Photography courses teach technical skills like camera operation, composition, lighting, and post-processing. They cover various cameras, lenses, accessories, and editing software. These courses cater to beginners, enthusiasts, and professionals, offering flexibility and accessibility from home. They also include hands-on practice and feedback sessions.
Pursuing the best photography courses online can provide a structured learning path to understanding complex concepts and techniques. These courses are useful for beginners as well as experienced photographers who want to enhance their skills.
There are various paid and free online photography courses are available on platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Skillshare, etc. These courses empower individuals to master the art of photography at their own pace. Based on the rating, reviews, number of enrolments, and expertise of the instructors, we’ve listed some of the best photography courses online to pursue in 2023.
| Course | Platform | Duration | Rating |
| Photography Masterclass: A Complete Guide to Photography | Udemy | 29 hours | 4.7/5 |
| A Masterclass in Photography: Creative Camera Confidence | Udemy | 8 hours 38 minutes | 4.9/5 |
| Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR | Coursera | 2 months at 10 hours a week | 4.8/5 |
| Photography Lighting: Professionally Light Your Photos | Udemy | 3 hours 11 minutes | 4.8/5 |
| The Practicing Photographer | LinkedIn Learning | 44 hours 50 minutes | 4.8/5 |
| Cameras, Exposure, and Photography | Coursera | 19 hours | 4.8/5 |
| Fundamentals of DSLR Photography | Skillshare | 1 hour 19 minutes | 4.7/5 |
| Digital Photography | edX | 10 weeks at 8 hours a week | – |
| iPhone Photography: How to Take Pro Photos On Your iPhone | Skillshare | 55 minutes | 4.6/5 |
| Introduction to Photography | LinkedIn Learning | 1 hour 52 minutes | 4.8/5 |
Photography Masterclass: A Complete Guide to Photography
This bestseller photography course on Udemy covers essential photography techniques, equipment, and various styles, enabling students to understand different photography styles, such as portrait, landscape, wildlife, aerial and many more. It is suitable for all skill levels, from beginners to amateur photographers seeking to enhance their photography skills. With practical demonstrations and expert instruction, this course helps participants master manual shooting, composition, and editing.
Join Now: Photography Masterclass: A Complete Guide to Photography – Udemy
A Masterclass in Photography: Creative Camera Confidence
This highest-rated online photography course on Udemy is suitable for all levels of photographers from beginner to more advanced who want to brush up their skills. The course will teach you a comprehensive range of photography, including various techniques, how cameras work, manual settings, gear selection, exposure settings, lighting, and much more. The course caters to various photography genres, such as portrait, landscape, action, street, etc. Through a combination of practical exercises and real-world demonstrations, students can master the subject at their own pace.
Join Now: A Masterclass in Photography: Creative Camera Confidence – Udemy
Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR
This photography course is a specialization – 5-course series offered by Michigan State University on Coursera. With more than 1 lakh enrolments till date, it is one of the highly-rated photography courses on the platform. This beginner-level course is designed to develop a deep understanding of key concepts and principles of photography, from camera control to composition principles and creativity. The course will help you master a subject with hands-on projects, quizzes and assessments by industry experts.
Join Now: Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR – Coursera
Photography Lighting: Professionally Light Your Photos
It is one of the highly rated photography courses online on Udemy. This comprehensive course helps you understand the secrets of lighting that professional photographers use to create stunning visuals. Experts in the field design this course to improve your photography with artificial lighting. At the end of the course, you’ll be able to recognise the essential concepts and principles behind flash photography, portrait lighting, strobes and much more.
Join Now: Photography Lighting: Professionally Light Your Photos – Udemy
The Practicing Photographer
It is an ongoing series on LinkedIn Learning where the teacher shares a weekly serving of photographic instruction and inspiration. This highly rated course is suitable for beginners and intermediate-level photographers to learn the latest updates in the digital world. The course focuses on shooting scenarios, types of equipment, and software techniques to capture perfect shots. The course includes a hands-on project to practice your learning and showcase your skills on your portfolio. However, as it’s an ongoing series, the course does not include a certificate of completion.
Join Now: The Practising Photographer – LinkedIn Learning
Cameras, Exposure, and Photography
This photography course is a part of the specialisation series ‘Photography Basics and Beyond’ available on Coursera. This course offered by Michigan State University gives you ideas of the camera capabilities, setting up a digital camera, vantage points, and frame. The course includes quizzes and assessments to evaluate your learning throughout the course. It is one of the popular photography courses which is suitable for beginners to gain insight into the topics and learn the fundamentals of photography.
Join Now: Cameras, Exposure, and Photography – Coursera
Fundamentals of DSLR Photography
It’s a beginner-level course on Skillshare, taught by Justin Bridges, a popular fashion and portrait photographer in New York City. The course will teach you all the fundamentals related to DSLR photography including how to manually balance shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to achieve perfect exposure for your pictures. This online course on photography includes easy-to-follow lessons, tips and tricks along with the hands-on class project to demonstrate your work to fellow learners.
Join Now: Fundamentals of Photography – Skillshare
Digital Photography – University of Cape Town
This online course on digital photography comes under the executive education provided on the edX platform. The University of Cape Town offers the course to teach you the features and functionalities of digital SLR cameras, the use of composition, lighting, editing, etc., to capture high-quality images. The content in the course develops digital photography skills applicable to marketing, journalism, and other business contexts. This instructor-paced course is suited for aspiring or self-taught photographers who want to build a practical skill set.
Join Now: Digital Photography – edX
iPhone Photography: How to Take Pro Photos on your iPhone
This course is the most-liked online photography course on Skillshare. If you’re a beginner with no experience and want to become a skilled photographer without investing in expensive cameras, then this is the perfect course for you. The lessons in the course include optimization of camera settings, compositions, lighting, and editing with hands-on projects. Taught by an expert in the field, this online photography class will help you learn everything you need to be a professional digital photographer with an iPhone or similar smartphone. The lessons include the
Join Now: iPhone Photography: How to Take Pro Photos On Your iPhone – Skillshare
Introduction to Photography
It is one of the most popular photography courses on LinkedIn Learning. The course is taught by an experienced photographer, writer and educator Ben Long. The course curriculum gives a good understanding of digital, mirrorless, and DSLRs. You’ll also learn about lenses, mount options, exposure theory, portrait photography, and more. If you’re a beginner who wants to know about the cameras in depth, this course will best fit you.
Join Now: Introduction to Photography – LinkedIn Learning
