An Alternative (and cheap!) Introduction to Photography Education Plan

Frost, Redgarden Wall. Eldorado Springs Canyon, Colorado, 2013

Don’t have the time, money, talent, or connections to get into Yale University’s photography degree program? Can’t afford to pay the $1400 for four days with Joe McNally in New York? Don’t have the 40 grand socked away to pay for an upper deck balcony suite on the National Geographic Explorer as it sails to the Falklands (Malvinas), South Georgia, and Antarctica for some southern hemisphere photo ops?Well, don’t despair, there are much cheaper alternatives to help you improve your photography!

Here are five:

1) Join the local photo club. Cost: Virtually free…perhaps $30/year in dues. Benefit: Lots of expertise to help you out and an opportunity to get your work critiqued by those who know–and you also watch and learn as others get their work critiqued. Typically, you’ll get what amounts to two hours of very low cost and fun instruction per month! Caution: Pick a good photo club…some can be obnoxious cliques, others are world class. In Boulder, I’m lucky enough to have three good choices: the Flatirons Photo Club, the Colorado Nature Camera Club, and the Boulder Digital Study Group [this latter no longer active as of 2023]–for me, that calculates out to six hours of photography instruction per month–yeehaw!

2) Go visit an art museum once a month. This could be any kind of museum…paintings, sculptures..yes, even a dedicated photography museum. Cost: Can be free if you go on their “free day” which most museums have–check their web site. Benefit: A cram course in art education as you study and learn first hand about all forms of art, not just photography. Caution: You could turn into a flunky monkey museum junky.

3) Study the photography exhibits at the local coffee shops, art galleries and art stores. Cost: Generally free. Benefit: Yet another way to educate yourself on what others are currently doing with their photography (and other mediums) as well as what presentation techniques they use to show their work in public. Try the gallery district of your local town or city on a “First Friday” or whenever they might have their open house night–you can often personally meet the artists then. Caution: In the case of coffee shops, their coffee and assorted pastries can be addicting.

4) Read and study art and photography books at the public library. Cost: Free, free, free! Benefit: You can get your hands on those big, pretty photography books and all those classic art and photography texts without buying them yourself…and, as you turn the pages and contemplate, it is all free, self-directed and self-paced learning! Caution: Hmmm…can’t think of one.

5) On line videos, articles and columns. Cost: Free again! (Though you can enroll in many for-pay programs.) Benefit: Loads of free material that will help you improve your photography, all at no cost. The Luminous Landscape, The Strobist, The Online Photographer, Photo.net, and even YouTube are five very different sites (see my On Line Resources page for more), each with a different focus and a wide range of free material. Caution:  Some material can be dated or very opinionated one way or the other…learn to crosscheck ideas and opinions on other sites.

There you have it: the building blocks for a very inexpensive–virtually free, really–introduction to photography education program. So, what are you waiting for…enroll now!