Career in photography? Courses?

[L.U.G]

Hello,

Have any of you guys done a photography course?

If so, What type?

From reading on the internet there are like short courses which last for a few days or weeks. Then there are courses which universities or private institutions provide which last for like 3 years.

I am in Australia right now. Does anyone know of any good courses in Australia?

If anyone here is a proffessional photographer or works in the photography industry, I would like to know what it is like. Are jobs hard to get? What is it like?

I am kind of considering a career in photography. Still deciding what i should do with my life.

[tabbyday]

What field of photography are you looking to get into?

Try www.nyip.com reasonable and very good. They have a lot of free info online too, so check them out. To really get your hands wet, check into your local community, high school or local college photo courses, even some basics would be well worth your time.

[me_wrestler]

The kinds of courses you want to take are dependent on the type of photography you want to do. The best thing you could ever do is shadow a photographer in the area you are interested in working. This not only gives you some skills but also gives you an idea as to the amount of work involved. I'm not sure that there are any online courses that would be worth it. If feedback is what you want, you can get plenty of it here. A class at a local community college can give you basic photo skills but you really need to work with someone in the profession to learn what you need.
Colin

[tabbyday]

Apprentice is a good idea, although I have to disagree about the comment on online courses. If you are just beginning, any type of course with very talented people can be of extreme help. Forums like this are a great place to learn but when it comes to photo assignments, they are not set-up for the type of honest, professional critiques you will need for a career. Everything at nyip is also set-up with very detailed tutorials. I have a college degree in photography and took some online courses also recently, I was amazed with what I got out of it. (especially enhancing digital skills) Oh and it helps to read everything you can get your hands on! Good luck.

[fotoman91]

I would have to agree with what me_wrestler and tabbyday have to say on this topic. Feedback from other photographers is something that is invaluable to your growth as a photographer and the best place to get that is in a classroom setting as opposed to online or mail correspondence. I have taken the NYIP course and I am now currently in college studying photography.
NYIP was a very good start, but just can't replace what you can gain from constantly being in the company of creative people. me_wrestler suggested tagging along with a local pro. Excellent idea. I have done this and you can learn a lot about what you need and whether or not you would want to go into that particular branch of photography. Plus the tips a seasoned pro can give you are worth gold in the bank.