Has anyone taken the PADI Digital Underwater Photography course? If so did you find it to be useful or is it just a reiteration of the manual that came with your camera?
PADI Digital Underwater Photo Course
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Just finished the Underwater Photography Instructors Specialty Course.
I don't have the outline here but this is what I remember:
Review of equipment, basic rule-of-thirds, how to white balance and why it's important, some info on histograms (this was new), work flow, editing programs (Adobe photoshop and Phase 1), shooting formats: RAW vs JPEG (shoot in RAW,14-20mb/pic), and of course buy a great system. I'd say the course is worth it. It will get you where you want to be as a photographer faster. It's not just a matter of taking hundreds of photos but taking hundreds of good photos to get great pictures. Also if you are going to spent the time to go out with a Divemaster, two tanks and a boat then the extra classroom time and the feedback on your photos and the study makes for a great value. Plus you get the card
I don't have the outline here but this is what I remember:
Review of equipment, basic rule-of-thirds, how to white balance and why it's important, some info on histograms (this was new), work flow, editing programs (Adobe photoshop and Phase 1), shooting formats: RAW vs JPEG (shoot in RAW,14-20mb/pic), and of course buy a great system. I'd say the course is worth it. It will get you where you want to be as a photographer faster. It's not just a matter of taking hundreds of photos but taking hundreds of good photos to get great pictures. Also if you are going to spent the time to go out with a Divemaster, two tanks and a boat then the extra classroom time and the feedback on your photos and the study makes for a great value. Plus you get the card
This is definitely one of those courses that a good instructor will make or break.
If you are happy to learn some theory on your own and then go tonk around snapping photos, posting the results for constructive criticism and then taking that feedback to improve, you may get more or less the same benefits as you would with a good course, but it will be a longer more drawn out process. And there will be no one "on site" during your dives to suggest subtle changes to your technique that can make huge differences in your results.
If you like the idea of having some face time with someone who can immediately help fine tune your skills and offer good feedback on your images so you can implement the new ideas right away, then look for a course.
From my experience, this course is really tailored to each individual diver so you should get maximum benefit in a very short time.
If you are happy to learn some theory on your own and then go tonk around snapping photos, posting the results for constructive criticism and then taking that feedback to improve, you may get more or less the same benefits as you would with a good course, but it will be a longer more drawn out process. And there will be no one "on site" during your dives to suggest subtle changes to your technique that can make huge differences in your results.
If you like the idea of having some face time with someone who can immediately help fine tune your skills and offer good feedback on your images so you can implement the new ideas right away, then look for a course.
From my experience, this course is really tailored to each individual diver so you should get maximum benefit in a very short time.
scuba&golf
Registered
I'm taking this course in a week, and the instructor is also leading my trip to Coz in Jan. so my dives will be with him, plus he will be available for input, critique, and advice. I think that the course is going to be worth it just for the help getting comfortable underwater with a camera and learning more about proper photo technique. If you can get into a situation like this, I think it will definitely benefit you.
Wisnu
Contributor
Agreed with Alcina;
the problem is not all PADI instructor are good photographer. I took this PADI speciality course few years ago, nice manual, clear explanation, I had no complain at that time and felt some improvement. However, after our trip to Bali this Augus, I will recommend to have a tailored one to one course from professional photographer. During that trip, my daughter - zero experience on uwp; she really surprissed me with what she achieved after one day course by Jeff Mullin, proffesional prhotographer who live in Tulamben, Bali. Here is her testimonial and her achievement
Testimonial Mayang D Parahita
I should say, we get more than we paid.
The only regret is, why we did not know him 4 years ago first time wevisited Tulamben, so I can save lot of my hard disk space from ugly pictures.
the problem is not all PADI instructor are good photographer. I took this PADI speciality course few years ago, nice manual, clear explanation, I had no complain at that time and felt some improvement. However, after our trip to Bali this Augus, I will recommend to have a tailored one to one course from professional photographer. During that trip, my daughter - zero experience on uwp; she really surprissed me with what she achieved after one day course by Jeff Mullin, proffesional prhotographer who live in Tulamben, Bali. Here is her testimonial and her achievement
Testimonial Mayang D Parahita
I should say, we get more than we paid.
The only regret is, why we did not know him 4 years ago first time wevisited Tulamben, so I can save lot of my hard disk space from ugly pictures.
The course is not designed to make you a pro overnight. What it is supposed to do is improve your pictures by bypassing a lot of the learning curve. Of course if you spend time with a photo pro you should improve that much more.
The big question is... how many people read the manual, and if they did, did they get anything out of it? I hate to say it, but I've owned an Oly D40, an Oly 8080, and Oly sp350 and a Canon G9, and I've read several pages of the manuals in total, certainly never the whole manual.
There's a certain percentage of people who learn by reading manuals, and a certain percentage that learn by trial and error, a certain percentage that learn by being shown, and a percentage that learn by a combination of two or more of the preceding.
I did take a semester of photography way back in the Welcome Back Kotter years in highschool (1975 or so), and that has helped a great deal with my photography. I'm thinking that's what the specialty courses boil down to... some basic photographic technique information that some people may or may not figure out on themselves. For me, I've found being shown is much more effective and efficient time-wise than figuring it out on my own. Your mileage may vary depending on what you already are familiar with.
In the end, little beats practice, practice, practice.
diverrex
Contributor
I agree with Alicina, the instuctor is key. I took the course with Larry Gates in Key Largo. Besides helping me with camera settings, etc. where he really helped was as a coach in the water, basically just pushing me to to go slower, get low to the subject, get in front, not behind the subject, etc. A few times he would literally grab my arm and tell ne "no don't shoot from here move to this position". While it may be stuff you have already been told and know it helps having someone in the water forcing you to do it.
I very much agree with Alcina.
I am one of the few in Nor-Cal that can teach the course, I thought it was very basic at first, But then I as the instructor learned that I can add as much extra as I want and spend more time with the students as I want.
I have a great deal of fun teaching this class and take the extra time to help each individual with all of the different questions...
My point .. as Other's have said the instructor can make or break the class, I love photography, so I spend a lot of fun time teaching it.
Yes it is a great class if your Instructor enjoys teaching it.
I am one of the few in Nor-Cal that can teach the course, I thought it was very basic at first, But then I as the instructor learned that I can add as much extra as I want and spend more time with the students as I want.
I have a great deal of fun teaching this class and take the extra time to help each individual with all of the different questions...
My point .. as Other's have said the instructor can make or break the class, I love photography, so I spend a lot of fun time teaching it.
Yes it is a great class if your Instructor enjoys teaching it.
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