I looked into NYIP but I have decided against them. The course seems very comprehensive but at the same time very business orientated. Looking at their website they appear to be somewhat of a factory for churning out wedding photographers. No disrespect to wedding photographers but that's not the direction I want to go in and I'm not too bothered about the business side of things at the moment.
Search on the internet, you should find a local photographer who does workshops or short courses. They will at least be 100% photography (with some PP thrown in).
I did one of the workshops run by these guys
Digital Days . Not that great, it's sponsored by Sony, but it covered all the basics and you get to do a model shoot. They also give out prizes over the weekend, I won Photoshop CS2 (this was just before CS3 came out) so it definitely paid off for me. It was fun, I got to meet some people (I even persuaded one guy to but a Pentax over a Nikon). They usually have a couple of retailers their offering promo prices on the day. B&H Photo were at the one I went to (that's how I got the guy to buy the Pentax, I told him to try it and he ordered it on the spot at a discount).
By the way, what camera bag did you end up with in the end?
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