The class I am teaching now has a long lull thanks to the weather and President's Day. While we are waiting for the class to commence, here is some information about DVDs and books that show you how to use your camera.Magic Lantern Guides
This is a company that makes books that are essentially an extended version of your camera's owners manual. The link above will take you to the Rebel XTi guide, sold on Amazon.com. You can easily search Amazon for other camera's manuals as well. Usually you can find these guides locally at Murphy's Camera.
Magic Lantern DVD Guides
I did not realize that Magic Lantern made DVD guides as well. A student in my current Beginning Photography class told me that he bought one locally at Circuit City and found it to be helpful. You can also order them through the website linked above.
Murphy's Camera does not carry the Magic Lantern DVDs to my knowledge, but they do carry the QuickPro Camera Guides DVDs. They are not terribly expensive, and I've heard good things about them from customers.
Murphy's also carries some DVDs put out through Nikon's Nikon School. There is one called "Understanding Digital Photography- Release Your SLR's Potential," that sounds pretty good.
Most of these DVDs are about $25-$30, which is not bad considering the usual price for how-to books or DVDs which address computer software or other technology.
There are many ways to learn technology, and I've found that any little bit helps. I've been a photographer for years and learned many of those skills in school, but technology changes so often that I find myself constantly scrambling to keep up with it. I've got photography down, but I've been trying to learn more about graphic design and website design for the past several years. Typically, I have at least three books strewn around the house which attempt to teach me about all of these things. I have a DVD tutorial which covers the new Adobe Creative Suite 3 sitting in my inbox. I might get around to watching it someday. Meanwhile, there are tons and tons of tutorials and websites which offer tips on using Photoshop and other computer software that I check out on a semi-regular basis.
I've found that I learn best when I take a class or have someone teach me one on one, but having books and DVDs help too. It's all too easy to forget how to do certain things when you are several weeks, months or years away from a class you took, or if you've been too busy to practice.
So, while I hope the classes I teach are helpful to my students, I encourage you to keep studying outside of the classroom. Some people find books helpful, others might find DVDs helpful. The best way to learn photography is to keep shooting. Take what you learn in class and in books or on the internet or by DVD and use it when you use your camera. There's no such thing as a bad photo if it helps you learn how to use your camera along the way.
