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BCG Stats

• Combined, these courses have accrued over 703K enrollments and 3.9M YouTube views
• 2 courses are free and 4 courses are paid
• The Photography subject is followed by over 22K learners on Class Central.

Best Overall: THE Photography Masterclass (Chris Parker)

Taught by Chris Parker, a professional photographer with over 30 years of experience, THE Photography Masterclass is a comprehensive learning journey for beginners. This course walks you through the 4 key components of photography: equipment, light, composition, and editing. Once you’ve mastered these basics, you’ll see your photos improve drastically.

What you’ll learn:

• How to use exposure to get the perfect lighting using ISO, aperture, & shutter speed
• The creative process for choosing specific camera settings in manual mode
• Take better photos using composition
• The basics of photo editing in Photoshop, Lightroom, and GIMP.

Bonus: Don’t forget to check out Chris Parker’s four-hours long free course on YouTube covering the fundamentals of photography: camera settings and modes, lenses, light, composition, and editing.

Best Phone & DSLR Photography Course (Udemy)

Whether you use a smartphone, mirrorless, or a DSLR, after taking Photography Masterclass: A Complete Guide to Photography, you’ll be able to take amazing photos and also sell them. Even if you have no experience, you’ll still be able to create images that stand out. Taught by three photography experts, this course is Udemy’s bestseller in this category.

What you’ll learn:

• How the camera truly works
• Take better photos in manual settings
• Photograph in different scenarios: family portraits, landscapes, aerial, product, wildlife, and more
• Compose images with basic rules
• Light your subjects with flash and natural light
• Edit your photos like a pro
• Take better photos with your smartphone.

Best Wedding Photography Course (John Branch)

Wedding Photography Behind the Scenes is a free course offered by John Branch IV Photography on YouTube. Get ready for a journey as John Branch takes you through a real wedding and how he photographs it professionally. Through his lenses, you’ll experience every moment of the wedding, from the beginning of the day through each and every event, and see how you too can take professional wedding photos.

In this course, you will learn how to:

• Use your gear and capture different moments.
• Photograph the entire wedding day, from beginning to end
• Deliver your images to your clients.

Best Course on Lenses (Envato Tuts+)

Are you a photographer who wants to learn more about lenses? If so, then you’re at the right place. You’ll explore all kinds of lenses, their pros and cons, where to use them, and watch them in action as Dave Bode takes photos with each one in this free course: What Every Photographer Should Know About Lenses.

In this course, you’ll learn about:

• Basics: Focal length and field-of-view, aperture, lens quality, stabilization, coatings, and focusing motors
• Lenses: Standard zoom, wide angle zoom, medium telephoto zoom, telephoto, super zoom, prime, fish eye, and macro lenses
• Choosing the right lens for different types of photography: Portrait photography, composition, and macro photography.

Bode is a video and audio production expert in NY. He works as a camera operator, editor, inventor, motion graphics designer, recording engineer, and studio musician. In early 2011, he started his business to provide free resources so people could create great photos and videos.

Best Course on Creative Photography (CreativeLive)

Taught by seasoned photographer John Greengo, Fundamentals of Photography course will help you master the technical aspects of the camera and understand the kind of equipment you need. In this course, you’ll learn something more than just taking photos – to think about your ultimate goals and identify areas for growth.

What you’ll learn:

• Camera types, lens, shutter, settings, and more
• Exposure, ISO, and zoom
• Advanced techniques and accessories
• Editing your images
• Composition, background, and scale
• Elements of design, texture, and negative space
• The photographic process
• And what makes a great photograph

Greengo is an award-winning photographer specializing in outdoor and travel photography.

He leads photographic adventures with group tours, and they have been to Bhutan, Cuba, Turkey, Jordan, Morocco and East African Safari!

Best Short DSLR Photography Course (Skillshare)

I kept these two photography courses by Justin Bridges together because they are short and go hand in hand. Taking them will help you understand the whole picture of DSLR photography.

Fundamentals of DSLR Photography: Understand your DSLR, balance the exposure triangle, prepare to shoot, get studio demonstration, learn about shutter speed, aperture, ISO, get editing tips and tricks, and take suggestions on buying cameras and lenses.

DSLR Photography II: Understanding Lenses, Focal Length & Shooting: Explore lens anatomy, understand focal length and field of view, learn about portrait photography, object photography, street photography, landscape photography, get editing tips and tricks, and take tips for buying lenses.

Bridges is a fashion and portrait photographer based in New York City. He began his pursuit of photography as a college student studying finance and economics.

Best YouTube Tutorials

Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace (Adorama)

In this extensive series, professional photographer Mark Wallace will show you the best tips and tricks for shooting portrait photography, editing your photos, and fun tutorials to improve your creativity and technique, so you can take your photography skills to the next level.

Photography Tutorials (Tony & Chelsea Northrup)

This series is made for experienced photographers. Even though you’ll also learn the basics, you’ll quickly move into more advanced topics, learning about different kinds of photography, getting pro tips, and even hearing from professionals such as Ira Block from National Geographic.

Master Your Craft (Adorama)

This series is for photographers not only looking to improve their photography skills, but also willing to go deep to learn about posing and even use editing software like Adobe Lightroom to make their photos the best.

Wedding Photography Tutorials (Adorama)

If wedding photography is your thing, then you definitely won’t want to miss out on this course. Featuring multiple instructors, including professional photographers and industry experts, you’ll learn everything you need to know to take better wedding photos.

Why You Should Trust Us

Class Central, a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 80 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 250,000 online courses and 250,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.

Ever since Archisha was a child, her father (a civil engineer) encouraged her to learn photography. She learned from him as he took photos during Durga Puja, vacations, family weddings, and even at home. She’s used several DSLRs and lenses since then.

“I have always been inspired by National Geographic. Their style is raw, stands out from the rest, and every picture tells a story. Someday, I’d love to see them work, if not work with them.” she says.

Besides that, Archisha is a Guided Project Instructor and Beta Tester at Coursera, having tested many courses before they’re officially launched. She has taken over 50 online courses in various subjects. Archisha’s experience as an online learner and teacher has given her some perspective on what to look for in an online course, using her experience to evaluate each course in this list.

Fabio also has experience as an online learner and as a tutor who revised the research and the 2023 version of this article.

Pat is also a keen amateur photographer and online learner who revised the 2024 version of this article.

How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them

Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how we approached this task.

First, we combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid courses.

Second, when choosing courses, we considered the following factors:

• Renowned Institutions: We picked the most recognized institutions in Photography.
• Instructor experience: We looked for instructors with extensive experience in Photography.
• Course content: We looked for courses that covered a wide range of topics, from the basics to more advanced techniques.
• Student reviews: We read student reviews (when available) to get a sense of the quality of each course.

To evaluate each course, We watched some of the course videos and read the course syllabus. We also looked at the course’s rating and reviews on Class Central.

Ultimately, We used a combination of data and our own judgment to make these picks. We’re confident these recommendations will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to start taking photos as a hobby or take your first step into being a professional photographer.