Basic Photography Course

Due to my cooperation with my friends from Listerine and Ogilvy (Read here and here), I was sponsored for some photography courses.

As I have always been using a Nikon Camera, I noticed a basic photography course on their website, after registering my warranty.  It was from this company that the Nikon website had a link to.

My friends at Ogilvy introduced me to another basic course by Objectifs, which also offered a course that could fit my schedule.

As both courses were within the sponsorship budget, I decided to sign up for the 2 courses!

So which course is Better?

The first company is centrally located near the National Library.

The main lecturer is quite clear in his presentation and he can be interesting as well. However, there are a few drawbacks about this course.

• Although centrally located, the training room is really small, and I did not even have much leg or “shooting room” due to the squeeze.
• The main lecturer has a lot of co-lecturers. About 4-5 lessons are conducted by another lecturer who is pale in comparison to his partner. Concepts were definitely not well explained by this lecturer.
• The lecturers seem to enjoy picking up their handphones during their lectures. I thought that this was really unprofessional!
• Both teachers do not seem to be really helpful when it comes to practical teaching within the classroom. When the students faced difficulties, they were slow and obviously reluctant to assist. When my friend who brought one of those new mirror-less cameras asked for help. The lecturer just remarked to him to check his owner’s manual. He did not even move closer to assist! 🙁

Objectifs which is located at Arab street is a totally different cup of tea.

Although Basic Photography Courses are more costly ($350 as compared to $270), they offer a much better class ratio.

At Objectifs, each class has only 10 students, while the former had about 15 students and more.

Our lecturer Deanna Ng was really helpful and took time to individually help the students. Besides that…

• Topics were well communicated, and aided with videos to bring the points across.
• Deanna personally assisted with students, despite the numerous brands of cameras on show.
• Personal pointers were given during practical shoots, to improve our composition skills.
• Objectifs gives 3 practical shoots as compared to 2 by the other company.
• Homework was further personally reviewed by our lecturer for more tips.

Here are some shots that I took on my field trips:

A “Matrix-like” shot

Although the Objectifs course is more expensive, I definitely learned much more there. I think this course is worth considering, if you are looking to spend the money on learning photography!