101 Photo Basics | Where to Learn List

The Learning never is complete in this day and age. Especially in the field of photography. With every new update in photoshop or lightroom, or your camera itself-the lens.There is always something new to learn. Starting out, you also have no clue as to where to turn for education besides a college that will cost you 2 lives worth of pay checks and your first born. While i am not anti college-i am anti being in debt for the rest of my life and part of the next to gain knowledge, when there are many other resources for the same and more for free. 

Here are some Cheap and Free alternatives to official college courses that will teach you. 

1. YouTube! That's right, YouTube is an amazing free resource that has videos on everything! You can type in the search bar, 'beginner photography tutorials' or "how to...photography" and come up with hundreds of videos. A world of amazing knowledge from all over the world at your fingertips. 

2. creativeLIVE - AMAZING. I credit them for pointing myself in the right direction. They have online LIVE classes constantly, and they air them for free (and they even do rebroadcasts after for free as well,) of course if you actually want all the extra bonus course materials and the ability to pause, rewind skip through and watch as often as you like you have to purchase the course. $79-$150 typically. Choose a few to purchase and learn from and you will have more real life knowledge and understanding of photography in just a few days of dedicated time and energy than spending years in college. 

3. Kelby Another online resource similar to creativeLIVE as far as online education goes, but a different type of platform. Here you can pay $25 a month and get instant access to every course they have and the best part? They have some of the same teachers and artists that creativeLIVE does. Their classes tend to be shorter but still jam packed with info and easier to watch in one sitting. 

4. Lynda No that isn't a person, it is a website. I have never tried this one myself, but i have some friends that love this site for learning and recommend it every time someone asks. Easily searchable and again the $25 monthly platform for subscribers. 

5. Edx and Coursera While not exactly photography related, you can take college courses for free. yes FREE. from places like Harvard and Duke. You are accountable for yourself, and you can choose whether or not to do the classes. There is a pay option available for some classes that if you pass at the end you can get actual certificates and college credit depending on some of them. Fantastic for business and marketing among many many other topics. 

You can see by the list above that online education is the way to go these days. The amount of knowledge available to you right this very moment is simply amazing-you just have to reach out and take it in. Now-go!