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I used a camera with film a while back, but never digital, will I be able to follow these courses
You won't have a problem, we always start by working out the knowledge and experience of each person present and its not difficult to pitch the content so we go quickly over areas that everyone already knows and then cover in depth the areas they do not. Most photographers coming from film find far more common then they expect, and moving onto digital gives you more control, as well as instant feedback on what you have achieved. Having said this some photographers having moved are initially disappointed, often because they chose the wrong camera for their interests or because they haven't quite grasped how to get the best from the facilities they have available. Most of us have come from film, and there is no way that we would ever want to go back.
The Hands on Nikon courses are a good starting point, and ideal for those converting from film.
I'm pretty confident with a digital camera on the basic stuff but colour balance, grads and the like I haven't got into, would I find this helpful or will I find it too basic for much of the day.
If you have been using a Nikon DSLR for some time and feel you are proficient using it, then we would suggest a course like the 'getting to grips with grads' as it tends to skip all the basics as people attending this course usually have already covered this. It's more a case of tidying up and correcting errors that have been accepted, before moving ahead.
On the other hand if your expertise is mostly at using the camera in the automatic mode and allowing it to do the work for you, then you would be better starting either with one of the Hands on a Nikon courses or similar, as those who have made a fresh start or moved over from film, or perhaps an interest course, where you can tidy up knowledge and move ahead at the same time. Alternatively consider a one to one, as this would allow you to totally assess your knowledge and update it where necessary as well as covering the ground that is best for you, crossing the areas covered by several courses.
I don't know which camera to buy, will a course help me decide.
If you are considering buying a DSLR it will allow you to get a very good understanding of the capabilities and differences of the Nikon models. It won't help you in comparing these with other makes or with lower models, although it will allow you to get a good understanding and know what to look out for, rather than using pixel counts as a guide.
You will find as some people prefer PC's and some Macs, some like little cars and some larger ones, some prefer Canon cameras and some Nikons, or other manufacturers. All manufacturers bring out models all the time, so there is at times a leapfrogging of technology across different manufacturers, with perhaps one ahead at one time and another at another time, but of course we all need to try to stick to one make, so as camera bodies need replacing with later ones, all our lenses, flash and other items don't have to be changed as well. The controls tend to stay in the same place so moving between models is not difficult. We used Nikon film cameras that were always very reliable, with loads of extra capabilities, and naturally moved on to Nikon digital, which we have been delighted with. We can make the Nikons do a great deal, while we don't have the knowledge of the Canon range or other manufacturers offerings. From what we have seen there are some differences and we don't feel we could offer anything like the same level of expertise if we tried to chop and change between makes.
Should you decide to go for a camera without the Nikon name on it, perhaps you should look also at two other training brands, and you may like to look at what they could offer you. They both go across camera makes. Photo Skills have free online courses, while Photography Skills has both an introductory course for any make as well as catering for those more advanced, looking for single topic Masterclasses.
Which Nikon DSLR sensor format should I get, DX or FX
The D40, D40x, D50, D70, D70s D80, D100, D200, D300, D2H. D2Hs, D2x and D2xs are cameras using DX sensors. These in effect multiply the effective focal length by 1.5, so for example in many ways the 300mm lens works like 450mm on a 35mm film camera. You have a greater depth of field (more in focus) with the DX size sensor. The DX format is smaller, lighter, long lenses are in effect cheaper, and with the greater depth of field are better for landscape, wildlife and macro.
The D3 is the first of a new format with an FX 36mm sensor, similar to full frame 35mm, you don't get the multiplier advantages so lenses are more expensive and heavier, there is no larger pixel count over the D2x. it is slightly smaller. When you use DX lenses this switches to a crop mode producing a 5.1mp image. The D3 also has a 5:4 crop format.
The FX format may present an advantage to some portrait photographers who want to throw the background more out of focus. Other models in the future may have other advantages. The D3 may have a short life, with a D3x or similar coming out to provide a larger pixel count so that the majority of photographers who now use DX lenses see it as natural upgrade to the D2x, currently most will see the D3 as an upgrade to the D2H, aimed at press photographers mainly.
I am interested in editing photographs, what should I use
The most well known editing package is Photoshop, and you will find several different versions of this.
Nikon also market Nikon Capture NX, this is far cheaper than the full Photoshop offering, and far easier to learn as well as quicker to use. Capture is ideal for Nikon originals, particularly when images are taken in the raw format. It is simpler to learn and use. You can often edit photographs in minutes that would take hours in Photoshop. You can do just about all the normal photo editing and more, but you can't add text, cut out and paste in images or many of the art like activities you can in Photoshop. Capture NX is the only software that allows you to get all the benefits of the Nikon raw format, there are other raw readers and routines to allow you to read some raw images in, but they don't allow the full facilities.
We can teach a complete beginner and end up with a confident and competent person with Capture NX in a day, we could not do this with Photoshop in less than probably 10 days. We have both, and our choice is to use Capture NX for editing photographs and Photoshop for adding text, titles, creating advertisements and the many other useful tasks it allows us to do.
You also get, with most Nikon cameras, currently Picture Project, this has some editing capability, but is not far better than useless. You can download a 30 day trail version of NX off the Nikon website, so can take a look. If you come on a 'Hands on a Nikon' day to explore the use of your camera we also include a short overview of Capture NX, so you can see what it and your camera is capable of.
We feel if you are taking photographs with Nikon cameras you should get Capture NX, get to use it and then see if you need anything else. In our view you should have been given this with the camera, you cant get the full benefits of the camera without it.
Will a course inspire me to achieve more
Any experiment, exercise or discussion with other photographers always provides stimulation, and the success you achieve pushes you to want to get on and undertake more. Getting your camera to produce what you can imagine, releases your imagination and creative instincts, as well as opening up your eyes to the beauty and detail around you.
Is there a lot of walking involved
No, we take cars if we can't reach a point in minutes. In the day you are with us we want to achieve so much that there is just not enough time to walk far. The Cotswolds is a beautiful place the part of the country that film stars and royalty move to, and has many walks, long distance paths and reasons to walk, but we have to select the locations we use to be able to get to them fast.
I don't have a Nikon DSLR or any other Digital SLR or wish to use one, surely the knowledge I gain on a course you run would be generally useful to me.
Difficult to say, our gut instinct would be to question if it is the right course for you. There are many photographic holidays and generalised low level courses put on, 'bring your own camera and manual and we muddle along together approach', these are social events, and perhaps may be worth considering.
Some choose to be generalists, we have chosen top be specialists, and get to know one range of cameras and equipment really well, its also the range that we use to produce our own work.
On a 1 to 1 course you can use one of our cameras, and that may be the better approach, you can get to see what these cameras really can do.
We do have a very close working arrangement with two other training brands, and you may like to look at what they could offer you. They both go across camera makes. Photo Skills offer free online courses, while Photography Skills is for those more advanced looking for single topic Masterclasses plus they have an introductory course that can cover any make.
I dream one day of 'the great escape', packing up the job and earning a living from photography, will any of your courses assist me to achieve this.
Many of our courses can help you to get professional competence, and gain more specialist skills, and we also have a range of photographic business courses explaining how to get an income from different specialist areas, and courses on running a business.
Some people use the one to one courses to cover these areas, in a day we can look with you at many business areas connected with photography, identifying markets, how they run, the advantages and problems of each and helping you to work out if it would be a sensible choice for you, as well as working out what equipment and further training you might need. also consider the 18 month extended course.
Could I make a good living out of photography?
Very many do, and there are so many areas of photography. Take a look at our business courses to get an idea of the range of current courses that we have that could help you with this. You will see that you will be able to utilise the knowledge and expertise we can share with you to rapidly get the cost back and more besides. Also take a look ay the 'shorts' concept, this is 3 hour short courses, and often quite good for looking at business area. Some want photography to just cover its cost, others to pay for the holidays and latest equipment while some like us expect it to provide a lifestyle that we have become accustomed to.
The ideal solution although requiring greater commitment in terms of time and expense is the 18 month extended course, with this level of knowledge you should have no difficulty in making a good income from photography. To make a good income often requires that a photographer undertakes several types of photography, in effect giving them a multiple income. This is particularly useful if you know in advance that you will be switching at some point, perhaps taking early retirements or having decided to switch to photography and requiring a good income from the beginning.
What time do the days start and end?
You can select your own day length and the start and end times to suit your own requirements. For example you may decide that you can drive to us in the morning but don't want to make too early a start so would like to start at 10:30am or alternatively you may have decided to stay in accommodation locally and want to make an early start so that you can get home at a reasonable time so you may choose to start at 9am.
With much longer days for example a 10 hour day you may decide to split some of the time into an evening session so you might decide to start at 10am run to 5pm, then have an hour break before running on from 6pm to 9pm.
If you don't tell us otherwise we assume that the standard Gold day runs from 9:30am to 4:30pm including lunch, but shorter days start at 10:30am and run to 12:30 then giving you an hour for lunch restarting at 1:30pm.
With shorts we have morning, afternoon and evening 3 hour sessions.
Morning 9am to 12 noon
Afternoon 1:30 pm to 4:30pm
Evening 6:30pm to 9:30pm
Times may be able to be adjusted slightly, they are spread to allow for overrun, and resetting the work, getting items out, preparation etc between sessions. You can book a Gold Day that includes 2 shorts of your choice and lunch giving you an extra hour.
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