Self Taught

[Pehpsi]

There's some pretty amazing photographers on this site, and I'm curious to know how many of you taught/are teaching yourself the art?

Do many people actually study it these days?

[Bindii]

I am self taught...

well i did do a basic photography course at tafe when I was in my early 20's but didnt really try to take decent shots until a couple of years ago...

and yeah I'm still trying.. and one day i might even get there..

[jamesw]

im 100% self taught, it probably shows

[moz]

Define "study"...

I suspect most of us have never done a formal course in photography (except perhaps "darkrooms for dummies" in the chemical photography days), but posting photos here can be very educational. There's also a lot of looking at decent photos and practicing techniques (and RTFM, of course).

I have not studied formally at all but have been taught by some real experts at different times and have read a lot. I still take snapshots

[Reschsmooth]

I do a lot of reading on the subject(s) (hey, my birthday is in September!) but I am basically self taught, and I can tell you I have a crap teacher

[TonyT]

I done a couple courses and do a lot of reading and learn more I do not know but this site been good shows me more I do n know
Should have brought a yacht I know how to sail one of them. My Wife say I getting better define better god

[christiand]

Self taught and self study,

when I was an early teenager I used to do black and white, medium size on rolls of film.
Then in my late teens I had a chance to use somebodys Minolta SRT101.
Much later I happened to become a qualified reproduction photographer and have continued
to teach myself.

Regards,
CD

[adame]

I am also 100% self taught, i learnt pretty much everything i know by talking to other photographers and reading forums and articles on the net. I also teach what i know at a local community college with most of my students being complete newbs and just want to know basic stuff.

Cheers
Adam

[Pehpsi]

Swaz. Good to hear others' stories, keep 'em coming..

I just bought my D70 one day, and started clicking. I think the most help came from posting pics and getting feedback on various sites, and still does. I'll never be an 'awesome' photographer, but that's not what I'm after. As long as I'm happy with my own stuff, then that's cool with me.

A lot of people I know always automatically say "You should got to Uni and study it". But I'm 25 now, and don't see the point really.

[phillipb]

Yep, self taught.
Passed with flying colours in the first few years but lately I've been flunking

[Pehpsi]

but lately I've been flunking

What is the meaning of this?

[phillipb]

Failing!

[xerubus]

Self taught. If I won the lotto, I would probably quit work and go do a photography based bachelor for the fun of it.

[ATJ]

I did a course at school - it was actually an elective in 5th form - in... um... 19 something, something. Here I learned the basics, lighting, aperture, DOF, etc. My dad was also a very keen amateur and we had our own darkroom - although my dad only did B&W. Beyond that I am self taught with hundreds of rolls of films through various cameras. I taught myself to process colour negs, slides and prints (from slides and negs).

[Big Red]

self taught ... one day i may even get a pass if i buy the teacher a new lens or camera

[gstark]

Still just a beginner.

[Yi-P]

Still just a beginner.

I haven't even started learning photography. Can't afford MF and LF stuffs... so I stick to my own 35mm toys with auto-everything functions.

[Smurph]

im 100% self taught, it probably shows

Same here.

Got given a camera in 2006 and it went from there. I am thinking about doing a 2/3 year course in Commercial Photography at TAFE either this year or next.

[methd]

I'm self taught but one day I'd like to go through the formal institutional procedure just for the hell of it

Many years ago I did a 4 year apprenticeship as a jeweller and after working in the industry for 3 years, I went to do some formal training at TAFE. The ppl there were a little confused when I could do anything (setting stones, soldering etc), but the point was, there's always something to learn or ways to do the same things faster. If nothing else, it's a great way to meet ppl (in real life).

[Viz]

I did photography for 3 years in high school, though my teachers were pretty inept (moreso ill-situated) so basically just super-basic analogue stuff. I then lapsed into pointandshootography until pretty recently.

[Relish]

I've taken a few short courses, read a few books and taken thousands of test shots (make that 10's of thousands mostly on film!). Joining the local camera club and the AIPP have also both contributed. Peer to peer learning has also been a big part (i.e. photographing with friends).

[Killakoala]

Like Gary, I'm still learning but at a slow pace. I might need to carry this 'study' over into my next life as I am going to run out of time in this one. Some time off work might help.

I have never done a photography course but I did learn how to develop film at school. (We even got to use one of those new-fangled video cameras too.)

[big pix]

......... started in a darkroom, many many moons ago........ but self taught digital, not hard, and self taught, with the help of the net, Photoshop....... and that was a learning curve, and still learning everyday

[AndyL]

I did one school term of photography as an elective subject and bought my first camera (FM2) back in '82. I bought a few good books and read anything that I could lay my hands on. After 21 years of shooting, developing and printing with that camera I thought that I had a fair idea of what I was doing, but that bubble burst when I bought the D70 and my first speedlight. Mostly it feels like 1982 all over again.

Good instruction is useful to get started on the right foot but after that it is up to the individual. The learning never ends.

[seeto.centric]

another self taught here..
improved by taking in tips, tricks, advice etc from peers, what i read, forums, experimenting, the manual, learning from mistakes, trying to imitate other's works, etc

-j

[BBJ]

I too am self Taught, but i did do some work at high school when younger and then later in my teens i worked at the races as in trotts, horse and dog racing doing the photo finishes which was all black and white so all dark room stuff and done in the matter of minutes as after i had developed the negative i then had to project it below into the room underneath so the judges could give the corect placings out.

I enjoyed this a lot and was a good way to earn a few bucks when younger. I still am learning and continue to learn and there is lots more i would love to learn in doing portait and maybe get loose with a model or 2 as we see all the time here from some of our great talent here.

I have been lucky i guess in selling my work as i do love my motorbike racing and well it pays for my gear and there is no end to what one can learn.

Cheers
BBJ
JOhn

[Alpha_7]

D70users/DSLRusers taught, I knew nothing before hand and owe nearly everything I've learnt to the forum, or at least the members for challenging me to improve.

[norbs]

No formal training. Learnt the couple of things I know from experimenting and asking stupid questions.

[NeoN]

I have been learning for so long , that now I'm a pensioner and still learning ..I think!!
By the way Craig , you look like a younger Lawrence of Arabia ,without the Beer
Cheers NeoN
http://www.redbubble.com/people/neophytos

[Biggzie]

I did the madatory term back in the high school days, but didnt do any more than the basics. Years latter after I left school I started borrowing dads camera & decided I needed 1. Of course I bought one so I could borrow all his lenses
Then experimented and read the odd book.

[surenj]

Beginner, self internet taught, have read all the available books in the library, still reading on the internet

[Antsl]

Yes and no ...

I wanted to be a photographer from the time I left school. 'Course no one really wants to know you when you are straight out of school and so I got a job as a camera technician trainee. Did not learn much about taking photos but I did learn a lot about how a camera works. After a couple of years I moved on and eventually ended up working in photolithography, the process of preparing material for a printing press. I was about this time that I bought my first Nikon and began teaching myself photography. I started doing some basic professional work.

At the age of 23 I began doing photolithography for a local newspaper ... two weeks on night shift and two weeks doing days and because the night shift was a cruise, start at 7.00pm, finish at midnight and I approached one of the top photographers in Chch and asked to work for them, two weeks a month. He agreed and I started learning about commercial studio photography. It was while I was working part time for this studio that I met a North Island photographer and I asked her advice on what I should do to make the break into professional photography and her advice was to go and study at Wellington Polytech (now part of Victoria Unversity). It was a one year course with only 17 places... usually a couple of hundred people applied to get in and so competition was reasonable. I applied, got asked to interview and was then accepted onto the course.

I did not learn a lot about the mechanics of photography on my year at the course in fact, without blowing my trumpet there were days when I was able to use my skills as a camera technician to explain a few things to the class. What I did learn a bit about was myself. To become a good photographer you need to know who you are to begin with and then start from there. At the beginning of the course most students pigeon-holed me for a studio photographer but by the end of the course I was showing a strong preference for documentary work. Upon finishing the course I spent three months working for a camera shop in Christchurch before getting a job with a local paper and moving on from there.

What is interesting is that of the 17 people who completed my year at Polytech over half of us are still working as good professional photographers. I am not just talking about guys who shoot a wedding or two, I am talking commercial, advertising and documentary photographers in addition to award winning wedding and portrait photographers. A while ago I judged at the NZ professional photography awards, four from my year were there as judges and a fifth took out a category. I think this is exceptional as I know that these days the chances of getting in professional photography now on the completion of the course are a lot slimmer. Most people who finish a course will have a go at becoming a professional but most will not last more than a year or two before they quite for simple economic reasons and go to a job that pays a regular, better income.

Is getting a tertiary education essential to becoming a photographer? No, but then again it does depend on what type of photographer you want to become. You can learn all the technicals you want on line or in a book but a tertiary course is the only way you are likely to get real feedback on how you are progressing as a photographer.