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The best online photography lessons & methods
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For many people, there’s nothing more satisfying than the sound of a camera’s shutter. But to become a great photographer, you need to put in the time and effort. While some people are blessed with mentors and instructors near them, many of us aren’t as lucky.
Photography lessons are a great way to get better with the camera. And in this day and age, you can learn the craft through online photography lessons. The main advantage of online lessons is that you can learn different techniques and hone your skills all from the comfort of your own home. But with all the different options out there, it’s very important to choose the right one for you.
In this comprehensive list of the best online photography lessons and methods today, we’ve selected the top options based on a number of factors. We chose our entries after gauging their effectiveness, ease of use, value for the money, and more. By the end of our list, you’ll have a crystal clear image of all these different photography lessons, and hopefully, you’ll find just the right one that fits your needs and preferences.
Best methods for photography
Photography Masterclass Online Photography Lessons
Photography Masterclass Online Photography Lessons
If you need a course that tackles all the basic concepts and principles of photography, this is the right one for you. If you’re a complete beginner with a DSLR, this course will help you learn everything you need about how cameras function, allowing you to utilize your camera to its full capabilities.
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Kicking off our list is a course designed to teach you all the ins and outs required to master a DSLR camera. The problem most beginner photographers have when they hold their first DSLR is what to do with all the different knobs and settings. Everyone can become a great photographer, but first, they have to learn how to use the camera.
In this course, you will be taught the mechanics of how cameras work. And with that knowledge, you can tweak all the different settings on your camera like the shutter speed, ISO, white balance, aperture, and more. The course also guides you through the different lenses, what they’re used for, and the most important lenses for photographers to have in their gear bag.
The course focuses on the basic principles of photography. So, aside from learning how to experiment with different camera settings, you’ll also learn other basics such as framing, the rule of thirds, and how to capture subjects in a captivating way. While the class is primarily focused on the DSLR, you can use the principles from this method with a wide variety of cameras, whether it’s a film camera or a new digital mirrorless camera.
Everyone has an eye for photography. After all, there is no camera out there that can beat the human eye. And when you pair your photographer’s eye with the camera and photography knowledge from these lessons, you’ll be taking captivating and engaging photos in no time!
Best photography Lightroom presets
Exposure Empire Online Photography Lessons
Exposure Empire Online Photography Lessons
If you’re a photographer tired of spending countless hours editing each of your photos, this is a great pick for you. This Lightroom Presets bundle contains tons of different templates for editing your photos that can make the editing process much quicker.
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In this day and age, knowing how to edit photos is just as important as knowing how to take them. While there are many purists out there who don’t believe in editing their photos, using different editing software can enhance the beautiful aspects of your image and remove the not-so-beautiful ones. And with Exposure Empire, you have access to tons of Lightroom presets that will instantly enhance your already beautiful images.
This isn’t a course or method for beginners. Instead, it’s a great package for photographers looking to add beauty to their photos through editing. This package includes tons of great presets for the editing software called Lightroom. Lightroom is another Adobe photo editing software used by many professionals. It’s great at processing RAW (NEF) images and tweaking certain aspects to enhance the beauty.
In their bundle, you’ll gain access to more than 400 unique Lightroom presets. So, instead of having to tweak all the parameters individually to get the aesthetic you need, you can simply click on one of the presets until you find just the right one. On top of that, you can even make adjustments to the presets,, so they fit the image perfectly.
Again, this isn’t a course for beginners or anyone looking to learn more about photography. This is simply a great bundle that contains tons of Lightroom presets that can help you bring out the full potential of your raw images.
Best methods for videography
Fro Knows Photo Online Photography Lessons
Fro Knows Photo Online Photography Lessons
Anybody looking to learn how to take great videos worthy of commercials and movies would enjoy this course. These lessons specialize and put close focus and attention on taking videos with DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.
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One of the biggest innovations in DSLRs in recent times is equipping them with video-capturing capabilities. Modern DSLRs and most mirrorless cameras are capable of capturing HD video in a variety of frame rates, which has allowed people to experiment with filmmaking without having to spend large sums of money on dedicated video cameras.
But as we all know, taking captivating videos isn’t just about pressing records. You have to take into account the action, shutter speed, frame rate, and many more factors. If you’re a budding filmmaker looking to explore videography, or just a beginner looking to take captivating videos for families and friends, Fro Knows Photo is a great course for you.
The course focuses on teaching people how to make great videos using either a DSLR, 4/3’s camera, or a mirrorless camera. The course was developed by an award-winning filmmaker with tons of experience in the field, so you get to learn all the tricks of the trade.
In this day and age, many photographers also offer video services as a package. And upgrading your portfolio by adding more skills is always a great idea, especially in the world of photo and video services.
Best photoshop tutorials
Loving Editing Online Photography Lessons
Loving Editing Online Photography Lessons
Beginners with no clue of how to edit their photos on Photoshop will benefit from this course. Loving Editing explains all the ins and outs of using Photoshop to enhance your images very clearly and in a way that beginners will pick up in no time!
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Photoshop isn’t just a tool for photographers nowadays. Digital artists, graphic designers, and photographers alike all use Adobe Photoshop software because of all its great features that can help propel your art forward. However, Adobe Photoshop has a fairly complicated user interface and it can be hard for beginners to navigate around the software.
Loving Editing is an online photography method designed to teach you how to use Photoshop to edit your own images. Not only will you learn how to edit the contrast, brightness, and colors of your photo, but this course dives deep into teaching you how to get beautiful aesthetics and effects on your photos using advanced Photoshop techniques.
As we mentioned earlier, editing photos is a main part of the photographer’s life nowadays. Before posting photos on your website, Facebook, Instagram, or having them printed for framing, you need to do some editing to get the best version of the raw image.
This course clearly explains how to accomplish specific techniques when editing on Photoshop. And while this course is very easy for beginners to understand, they also dive into some advanced techniques that will have your photos looking like they were taken by a professional in a studio!
Best methods for special effects & photo tricks
Trick Photography Book Online Photography Lessons
Trick Photography Book Online Photography Lessons
If you’ve ever wanted to wow your viewers with amazing photos that seem to defy the laws of physics, this is a great online course. Trick Photography Book teaches students different tips and techniques to create surreal and innovative photos.
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One of the most popular genres for photographers nowadays is surreal photography. To accomplish this aesthetic, you need to use a variety of tricks and illusions to deceive the eye of your audience. And even if you don’t plan on delving into surreal photography, learning a couple of special effects and photo tricks can help you create a more diversified portfolio.
Trick Photography Book is a website that teaches you a bunch of great photo tricks and special effects that will leave you amazed at your own work! In this course, you’ll learn how to create levitation shots and other illusions that make for great pieces of art.
The techniques combine traditional special effects and digital editing of your photos to create new layers and make your photos more interesting. If you’ve ever wanted to take a photo where the model is in multiple places at once, or photos that leave the viewer confused saying, “how did they take that shot?” this is an excellent course for you.
One of the best aspects of Trick Photography Book is that it combines traditional special effects and optical illusions with digital innovation. So, whether you’re a purist or someone who embraces technology, this course is filled with useful information!
What to look for in good online photography lessons
Course content
The first thing you need to consider when shopping for online photography lessons is the course content. Before choosing a lesson or method, ask yourself what you want to learn from the lesson. If you already have base knowledge on the craft, you might not need to learn some of the basics such as shutter speed, aperture, white balance, and more. However, if you’ve never used a camera before, you might want lessons that tackle the basics to give you foundational knowledge.
If you don’t plan on using DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, then you might want lessons that focus primarily on framing and conceptualizing your shots. Remember, the right online lessons for you are the ones that teach you and tackle all the concepts and techniques you’d like to learn to hone your photography skills. You can even find classes that only focus on editing so you can polish your raw images and get them ready for printing!
Course length
We all work on different schedules. Some people have a lot of free time throughout the day, while others don’t. It’s very important for you to find an online photography course that fits your schedule. So, if you’re pressed for time, it might be best to consider courses that aren’t time-consuming and that you can finish slowly.
But if you have a lot of free time and you really want to hone your skills, you can go for classes that take longer and require more time out of your day. While it might take a significant effort to finish longer and more arduous courses, it allows you to learn different photography skills and techniques with accuracy and precision.
Course materials
Another thing to consider is the course materials. Does the course provide you with books or e-books? Are there video tutorials involved? Can you avail of one-on-one sessions?
These are all key aspects in ensuring that you picked the right course for you. Remember that we all have different learning styles. Some people might respond better to video courses, while others might prefer simpler e-book learning materials. At the end of the day, it all depends on your tastes and personal learning styles.
Price
Before you go check out all the different options on the internet, we highly recommend setting a price range first. Ask yourself, “How much am I willing to spend on online photography lessons?”. In this day and age, you can find tons of great online photography lessons and methods, even if you’re on a tight budget. But remember, you will usually have to pay more for more comprehensive lessons.
But if you set a price range before heading to the market, it will be much easier for you to narrow down your options later on.
FAQ
Can I learn photography online?
Yes, photography can be learned online. The internet has allowed people to provide comprehensive photography lessons that tackle beginner and advanced concepts all on the internet. So, if you’d rather hone your skills from the comfort and privacy of your own home, online photography lessons could be just what you need.
How long does it take to learn photography?
To become a master of photography, you have to dedicate years of your life to shooting. Many professional photographers say that learning never stops in the world of photography, and there are always new skills and techniques that you pick up along the way. But to get the hang of the basics and be able to control a camera, it can take you anywhere between a couple of weeks to a couple of months since everyone learns at a different pace.
Do I need a good camera for photography?
One of the most popular sayings in the photography scene is, “It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer”. If you have a good understanding of framing, lighting, and other basic concepts, you can shoot amazing pictures with just about any camera. Expensive cameras are a great tool that photographers use to capture images, but at the end of the day, no money in the world can replace a good eye for photos.
Final verdict
And that ends our list of reviews of the best online photography lessons and courses in 2021. Each of the lessons we featured is designed to teach you different techniques, so feel free to choose more than one so that you can create a varied set of skills that can help you take better photos!
Photography is an art that takes a long time to master, and photographers need to fully commit to the craft to truly get better. The world of photography is always changing, with new technology being released left and right. So, whether you’re a complete beginner or seasoned veteran, you’ll definitely benefit from taking some online photography lessons that will teach you brand-new skills! And you might even discover techniques you didn’t even know were possible with your camera!
