Best Photography Classes for Taking Stunning Pics

Review & Comparison, Last Update February 4, 2024
If you want to get into photography without dedicating your time to visiting a special school, the online tutorials we have reviewed ...Read more
PROS

The course is created and delivered by the world-class professors who do know what's what in the art of photography. On completing the course, you will get a certificate from Michigan State University and tons of stunning pics you will be proud of.

CONS

It lacks interaction between students and instructors.

OUR VERDICT

If you want to learn the nuts and bolts of photography or and understand how to use all the camera settings properly, the Coursera Photography class is just what you need. The course has deadlines, quizzes, and practice tests for those who don't feel self-motivated. The courses start regularly and can be accessed even after they've been closed.

detailed parameters
Type

Video tutorials

Duration

24 weeks

Skill level

Beginner

Features

Certificate of Specialization, Discounts on equipment, Accessories, Membership benefits through Industry Partners

PROS

This project is one of the most popular blogs about photography. It offers both fee-based extensive courses and free tips\tutorials to help you enhance your knowledge and achieve better results in taking pics. Share them on the school's Facebook page and get comments on your work.

CONS

The courses don't provide online support and consist of video tutorials only.

OUR VERDICT

The Digital Photography School includes a variety of different materials and classes to help you master your camera and use it to the fullest potential. The classes will help you discover the main photography concepts in an easy and engaging way. The course will boost your confidence while working with a camera and help you take amazing photos.

detailed parameters
Type

Video tutorials

Duration

Depends on your own pace

Skill level

Beginner, Intermediate

Features

Free tips and tutorials on the website, 60-day money back guarantee

PROS

StuckInCustoms offers a number of online tutorials that cover fundamentals of camera use, composition, photo quality improvement, and HDR processing. Apart from offering videos, the course enables a student to practice a lot on photo editing using Trey's RAW image files.

CONS

The courses might not be interesting for people stick to classic photography.

OUR VERDICT

If you like HDR photography and wish you knew how to make magnificent photos, these online courses are your choice. They are based on the authors' own discoveries and are meant to explain you everything you need to know about photography. Having accomplished one of the StuckInCustoms courses, you will definitely start creating your own masterpieces.

detailed parameters
Type

Video tutorials

Duration

Depends on your own pace

Skill level

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Features

Different sets RAW images files for practicing, Free trial & tutorial for Aurora HDR (optionally)

PROS

ShawAcademy offers courses for beginners and advanced users so each of you will be able to find the one to suit your skill level. You can find classes on photo taking as well as photo editing. Video recording course is also available.

CONS

Each course lasts at least several months so it won't be suitable for those who want to get immediate results.

OUR VERDICT

Whether you take the first steps in photography or have some photo shooting experience, you have a chance to take your skills to professional level. Step-by-step classes with interactive and practical tasks will help you achieve your goal gradually and effectively. At the end of most courses offered by ShawAcademy, you'll get a diploma.

detailed parameters
Type

Interactive lessons

Duration

Depends on the course you choose

Skill level

Beginner, Advanced

Features

Free trial on the introduction of Photography class, Step-by-step learning approach, Ability to watch recording if you miss online lesson

PROS

This basic photography course is specially designed for busy parents who want to capture the best moments of their children's life. The course consists of 7 short photo tips written in plain English. They will be sent to your e-mail daily throughout a week for free.

CONS

The course provides only basic information.

OUR VERDICT

Sick and tired of those blurry photos you take and regret on the money you've spent on them? The amazing 7-Part Photo Course from Kyle will help you. The course is created to teach you how to capture outstanding photos without watching long video tutorials. 1 week and 1 minute per day are all that you need to learn the photography basics.


detailed parameters
Type

E-mail course

Duration

1 week

Skill level

Beginner

Features

Discounts on fee-based courses

Photography classes Photoshop Classes

Rely on Professionals

Coursera was founded in 2012 by two professors from Stanford University who wanted to share their knowledge with people worldwide and substitute the expensive and time-consuming classroom environment for online courses. Nowadays, Coursera is the most popular project in the field of open education, as the company creates all-around open online courses in cooperation with prestigious schools and institutions like Yale, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, etc. Having signed up for the course, you will be able to watch recorded video lectures delivered by top professors and learn at your own pace, passing challenging assessments and interactive exercises. More importantly, any student who has enrolled in the course will have an opportunity to use a mobile application to keep up with a coursework. After completing the course, every student will receive a sharable Course Certificate. Anyone from beginner to an advanced user can sign up for classes, as generally no experience or background is required, only desire to gain knowledge. The courses are available in several languages and typically take about six weeks.

Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR

Let's speak about the photo class created by Michigan State University. The Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR is rated as the course for beginners and incorporates 4 modules plus Photography Capstone Project. Each module includes video classes, self-instructional materials, practice tests, and Peer Review process. It will take you 24 weeks to accomplish the course as each module lasts for 4 weeks, while 8 weeks are given to complete the Capstone project. The course covers a wide range of basic principles of photography like camera control, fundamentals of composition, lighting and image post-production. You will learn the basic functions and settings of your camera to make the pics you will be proud of. You will find out more about light metering, ISO settings, lens options and how the shutter speeds affect the quality of a pic you take. Also, you will learn principles of using ambient and natural light as well as master the flash unit to create amazing snapshots. As for the Capstone Project, you will get an opportunity to practice all of the techniques you've gained while learning photography principles and develop a project of 10 photographs based on the subject you choose. Learners who complete 4 modules and the Capstone Project will get a certificate of completion authorized by Michigan State University.

More Benefits

Apart from getting the certificate, each learner who enrolls the course and completes 4 modules including the Capstone project will receive discounts on equipment accessories from industry leading manufacturers of photography products and services. These partners are not the random companies, their products and services have been used by Peter Glendinning and Mark Valentine Sullivan, professors who deliver video lectures on the Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR course.


Use Your Camera to its Potential

Digital Photo School offers 6 fee-based online classes that fall into 2 levels: beginner and intermediate. Each course is divided into several video modules of various duration and covers different aspects of photography. Since these are online classes, you can go through them at your own pace and watch any module whenever you want and for as many times as you need. So, here are the classes to choose from:

  • Night Photography. This class is meant to teach you to take breathtaking photos at night. The course with over 7 hours of video is divided into 8 learning modules and 11 practical videos. It explains which gear to use, how to master exposure, and reveals secrets of finding the best locations. Additionally, you will find out more about detailed retouching techniques.
  • 31 Days to Becoming a Better Photographer. Well, the name of the course speaks for itself. This course for beginners with 31 practical lessons will turn you into the master of photography within 31 days. It covers a wide range of fundamental photography aspects: exposure, lighting, subjects, composition, camera techniques, and post-processing software. Explaining the techniques one step at a time is a pretty thoughtful approach as it makes learning fun and not confusing at all.
  • Lightroom Mastery: People & Portraits. Containing over 3 hours of video lessons (break down into 33 modules), the course will help you master all the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom secrets professional photographer Mike Newton uses to edit portraits. The tools and techniques you will learn can help you turn your average shots into magazine-worthy shots.
  • Lightroom Mastery. This course explains how to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It is suitable for everyone interested in photography and those who eager to learn photo retouching secrets. The course includes 16 lessons with over 3 hours of video.
  • Photo Nuts and Shots Course. This class is meant to teach you the craft of photography. It explains the basic techniques and how to use them to the fullest. Having accomplished this class, you will be able to take evocative photos that reflect your creativeness.
  • Photo Nuts and Bolts Course. Over 2 hours of content divided into 10 video lessons will help you understand the key photography concepts you could never understand before. The class is created for beginners who want to understand how a camera really works and learn how to take pictures that stand out from the crowd.

Free Tips and Tutorials

What is Digital Photography School? It is not a typical school with classes, teachers, and exams but an enjoyable and challenging learning environment. Here professional photographers and enthusiasts write articles about their passion to share them with people who want to use their cameras to the fullest.

Digital Photo School is one of the most popular blogs that was founded by Darren Rose in 2006. He decided to create the website in order to give some useful tips to people asking questions about how to make the most of their cameras and take stunning pics. After several years, the blog had turned into the massive photography project that helped people get confident with their cameras. Today this blog has about 1,000,000 newsletter subscribers, and over 92,000 of people sharing their photos in the Digital Photography school group on Facebook. Believe it or not, but this blog is a free resource, except for online classes.

Learn Photography the Way you Like

In addition to fee-based video lessons and free tutorial, Digital Photography School offers eBooks. These books contain in-depth information on various photography techniques, photos post-production, and even tips on how to pose correctly. There are eBooks for photographers of all skill levels, so anyone from beginner to pro will find something interesting to go deep into.

Summing up, we would like to say that Digital Photography School includes various materials to help you master your camera in an easy and engaging way. Photography will change the way you see the world, so go and try it!

Unique Photography for Unique People

The photos Trey Ratcliff captures are definitely worth seeing. If you haven't heard about Trey yet, we recommend you to visit his website ASAP. This man has drastically changed the world of photography by bringing HDR photos to the masses. In 2007, Ratcliff won the Smithsonian Magazine Contest with 2 HDR images and, thus, became the first photographer whose HDR images were exhibited at the Smithsonian museum. After such a success Ratcliff started traveling to remote locations for another portion of eye striking images and founded the StuckInCustoms blog. This blog is viewed by more than half a million of users each month as it contains not only creative and true-to-life photos but also free and fee-based tutorials, online courses, and eBooks. What's more, love of photography and computer science made Ratcliff create 100 сameras in one smartphone application.

If you like Ratcliff's work and wish you knew how to make such magnificent photos, his online courses are exactly what you need. They are comprehensive and are meant to explain you everything you need to know about photography and HDR photos. Trey Ratcliff has developed his own style of teaching based on his discoveries and natural instincts. Now he is ready to share his knowledge with you! Having finished one of the StuckInCustoms courses, you will be able to start creating your own masterpieces.

Hard to Refuse Offer

StuckInCustoms is not only an HDR photography course but a number of online tutorials that cover fundamentals of camera use, composition, photo quality improvement, and HDR processing, of course. Each class has its own duration and consists of video tutorials recorded by Redcliff. The videos include interesting stories, live shooting, step-by-step instructions, and hundreds of tricks the author uses to make a photo look better. Some of the classes are complemented with eBooks that are meant to walk you through each step, while others feature bonus tutorials on various themes related to photography. You should also know that the tutorials include free trial & tutorial for Aurora HDR (optionally), and different sets of Tray's RAW images you can practice HDR with. There are 8 fee-based tutorials you can choose from:

  • Complete HDR Tutorial – countless techniques explored
  • Becoming an Artist – Season 1
  • Trey Ratcliff’s Lightroom Tutorial for beginners and beyond
  • Organize Your Photos – the three-level system
  • Landscape & Travel Photography Tutorial: New Zealand
  • Art of Photography
  • Midnight in Paris – fine art photography tutorial
  • Textures Tutorial

It should be noted that Trey Ratcliff’s Lightroom Tutorial is available in standard and bonus packages. The standard package contains 2 hours of step-by-step instruction and 7 video lessons. As for the bonus package, you will get everything that the standard package has plus 144 Lightroom Presets, a record of Live Photo Edit and Q&A Session, and several RAW files. The price for these courses differs by $10 only.

Workshops that are Worth Visiting

Would you like some time with Trey Ratcliff one-on-one and get his in-field instruction and tutorials on how to take photos? If yes, StuckInCustoms invite you to New Zealand for a photo adventure trip where you will be taught how to take amazing photos. This tour lasts for 5 days and offers personalized portfolio reviews and several video tutorials from StuckInCustoms. The workshop is fee-based and requires registration.


8 Courses to Meet Your Very Needs

Whether you’re a newbie in photo shooting or have some experience working with photo equipment, you’ll be able to find out more about photography at ShawAcademy. This site can offer you 8 courses (6 basic and 2 advanced) to help you improve your photo taking and editing skills. So, let’s have a closer look at what can interest you on this site. If you want to learn to take stunning pictures but have never held a camera in your hands, one of the following basic courses might come to your liking:

  • Photography course is the one you want to start with if you know nothing about photo taking but want to become a professional photographer. It consists of four modules, several lessons each. However, only the first one is aimed at teaching you basic skills. The first module helps you understand the basic notions such as photographic styles, camera functions, motion, composition, light, and color. It includes weekly assignments and quizzes so that you reinforce your basic knowledge you get every lesson. What is more important, the first module is free and it means you can try it out first before you understand the ShawAcademy courses are what you need.
  • Another popular online photography class offered at ShawAcademy is called Smarphone Photography. Modern gadgets are becoming more and more innovative and can boast unbelievable specifications that allow you to make high-quality photos without using any expensive photo equipment. This course lasts 4 weeks and consists of 8 interactive lessons that will teach you to make vivid pictures with your gadget wherever and whenever you want.
  • Wedding Photography classes online might interest those who want to make photography their job in the future. 8 lessons of this course will make you a wedding photographer who’ll be able to help loving couples keep the most precious moments of their life in memory forever.

Those who know the basic notions of photography and have worked with photo cameras and different lenses might want to enhance their knowledge with the help of advanced Photography Programme. Actually, this is the part of basic Photography course we’ve described before. 24 lessons combined in three modules last 24 weeks to make you a professional at photography taking. These modules consist of both theoretical and practical lessons. You’ll be able not only to expand your knowledge on lens techniques, macro, exposure, studio flash, etc. but also share your experience with other students from all over the world.

More Than Photo Taking Classes

In addition to the ability to make great photos, you can benefit from four additional courses designed to help you develop your other skills. Of course, there's no need to explain what Video class can teach you since the name of the course speaks for itself, but it's worth saying that this course covers a much bigger volume of information regarding both basic and professional video recording than many similar classes. What the Photoshop Online Course is tailored for is also self-explanatory; this course is divided into two levels – basic and advanced –so you can choose that one that suits your skill level better. One more program that you can learn to use at ShawAcademy is Adobe Lightroom. After you complete this course that lasts 8 lessons, you should gain the skill of creating real masterpieces out of simple photos.

Time to Decide

All in all, these Online Photography courses may be a great option for both beginners and professional users. Having 8 classes to choose from, you'll be able to pick the best suitable one in accordance with your skill level, time that you're ready to spend, and budget. By now hundreds of thousands of users have already estimated this service and now you can join them. ShowAcademy won't disappoint you. Moreover, this service offers many more courses beyond photography so you can improve your skills in other fields such as finance, marketing, technology, etc as well.


Your Kids Grow up Fast. And Only Once.

Have you bought an expensive digital SLR to take great pics of your kids but the pics you take are blurred and fuzzy? Don't give up, since Shultz Photo School can solve this problem. It offers a pretty unusual way of learning the nuts and bolts of photography to help you capture moments into clear images instead of blurry snapshots. Kyle Shultz, a professional photographer and the founder of Shultz Photo School, has a passion for helping amateurs to capture the best moments of their children's lives since he truly believes that the power of photography lies in the hands of parents. None of pro photographers can catch the most precious moments of your kid's life, as it is you who stays with your kiddos day and night.

So, if you want to save your precious memories, we recommend you to get started with the 7-Part [Snackable] Photo Course from Kyle and learn how to capture outstanding photos without watching long video tutorials. How is it possible? Scroll down and read the next paragraph.

Bite-sized Photo Tips

The 7-Part [Snackable] Photo Course is designed for busy parents who don't have much time to sit at the desk and learn the ropes of photography. The course consists of 7 short photo tips that will be sent to your e-mail daily throughout a week. The tips are written in plain English and can be applied in everyday life. What's more, the course is free of payment. So, you can learn:

  • Several tips on how to frame the subjects well;
  • How to blur the background even without a top-notch camera;
  • How to improve focus and capture the moments faster;
  • How to fix the blur;
  • The classic posing tip most people mess up, and how to fix it;
  • How to choose good natural light;
  • How to set up a system to automatically backup and organize your pics for free.

Over 70,000 people have already completed Kyle's mini-course. Why don't you join those happy parents who already make stunning pics of their children?

Practice Harder

Apart from the free 7-day photo course, the school offers you to enroll into a number of online classes. All the lessons are video-based and also include illustrations and some readable information. The courses are suitable for both beginners and advanced users, so whether you want to deep into the art of photography or enhance the skills you already have, the courses will fit the bill.

We should also mention that the iPhone Photography Course by Shultz Photography School is coming soon. If your iPhone is your main shooting gear and you want to shot fantastic pics with it, we think that this class will be extremely helpful for you.


Infographics


What Is a Photo Class?

We have all become instant photographers since the advent of smartphones with high-quality built-in cameras. We always have them at hand and most of us take photos of almost everything they see. Those who don't feel OK with hazy and blurred photos from their phones go for DSRL cameras that have become cheaper over past years and gained the popularity among amateur photographers. However, the point is that you may spend a lot of money on a top-notch DSLR and still not know how to make quality photos. Shooting isn't an easy task, since you have to play around with a camera to get the best pics ever. Photography is more than just a camera and a pair of hands - it is a real art. Taking photos that are worth admiring requires skills, training, and proficiency. So, if you are a newbie who wants to learn the basics of photography or a pro who needs to improve the skills, an online photography class is just what you need. The main benefit of online classes is that anyone can find a course suitable for his/her level and gain knowledge remotely. This feature is especially beneficial for those who don't have time for attending regular school and looking for ways of self-paced learning. The average price you will need to pay for courses varies from one program to another, but online classes are still cheaper than those held at regular schools. And this very feature bribes many students. At the end of a course, you may get a certificate proving that you’ve completed the photography course. We hope, you’ll find a suitable course from our selection and learn to shoot photos you will be proud of.

If you have already bought a DSLR camera, we can recommend you to consider portrait lenses to take dramatic and expressive shots.

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