PhotoManhattan

I am beyond happy with the two-part, individualized portraiture class I took with Photo Manhattan in March, 2023. I’m a mid-level photographer when it comes to skill, and not commercial. But I had very specific lighting aesthetic that I wanted to achieve, and knew little about directing a subject. Martina was skilled, attentive, and analytical. I’m really appreciative of her work and of all the staff and have signed up for a formal class in June.

Cancelled class twice at the very last minute, they don’t seem to have replacement teachers. Also they make it quite hard for you to get your money back - if they cancel on you it should be automatic! Not very impressed with professionalism…

What an excellent experience to learn more about my camera. Skye, the fashion photographer of 20 years, knew how to read the class and adapt the materials towards the students. I knew a few simple things, but even the first class has taught me a lot about my camera that I never knew about. I usually use automatic, but when we went deeper in learning about the each item separately and how it affects the settings and when to use the settings, it made me even that more skillful. Why didn't I know this before. I definitely want to take more classes in the future and recommend for you to take these, especially if you have never taking a digital camera class before. Although the description mentioned about not having to know your camera, you should at least know a few things like the location of ISO, aperture, shutter-speed, exposure, in order to optimize your monies for the class.

The instructor was knowledgeable about photography and cameras and taught the class in a coherent manner. I liked the analogies that he used and I found the class to be informative, even though I knew a lot of the content. He also took the time to show students some things individually. However, he brushed away questions that the students had that (in my opinion) would help understand the subject matter better. I had a specific question that I later realized had a very simple answer I could have Googled for, that he did not know the answer to. Also, he was not prepared for the class. The handouts had missing pages and the class was bigger than he had expected, rendering not enough space and people coming in later. This should have been taken into account. The classroom was also pretty cold, although that was attributed to the renovation that was going on at the time.

I took a one time DSLR workshop with an instructor named Sky, and it was great! Sky knows exactly what he’s talking about and I’ve learned so many new things in his course! Definitely looking to return!

Worst place. The most unprofessionalism I have encountered. Do NOT go here!!! Not worth the money or the time. Even though the ladies on the phone were always nice and had a welcoming tone, they never followed up like they said they would. After signing up they said that everyone except me dropped out of the course when in reality PhotoManhattan canceled it. I got referred to 3 private lessons with Skye who did not teach me anything and only put me down while praising himself. Made fun of my photography skills and pictures, made me feel like an awful photographer and he never had a nice word to say. Every time he told me to take some pictures he would always end up taking my camera and taking pictures himself which he later showed me and said "You can see the difference. This is mine, this is you". Said how his photos were "much better". This ended 2 months ago and I still haven't gotten a Letter of Completeion after asking for it multiple times.
Never had such a disappointing experience that left my self esteem so bruised.

Great location for photography classes with great teachers. I have also used their facility to rent a photo studio for a yoga and dance shoot. Definitely the best deal in Manhattan to rent a photo studio.