Searching for a Photography Class

Have you ever taken a picture and wonder what it was of?  Or thought "Ooo I almost had it!"  I did that  often.  Then again I was using my cell phone to take all my pictures.  It was the closest thing to my hand anytime I saw Izzy doing something cute.  The pictures would come out blurry, too dark, too bright, washed out in some areas or I'd catch a body part and not her.  Don't get me wrong the cell phones these days have pretty good cameras.  My Droid X boasts of a 8 MP camera.  Now all together "oooooo".  That's great and all but I wanted to take good pictures.  I don't expect to be professional level but I just wanted to look back at her childhood and have moments, real moments captured that would bring me back to when it happened.

Cameras are expensive.  Pretty decent beginner cameras are a couple hundred and as a SAHM there was no way I wanted to ask the hubby for something that expensive when:

1. I don't know how to use it
2. Our money is supposed to go for Izzy's stuff
3. SAHM - self explanatory

 The photography gods must have been listening in because my BIL gifted us his camera when he upgraded to a newer one.  Sweeeeettt! It's a pretty nice camera, Canon EOS 350D.

In a previous post I mentioned that I wanted to learn more about photography. I searched the internet for classes that were within a reasonable price range.  I found one through Meetup called the San Diego Photography Classes.  The website was really easy to navigate.  On that site there is information about the instructors, group reviews, calendar of classes, and other media sites you can find more information.  There are two locations in East County Downtown and in Oceanside.  I went to the East County office which was right off the 8 freeway and 70th Street.

Pros - Easy to find a class, not expensive, close to me, pay through Pay Pal, and email notifications for upcoming classes.
Cons - It can be hard to get into the introductory classes and the wait list does not have a numbered list so someone that signs up after you can get an open spot if they respond quicker than you do.

I'll explain more about the classes I took in the following post but if you're interested then check out the site.