Yep, sure has. I completed the course four years ago and have never regretted taking it. You get very thorough training in the basics of photography and a lot of practice experience as well. I still use the course material for references from time to time. The only downside (for me) was that the primary emphasis is on photography in the commercial arena (portrait, architecture, journalism, etc.) and little in the landscape or fine art area, which was my primary interest. Even so, learning the basics was invaluable in that pursuit. I understand NYIP has recently updated the course to include more digital photography, and that the older audio/video tapes have been replaced with CDs and DVDs.

Look at it this way: NYIP has been around since about 1910. They must be doing something right......

I have taken three courses from NYIP, in this order: Professional Photography (film based), Advanced Scenic and Nature, and Digital Photography, the Complete Course.

I felt each was very worthwhile. The Digital Course needed some up-dating at the time that I took it. The issue was the equipment portion of the course which was at the very beginning. When the equipment changes as rapidly as it does with digital, it is easy for the course to be out-dated as to this aspect. The largest portion of the course covered Photoshop, version 6 or 7 as I recall. Obviously at this point, Adobe is up to Photoshop CS3, which is essentially version 8.3. I use version CS, or 8. However this aspect of the course was entirely useful as the principles covered apply in the newer versions.

I think the price is very reasonable. The instructors which I had were helpful and responsive. At the time I took the Professional Course, the materials were printed in booklets, with tape and video cassettes. The Digital Course changed to CDs. I would have preferred the booklets for the Digital Course and ended up printing out many of the lessons from the CDs. This was a little burdensome, but certainly manageable.

I hope this is helpful.

Dave