One of the biggest challenges about being a photographer in Korea is skill development. There are a ton of great photographers and clubs here but the language barrier is often a challenge. However there are a ton of great resources in Korea and on the web to help you develop your skill to its highest Potential.

1. Seoul Photography Club

The Seoul Photography Club (SPC) is one of the best resources for expanding your skill and they keep you busy with their monthly challenges. Winners will be posted in Groove Magazine! With the exposure thing aside, I find that the constructive comments of this group extremely helpful even though I am usually too shy to post my stuff on there. The group is friendly and extremely helpful.

2. Michael Hurt’s Photography Classes

This add popped up on my facebook a while ago and then I saw a posting on Marmot’s Hole and it looks very interesting. If you are one of the classroom types that needs a studio and people there to help you along the way then this is the class for you. The Fees are reasonable and the teach is an amazing photographer. The beginner’s class is around 200,000 won for a four-week class! That is pretty good as far as structured photo courses go.

3. Kelby Training

This is a resource that I have been using for some time now. If you have a steady and fast internet connection like we all do in Korea, then you can receive video classes for almost any topic imaginable. The best part is that the courses have all the materials used in the class, included as a download. So basically if you are taking a classes on photoshop black and white conversion and you want to see if you get the same results, usually they have all the materials there.  The Annual subscription is about $199 or a monthly fee of $24.95 but you can also try it for free, HERE

4. Trey Ratcliff’s Photography Webinar

I just caught wind of this recently and I think that it is a great idea and I am strongly considering signing up.  This is an HDR-centric course that meets about 9 times over a three week period. There are thousands of prizes including some awesome software packages and tons of other stuff (including animoto pro packages!) The course costs about $197 and the first class is Sunday May 8th 6 pm pacific time (about 10 am Monday Korean time… I think). If you work during that time, you can download the lessons later and still be eligible for the prizes too.

5. Flash Light Photography Expeditions

I talked about these guys before and I really think that they are on to something here. If you want to learn in the field and do in exotic locations, then this is for you. Flash Parker and Dylan Goldby will take you to some amazing locations and give you the best instruction, tips, tricks, and advice from their years of photographic genius. Both of these guys are extremely accomplished photographers and have tons of experience in getting the shots that you and I only dream of.