Frequently Asked Questions

School of photography.com have been online since December 1999 and are registered in the Republic of Ireland. We currently offer 7 full photography courses at two levels. Level 1 are beginner courses, level 2 are more advanced. Each course is broken in defined modules with tests or projects after each module, each module contains lessons of varying length. It is recommended to start with level 1 courses if you have gaps in your photography knowledge or are starting out.

We currently have photography students from the Antartic to Alaska and on every continent on the planet. We use the latest specialisted techniques available for teaching online. All our tutors are experienced photographers and have knowledge or specialise in the areas that they are tutoring in. You can see more information on our tutors on their gallery pages.

You are welcome to browse the website, enjoy the free night photography lesson or tips, for a more complete approach to learning we advise taking one of our many courses and gaining the help of your own tutor.

Here are a number of questions we often get asked by prospective students of School of Photography.com. If your question is not here or on the tour pages, please drop us an email or letter for a reply.

How does the on-line method differ from just getting a book and reading about the topics?

There are plenty of wonderful books on how to take pictures, We even sell them via Amazon.com, the question you should ask is "what happens if you do not understand or follow what is in the book?"
Who do you contact, the publisher, the author, someone else?

We assign you a personal tutor who is an experienced photographer. Your tutor is available to answer ANY photographic question you may have in relation to your course. This service is free and included with every one of our courses.
Take advantage of it and pick your tutors brain as often as you wish.

There are also set theory tests with multiple choice answers, and practical projects for you to complete. So you are encouraged to go out and try the techniques for yourself and send them it for critique. See our testimonials pages to see what existing and past students say about us. Take a look at our student gallery and you can see what can be achieved with us, soon your own work could be displayed there!

 

When do the courses start, can I start anytime?

 

The courses can be started at any time of the year.

 

What are the length of the courses?

All our courses are run at the students own pace, as an average timespan the Basic Photography course takes normally takes between 4 to 12 months to complete. Some students take longer, it depends on how much free time you have to study then go out and practise the material. You can take up to two years to complete your course.

 

How much are the course fees?

Course fees are charged in a number of currencies including US$, GB£ and Euros. If you use a different currency your credit card company will convert this into your local currency. Fees in other currencies are shown for guidance only and are subject to currency changes. From 2003, EU zone countries should be aware of Irish rate VAT which must be added to the fees shown.

Because the courses are supplied in full immediately, we cannot accept part payments.

 

How do I pay my Fee?

Fees may be paid online by PayPal, secure credit card or mailed by Bank Draft in UDS$, GBP£, EuroDraft or Irish Euro Cheques only.

 

What happens if I change my mind?

No problem at all, all our courses have a two day inspection period. If you change your mind simply notify us within 48 hours and we will arrange a refund of your course fee in full immediately without question.

Note: If you submit any of the projects within the inspection period, theory or practical, it is understood and agreed that you are satified with the course content and no refunds will be available. Terms and conditions apply

 

How do I register by Mail?

Mail Registration is very simple:

Select the mail option on the fees pages, then just print out the registration form in your name and address making sure your email address is correct.
Select your course and make a note of the fee, remember if you are in the Euro zone, you must add irish rate VAT to the fee.

Credit card Payment (online only):

Go to our fees and discounts page, if you are using PayPal, select the appropriate course by adding the course to the shopping cart.
A secure page confirming your choice of course will appear, at this point you may continue to add courses or click on proceed to checkout.
Enter your credit card details and press submit.
Then fill in the registration form (not forgetting the clickbank reference number), press submit.

Our applications dept will contact you usually within 24hrs with your username and password and course details.

Please ensure you enter your email address correctly, if it is wrong or not working we cannot contact you!

HOTMAIL USERS: We have experienced difficulties with some Hotmail email accounts and would recommend using one of the other free emails accounts (yahoo, aol or lycos) for example instead.

 

What do I need to start the basic course?

You will need a camera, either digital or film, that you can manually adjust. You do NOT need 'state-of-the-art' expensive cameras. A second hand manual camera will do just fine for learning on and can be obtained quite reasonably. On some auto-everything cameras there is often a 'creative' mode button, which usually means you take control. Perfect!

For the black and white course you will need extra equipment (Enlarger, developing tanks etc) which is outlined in the course should you wish to develop and print at home.

For the digital course you will need a computer.

You need only spare time to study and practise.

 

Are there books to accompany the on-line information?

Because we supply all the material online, you do not need to purchase or obtain any further reading material. As a student you may save each lesson on your local hard drive for study offline or print the course out with Adobe pdf files where available. Course length varies, Basic Photography for example, is approximately 190 A4 pages long.

 

How do you evaluate my progression?

During the course you are given theoretical tests (multiple choice answers) and practical assignments.

1 - The theory tests are open book. Study the material, go back online tick the boxes, fill in your name, student ID and email address and click submit!.

2 - The practical projects carry more weighting. You put into practise the material and do the assignments.

Your submissions are then examined, comments and suggestions on the submissions are returned to you, together with your results.
For example Basic Photography is taken in 5 modules, each with it's relative theory and or practical projects. Each theory and practical are graded, upon completion of the course an overall grade is awarded (Pass, Merit or Distinction) and a certificate issued. This is sent via mail to the student for framing.

 

How do I send in my tests and projects?

The theory assignments are done online with multiple choice answers, put a dot with your mouse opposite your choice of answer. All questions must be attempted. If you print the questions out before attempting the online test, copying your answers online shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

 

With practical projects, you can either scan the images and send them via email attachments (.jpg images only following course instruction) or send them via Mail to the address on the submissions page on the site. Images sent via post are not normally returned unless postage is supplied to cover return.

 

Can I earn course credits for my degree?

Sorry, not at present, the school is international in nature, with students from Argentina and Brazil and the US, across the globe via europe, the middle east to Malaysia and China.

As such we do not currently give credits to any particular university or college degree program. This may change in the future however, as more educational bodies link directly to our content, as some already do at present.

 

What qualifications do your tutors have?

All our tutors are all very experienced professional or semi-professional photographers, most of whom hold LIPF or LRPS qualifications, and/or degrees and have taught photography on both group and one-to-one levels.

 

How do I know you are real?

We are registered in the Republic of Ireland since 1999. Our physical address is on the sitemap, registration and fees pages.

School of Photography.com

P.O. Box 314
Tralee
Co Kerry
Ireland.

 

More information

Please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your questions regarding our school or courses.

Thank you.