As they are so well-advertised, it’s natural that people wanting to move into instructional design would be curious about these so-called bootcamps. And, as it often does, curiosity leads to making posts on relevant subreddits, which then leads to opinions being shared in comments. Positive, negative, or neutral. 

So, let’s consolidate these a bit. You may remember we had a similar post a few months back. Same rules apply here. Let's discuss the bootcamps here in full candor, and then never speak of it again outside this thread.

Share your advice, thoughts, etc. on the bootcamps marketed towards people looking to get into Instructional Design. This thread will then be added to the FAQ section.

This post is brought to you by the literal thousands of outlandish reports on any post even mentioning ‘bootcamps’ that we've been subjected to over the course of the past couple of days.

I mentioned before that I'm currently hosting a project where 80+ photographers across 20+ countries are sharing Flashback cameras (i.e., shooting with it for a week, then mailing it off to the next person). The project is called NomadCam, if you're interested in following along.

None of the participants had used a Flashback before (it was new to me too!) and were keen on seeing comparisons of the different sims, so I did a few quick examples: one street scene with a strong green, one with strong reds, and one portrait.

Figured I'd share it here too, in case anyone else finds it helpful!

These are all sewn from do it yourself kits. The three on the left are from Dunelace and the three on right are from Popsewing (which I learned of from this sub!)

The popsewing bags were more expensive, but noticeably better quality and while the tutorials may take a bit to get used to, I found them to be more informative than the Dunelace.

That said, the Dunelace were significantly less expensive - each were around €40, and they came really quickly. (I’m in the Netherlands and they shipped from France).

But I was disappointed a bit in them. For example, the Bordeaux-colored one came with different thread than in the online photos. It is much brighter and lighter than the bag. I could maybe overlook this, if the strap didn’t come pre-sewn with the correct thread — so they don’t match. The tools the kits came with (scissors, screwdriver) were useless, too. I ended up using the tools I had from my last popsewing kit.

Also this is on me, but I missed that they were PU leather in the listing. I do really like their designs, though, and for the price, it’s at least a fun project.

The popsewing ones are higher quality, but more expensive and they take longer to arrive since they’re coming direct from China. The leather quality is nice for the price and they’re really fun to make. They have dupe designs, which is also a fun way to try out a style while also have a fun project. They do have regular sales.

The fist I ever did was the puzzle dupe, which also happened to be the most involved and difficult 🫠

Both companies have like a membership rewards program. I’ve used the popsewing ones a couple times, and gifted some kits for Christmas last year. I haven’t used the Dunelace rewards since this was my first order from them (just got the kits last week.)

Anyway, all the kits were a ton of fun!

I run a photography educational community called Focal Point and we just launched a new project we're calling NomadCam. It's a shared camera moving the community. Each person keeps it for about a week, takes as many photos as they want, then passes it to the next photographer. The photos get posted to a shared gallery and map on our site. We have over 80 people signed up in 20 countries currently.

For the camera, I decided on the Flashback, and I'm really glad we did! It's perfect for us, considering the community has both enthusiastic beginners and highly skilled long-time photographers.

Got my C100 today and went for a quick walk with it. It’s honestly super fun to use, and I’m pleasantly surprised with the images. I haven’t tried it out as a light meter yet, but that’ll be the next experiment.

The Rodeo is a dream bag for me, but yadda yadda price etc. So I was looking for a good dupe when I saw Zhade mentioned here in a comment from like a year ago. I bought the 'Texas' small a couple weeks ago and fell in love. It's a bit small for me for everyday use, so obviously the only choice was to get the big version, and it arrived today!

Shall we take a pool on how long it takes me to cave and buy the medium size?

Hey there r/photography! I'm once again informing you about a new round of the Photoclass (r/photoclass). The July cohort kicks off July 1st, and I wanted to get this up early so people have time to prepare and ask questions before the start date.

#We're hosting a kick-off meeting on Discord this coming Saturday. Here's the event link (time shows in your time zone.).

What is Photoclass?

It's a free, cohort-based photography course run through my personal side-project, Focal Point. The course runs across 10 units, covering the technical fundamentals, compositional and creative approaches, genre-specific work, and a long-term personal project that you develop. It's all about learning to be intentional with your choices while out making photos.

The format

The course runs 10 units, which are released on alternating weeks. We have a team of mentors to help you along the way, giving constructive feedback on your assignment work, and voice chats happen on Discord for live discussion. The course is built to build on itself each unit, while giving you enough time to practice without getting burnt out.

Hold off on starting now

We're currently in the last unit of the first cohort, so when you get to the site, you'll find all the units are open. If you're tempted to jump in before July 1st, I'd suggest waiting. The course is being updated for the new cohort and some things are still in flux. Starting on July 1st means you'll have the full updated version from the beginning. The course is also resetting June 30th, so if you get a few units in, you'll find those locked back up. So, please wait and join us on July 1st.

Get ready in the meantime

Join the Focal Point Discord. It's where assignments get shared, feedback sessions happen, and most of the day-to-day conversation takes place. We have around 7,000 members currently, photographers at every level, and there's always someone around. Getting familiar with the community before the course starts is a great way to start off on the right foot.

If you want to warm up in the meantime, here are a few blog posts and exercises worth working through:

• Basic Color Theory
• Compositional Guidelines
• Photography Exercises for When You're Feeling Uninspired
• Ethics in Street Photography

More questions?

The Course FAQ covers what the course includes, what gear you need (whatever you have), how assignments work, and what to expect from the final project. If something isn't answered there, drop a comment here or ask in the Discord.

Looking forward to seeing all your great work!

r/photography is looking for new moderators. Frankly vibecoders and AI training bots are the current bane of our existence, and ironically our automods aren't keeping pace.

Do you want to help keep this legacy sub alive at least a little longer in this current dead internet we find ourselves in? Come join our mod team!

Our two biggest problems right now are AI-generated 'hot takes' and vibecoders who have decided that a community of photographers is a captive audience for whatever app they Claude-coded into existence over the weekend. It's honestly wild how many of these both blatently and covertly end up in the mod queue daily.

We're looking for people who:

• Are actually active in the community (posting, commenting, existing as a human being)
• Are able to make a fair judgment call without escalating everything to the whole team
• Assume positive intent, but are savvy enough to discern when someone is just trying to be self-serving

We currently use Discord as our main communication tool, so we'd ask that you join us there.

Sound like something you're up for? The application should take no more than 5 minutes.

Application link: https://forms.gle/4rD57JCFQWBafuEp9

Have specific questions? You can drop them here in the comments, or send us a mod mail.