If the idea that you are a marketable commodity is a little startling, consider this; you buy things every day that are the essence of other people. Clothes, perfumes, wines, air compressor valves...all the items that make up the world are in some form the people who made them. When you buy a camera or a lens you buy quite a few people in one package - and if you buy one of the Japanese packages it is likely to be packed extremely well.
There is a dark side to this thought - you may think you are buying what you want to buy, but in reality you are buying what the designers and manufacturers want you to buy. That is all they offer. With the exception of the Leica bespoke camera section, you can't rock up and put in an order for your very own special gear - indeed you can do more of this at McDonalds than you can with camera equipment - you take what they make and the only choice is the combination of choices that are ready-made.
Okay - where DO you get to buy...you? If the gear is all ready-made off the rack what part of photography is made to measure? Answer; education.
You know what you like. You know what interests you. If you are lucky, you know what you know and what you don't know. If you can admit this to yourself, and want it to change, we can sell that change of you... to you. Wow.
Shoot Photography Workshops. It's not Uni and it's not TAFE and it's not your local camera club. Unlike the first it does not swallow up months of your life - unlike the second it does not put you in the company of career-seekers half your age - and unlike the last it does not subject you to people trying to beat you in a photo contest every month. It is a unique window into knowledge without pressure.
Every quarter something is offered that would suit a rank amateur - equally, every quarter there are offerings that would suit the rankest of professionals...basic courses, advanced courses, specific courses, and mist-vague artistic courses are there. The premises are conveniently located so that you can come and kill time in the shop between lectures. There is coffee, tea, soft drink, and decent biscuits.
There are lecturers who know whereof they speak. In some cases they are working professional photographers who have been going at it for years and have not starved yet - a good sign that they know what they are doing. There are enthusiasts who know technical subjects to perfection - you would be horrified to have them attach themselves to you at a barbeque but in the context of a lecture theatre they are brilliant. Get the newest information or time-honoured techniques and benefit.
It costs - Lord knows it costs - but so does every worthwhile thing these days. And it doesn't cost the earth. Shannon is the lady who runs the place and she is available on the web at :
shannon@shootworkshops.com.au
or on the telephone at:
9228 8232
and as the schedule and menu of knowledge is always changing, we suggest you call her up and watch the computer.
Note: My personal experience with one of the Shoot courses was very good - it took three weeks ( one evening per week ) and it equipped me to handle one of the image-editing programs for my computer. I've never looked back - this was enough to make paid professional work easy and possible.
