quick tips and advice has gone with him!
My intrests are repair, enhancement and 'tricks' he showed me such as adding backgrounds, etc
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
