Hi, I've taken the plunge and bought the Fuji s602 pro. I bought this since I got an excellent deal on the price. It was a battle between the s602 pro or the dimage 7 hi, the 7 hi was outside of my budget and the deal I got on the s602 pro was too good to miss. I still have my fuji 2800 zoom which I find to be an excellent point and shoot camera. I now see that I have a big learning curve ahead of me, no longer just point and click and hope for the best. I was wondering, do any of you know of any courses in digital photography? I am looking to study self paced to start with but I want to start towards getting certified (my wife thinks I should have been certified some time ag, but thats a different matter). I have done a quick search around the net and have found some free tutorials which I am working through, I have found some that require a fee but you only get a certificate of attendance. My long term plan is to be selling my photo's and photographic skills (when I get them) I do a lot of traditional and computer based artwork which I also want to continue selling. I am based in the UK, my wife works in the evenings so I am looking after our daughter. This means that I am unable to go to traditional classes but I am very open to E-learning or distance learning provided I can get a recognised certificate. Any help appreciated, once I have some images worth while I will post.

Welcome to the Forum, and congrats on the new camera. I personally have no information about this; but I know there are several professionals here that should be able to give you good advice. This type of question comes up quite a lot, so it would be good to have an in-depth discussion. My guess is that "digital" photography certification would emphasize process flow, (Photoshop, color-spaces, printing...), more than the traditional wet darkroom. Camera techniques seem similar.

I am looking more at the camera side of things, I use Photoshop a lot and I teach it as part of my job. What I have found straight away is that with this type of camera, it is about taking your time to get an image rather than point and shoot. As I mentioned there are courses out there but I would rather pay for something that is recognised in the photography industry and not just a piece of paper that says I have completed the course. I was considering doing a traditional photography course but was not sure of what they wanted you to do for the darkroom side of things. I'll probably drop into a few colleges etc.. and talk it through with them, I don't mind learning the theory of the darkroom but I would rather do the practical on my computer.

I've just got a more advanced Digital Camera than the old point and shoot one I was using. Years ago I used to use an SLR, but it was so long ago I'd forgotten most of what I learnt. So I when to the local bookshop and they had a huge range of books specifically for the Digital Photographer along side the traditional analog variety. You could start by simply grabbing some good reading material. Maybe someone can recommend us a good book eh?

Well, in my humble opinion, you are in the best place to learn right now. The work I have seen on this forum compares to or beats any I have seen anywhere, ever. These people are smart, talented and friendly. You get no certificate but some of the best one-on-one instruction available. OK crew, I will pass out my paypal ID for those checks you promised.;-)

Good choice on the 602, sabretalon! IMHO I agree with Wivelrod - read as much about the techniques as poss - get a good library of books together. I too tried to look for distance-learning as I work shifts, but there's nothing that specifically covers digital (not in the UK anyway). A lot of my traditional photography experience has ported across to digital quite easily, (most of the techniques are the same), but I still personally think there are a lot of myths surrounding digital capture. The best advice I can offer is to practice, practice and practice some more. Make loadsa notes and find out what works and does'nt. Not great advice I know, but try. I use both mediums, I find some advantages in one over the other, depending what I'm shooting. Hope this helps Regards Dave (PS - what is it about wives and certification?)