Showcase School of Photography

STUNNING photos, 20 years later! I am digging thru boxes and uncovering treasure! Showcase was my "go to" for processing film. I was a novice, but all the photos look professional!

On this random day in 2019, I discovered Showcase went out of biz, which breaks my heart. (Although not surprised) Everyone there was so professional, so helpful! Simply AWESOME!

I now live in LA, walking down memory lane. My cherished photos are still in immaculate condition! Vibrant colors, authentic skin tones. The comparison to other places is night and day. I hope the photography school is thriving! Much love!!!

Now that I'm officially done with Photo 1 - I can write my review!

Parking - They have a small lot near the entrance. They also said there's parking above the building. I'd advise you to arrive 15 mins early before class if you want to park closer. Just makes your life easier.

Note: if you come to class late, do not worry.... The teacher will help you catch up.

Space - I think my class size was 12. Honestly, after the 1st class, the size dwindled. The class I took, Photo 1, was only once a week on Thursdays for 4 weeks. Just go to all the classes! I honestly learned a new thing each time I went.

Here's my personal thought: I need a human being to teach me new stuff for my camera. If you're someone who can read, Youtube, Internet all your questions and feel like you get good answers, you don't need this class.

BUT if you're like me - after googling, you tubing, looking for cheat sheets - still can't get the hang of your camera, sign up for Photo 1. I am NOT a professional; I only use my camera for a hobby. Best 155 bucks spent. Why? I have a few things lined up the next 6 months for my friends/family and I knew I had to be ready! I'm thankful I came to class because the pictures I took of my new nephew came out so much better than I expected.

.... I also feel confident enough to take cool pictures now. :D

My teacher was Amanda Gardner. Super nice lady and very personable. Not sure if other teachers give small HW assignments.... Amanda gave out some cool ones. You should do the HW. They're easy and fun to do. She will go over them in class and help you LEARN what is good/what needs improvement. I'm pretty sure I asked her 345040854 questions on what I could do better. Patient lady.

The school will email you all the Power Points the teacher uses too.

One thing the school should do: send out class start date reminders maybe weekly and then the day before. I put my classes on my calendar the day I signed up so I wouldn't forget. I waited for a slight reminder from them... nothing. So yeah, if you sign up, MAKE SURE to put the days in your calendar to remind your future self!

I got an awesome digital SLR camera for Christmas. And because I was intimidated and unknowledgeable, this beast of a camera had only ever been used in "automatic." I was essentially giving it no more power and exercising no more artistic license than with the cameraphone on my blackberry. I knew this had to change.

So, I signed up for the one day Digital 101 class. Running from 10am-4pm with a one hour lunch break, it provided a great run down of my camera and its capabilities. Our instructor, Lynette, was very relatable and did a good job teaching the class to the variety of levels of expertise that were present. Perhaps the most entertaining part of the class was the middle-aged Buckhead Betty next to me muttering "I don't f***ing get it. What the f****. I'm the Special Ed student" as she fiddled with the various dials on her expensive piece of photographic equipment.

For over a hundred dollars for five hours of instruction, I didn't think it was a bad value, but there are a couple of things I think Showcase could improve upon to make this class even more valuable.

-List in the class description online *specifically* what will be covered. Other than this was an "intro" class, there were no real specifics about what would be covered, and I realized about an hour in that I probably could have taken the Digital 102 and been just a little behind.

-Revamp the instructional booklet. Only about half of the information in this book was useful, and it was only about a dozen pages. For a five hour class, I expect to walk away with a little more.

-Actually let the class shoot some pictures! In five hours of instruction, I took zero pictures. I know that this is a beginner class, but I felt like we could at least have gone out to the parking lot to practice our ISO, white balance, etc.

-Cut down on the upsell. I would have loved to see a list of all the upcoming classes, but mentioning the other classes half a dozen times was a bit much. Teach me something *now,* don't tell me that I need to take another class.

-Git rid of the receptionist. She was downright condescending to one of the elderly patrons that "checked in" in front of me, and really gave a very bad first impression of Showcase.

This review may sound a little bit harsh, but let me end by saying that overall it was a good class. And, now that I've gotten 101 out of the way, I do plan to take additional classes with Showcase.

So I'm 5/6th done with Digital 101 at Showcase, which I think makes me qualified enough to write a decent review. Decent probably being the operative descriptor of my Showcase experience.

I wanted SO badly (and still do!) to be in love with this place and I'm just not. Here are a couple of opinions, in no particular order:
- The school is tiny, but in a great location to my house. The convenience is top notch.
- The cost is very reasonable, $160 for a 6 week class.
- The staff is pretty friendly and went out of their way to help me when I had a technical question.

So about the class I took. As I mentioned, it was Digital 101. I was concerned right off the bat that this would be too basic for my baseline knowledge, as I had already done a lot of independent DSLR fact-finding and practicing prior to the class. But I also didn't want to be the idiot girl in 102 that skipped the basics. So there I was, my first day, patiently listening to questions on how to remove a memory card, how to change the settings on your camera, you name it. It was frustrating to say the least. But I had made my bed, and I was gonna like it, by golly.

So 5 weeks later-- I can probably say that I've learned something. Something... not sure what that is. Nothing probably that I couldn't have learned for free on the interweb. I will say though, I did sign up for 102 on the first day of registration... so I will be updating this review in the fall to let y'all know how that went.

A couple of vents:
- The teacher was really self-deprecating, to the point I think where it wasted time and lessened our confidence of his ability to teach. "This isn't interesting, you probably don't care.." Umm...? I paid you $160?
- There was one obnoxious guy in the class that kept bragging about all his lenses, and how he had "read the manual," and how he knew everything already. That's fine, I did too, but I expressed it in writing grocery lists during class. Just a PSA to people with that tendency: shut your trap. Thanks.

The end!

I recently bought an expensive camera from B&H photo in New York; however, I had no idea how to use the thing other than in the basic / automatic mode (which is kind of a waste if you want to utilize the full range / power of a nice new camera).

I looked online at my options for different schools of instruction for photography and decided on Showcase (because I prefer hands on learning [as apposed to online learning] for this type of technical / artistic training).

I explored the option of taking a beginners DSLR class at Showcase (PHOTO 1). The price was right ($155) and was composed of four 2-hour class sessions plus a class field trip. The classes are held one day each week for four weeks. Classes are just under 2 hours long. Class options included mornings, evenings (after work), or Saturdays. Another plus is that the location is close to where I live (near cheshire bridge rd and I-85)

I liked the fact that there was a Saturday class option (taught by Nicole Tyler, who turned out to be a great class instructor). The field trip for the PHOTO 1 class was to Oakland Cemetery; there you basically use your knowledge gained from the 4 class sessions (and some light homework assignments) to take photos.

I learned a lot and I plan on taking PHOTO 2.

If you have a bad ass camera and don't know how to work it then this needs to be your new joint. They offer loads of classes for amateurs and just one class will improve your photography skill set. Like Deanna said, there are loads of classes and times for 101/102 however the more particular classes like composition hav eless times and more competition to get in. The teachers are nice, but look at your persons work before you sign up. I think it's important to be critiqued and taught by someone who shoots your same subjects. But hey, maybe that's just me.

The one thing I would like them to do is be a bit harsher when critiquing. When i took my class I kept telling the dude teaching that I want him to tell me everything don't just give me a kiss off semisweet critique. I like to learn from my mistakes, not have a nose shoved up you know where.

Work the camera, baby! Work the camera!

After throwing down big bucks at Showcase proper, I did the same at the Showcase School, too. If you're going to make an investment like that, its a good idea to know how to work the thing. I took the 101 class for DSLR users, since I didn't know an F-stop from a MARTA stop - and if I'm going to carry the couple extra pounds of a camera on an upcoming vacation, I don't want to have to learn on the fly.

They offer a TON of time and date options for their basic 101 and 102 classes, so something will fit in your schedule. . .during the day or later at night too (I loved being able to take a class starting at 8:15 PM!) Pricewise, also decent - the class I took was $150 for six sessions.

The classes are small - mine was limited to twelve, so its a fun atmosphere. Everyone's projects oftentimes revolved around photos of babies or dogs (um, definitely not mine, though!) so you get to know everyone, too. They are taught by a variety of teachers, so you can ever check out their bio/work to see their personality before taking the class.

For you more photo-advanced folks out there, they have classes for you too, and also photoshop and computer related ones too!

Happy snapping!

I took a Photo 1 class at Showcase a few months ago. I had purchased a Canon DSLR about a year ago, and had played around but really didn't know much about a lot of the functions. I'm so glad I took this class! I had Shannon as an instructor, and she did a great job of explaining the basics of photography without getting into much about the art of it. Each week, we were given a simple assignment to do and go over as a class the following week, I loved her assignments, because they were fun without being time consuming, and really brought everything together that we learned in the class. The price for a 4 2-hour classes plus a weekend field trip was very fair too (about $150) and they are offered pretty frequently. I unfortunately had to miss out on the field trip because I had previously made plans before I knew about that part. I can't wait to sign up for my next class!

I love the Showcase School...I took the Photoshop, Lightroom as well as a few other more advanced classes there and LOVED it. This is the best option for adult education photography classes!

I just finished take the digital 101 class and loved it!! I have signed up for 102 and I will be taking more. I have learned so much in 6 weeks. Everyone is so helpful and you will learn so much !