Great Online Training Resources

So I've been busy taking a bunch of courses at Metro and NAIT but I thought for today's post I would suggest a couple of good sites you can go to take courses online.

www.lynda.com is a great place to take a variety of training on over 351 topics. The following courses are of particular note to those interested in photography and online publishing: Photoshop, Lightroom, Bridge, iPhoto, Picasa, Aperture, Flash, Fireworks, and Dreamweaver. For only $25/month or $250/year you can take as many courses as you want. For a sample of one of their courses, check out this introduction to setting preferences in Bridge: http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=334

Web 2.0 celebrity lifecaster iJustine introduced me to another great company called Xtrain which offers several different learning tracks in Graphic Design, Digital Arts, Online Marketing, Web Design, and Digital Photography. Their model is similar to Lynda.com where you pay a monthly fee to access all the training. Check out their digital photography program at http://training.xtrain.com/program/show/7-digital-photography

Happy learning!

Tips from the Top Floor Podcast

There are many great Podcasts out there devoted to Photography and Photoshop but one of my favourites is Tips from the Top Floor. This regularly updated Podcast alternates between a video and audio format. Each episode runs from between 5 - 20 minutes and contains some great tips covering a variety of topics such as working with your DSLR camera, image composition, and image processing. The episodes are delivered in an easy to understand format without being too techie or too simplistic. From time to time, the show will also have assignments that listeners can participate in by submitting their photos.

I discovered this Podcast while listening to one of Leo Laporte's weekly Podcasts on the TWIT network. The host, Chris Marquart is from Germany and shows up on the Tech Guy Podcast as a regular guest with a segment on Photography.

I've picked up some great tips from this Podcast and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in photography - whether you are a seasoned pro or just starting out.