Best Photography Classes In Chicago

Just as everyone with a laptop isn't Hemingway or J.K. Rowling, your iPhone and Instagram filters do not a Stieglitz or Leibovitz make. When you want to graduate from art fair like the cliche close-up of a bee on a flower or the obligatory sunset on the beach, professional guidance on camera mechanics and motivation to see beyond the banal can not only expand the integrity of your images, but even widen the third eye. Take your visual trip via these exemplary photography classes.

Harold Rail
Harper College
1200 W. Algonquin Road
Palatine, IL 60067
(847) 925-6707
goforward.harpercollege.edu/ce/index.php

If you're suspicious of photographers who want you to invest in a trip to Kauai in order to take beautiful landscape shots, you're already more perceptive than most and perhaps you just need to get to Palatine. A photographer in the U.S. Army and graduate of Columbia College, Harold Rail makes a living in photojournalism, commercial, and creative photography, so the man has the chops. A decades long dedication to Zen Buddhist practice informs his images with knowing nano-second captures of infinity - and, honestly, where else can you get the combo of experience and artistry? Rail champions the art of photography teaching affordable classes for children, teenagers, and adults at Harper College. See the eccentricity and enthusiasm that blooms in his photographic work on exhibit at the new Hyatt Centric in Chicago, too.

Richard Stromberg
4001 N. Ravenswood Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
(872) 529-2272
www.chicagophotoclasses.com

Another real deal in a business and art packed with posers, Stromberg's storied career included teaching at Jane Addams Center/Hull House and creating The Chicago Photography Center. Although Stromberg passed away in 2014, the school continues to "not just develop images but develop people through photography."  Under the tutelage of alumni of Stromberg's philosophy and instruction, classes range from "Photo I" all the way to exhibition with photo safari opportunities in between. Every Sunday, there's a free 90-minute orientation workshop on using DSLR cameras that includes info on camera operation and the principles of correct exposure.

Creative Eye Workshops
6200 Belmont Road
Downers Grove, IL 60516
(630) 852-8448
www.chicagonature.com

Internationally published photographer, Mike MacDonald, teaches beginner classes, courses in photo composition and exposure, Photoshop, landscape and nature photography workshops as well as advanced workshops in landscape photography. A nice adjunct is that MacDonald offers learning adventures and photo outings to local and regional spots including night photography in Chicago, nearby prairies in the summer and Starved Rock State Park for fall color. MacDonald says, "My classes are efficient and address what the student needs at that moment. They're challenging and extremely rewarding."

Related: Best Art Classes For Adults In Chicago

Balanced Exposure
1101 Perimeter Drive, Suite 210
Schaumburg, IL 60173
(847) 840-4082
www.balancedexposure.com

Get out of auto mode and into one of Russell Lowe's classes at Balanced Exposure. More than 12,000 students have set an aperture or two in the five years the biz has operated and the range of classes is impressive. Choose among Photo Essentials, DSLR Advanced, Canon Cameras or Nikon Cameras, Exposure, Composition, Wedding Photography, Real Estate Photography, Photoshop and Lightroom, and more. Lowe boasts more than 26 years of professional photography experience and he's a court-qualified expert in Forensic Photography having served as an investigative technician photographing crime scenes for the San Diego District Attorney's Office.

Helix Camera & Video
100 N. Walnut St.
Itasca, IL 60143
(312) 421-6000
www.helixcamera.com

Helix offers a real variety of classes and workshops from the whimsical (Couples Honeymoon Travel Photography class) to the work-oriented like Fashion Photography or Product Photography classes taught by a commercial photographer. That gray bowl of mush you posted as your favorite dinner can be improved by taking a Food Styling and Photography Workshop or dive into How to Get the Most Out of Your DSLR; a Lighting Workshop; or a Fine Art Photography Class taught by nationally known artists.

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Jacky Runice has been a columnist with the Daily Herald Chicago since grunge music and flannel was the new black. Her fingers and gray matter have been busy as travel editor of Reunions Magazine; penning a column that was syndicated around the nation via Tribune Media Services. Her work can be found at Examiner.com..