Portrait Photography for Beginners (Udemy.com)
You'll learn how to take better portraits with any camera in this complete portrait photography course.
Created by: William Carnahan
Last updated September 2026
What you will learn
- You will learn how to take better portraits with any camera.
- Take better photos with your smartphone.
- Learn 6 tips for improving your portrait photography.
- Edit your portraits to make them look stunning.
- Choose a better background and compose your subject.
- Feel confident interacting and posing your subject.
How it compares
Against the other 275 rated Udemy courses in Photography on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.4 out of 5higher than 31% of them
- Reviews1,607#30 of 276 by number of reviews
- Length4.7 hourslonger than 70% of them
- Last updatedSeptember 2026more recently than 90% of them
Course Description
Welcome to the complete Portrait Photography for Beginners course!
We are so excited to help you take better portraits. If you're a relatively new photographer, this is the perfect portrait photography course to help you with this new skill!
You'll learn everything you need to know to take better portraits with any camera - DSLR, mirrorless, smartphone, or point-and-shoot.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN:
Start with our 6 tips to photographing better portraits:
- Choose a better background and compose your shot
- Lighting your portraits
- Properly and creatively expose your photo
- Play with depth of field
- Think about colors
- Interacting and posing your subject
You'll learn portrait photography with real world demonstrations!
Join Will Carnahan, professional photographer and instructor, in a full demonstration to see how you can use our 6 tips in real life.
Learn how to edit your portraits to look even better!
Use free and professional photo editing apps on your phone, tablet, or computer. You'll learn how to use different apps to professionally make your portraits look even better.
Share your photos on social media!
Get modern tips for sharing your photos on Instagram and Facebook. Use these tips to advance your professional photography career - if that's what your goal is!
COURSE BONUSES:
- Downloadable photos to practice editing with
- Tips for how to shoot weddings, headshots, and family portraits
- Premium support from your instructors
WHY TAKE THIS COURES FROM US:
So, why should take this course from us? There are plenty of portrait photography courses to choose from. But we believe that we've created a course that can truly help you take better portraits in less time.
Video School Online has created some of the best selling online photography courses, and we always strive to help you learn new skills in a fun and engaging way!
Lastly, we have a 30-day 100% money back guarantee! Try out this course, and see if you like it. There's absolutely no risk!
We can't wait to see you in the course!
Instructor Details
- 4.4 Rating
1,607 Reviews
William Carnahan
Will Carnahan grew up in Southern California. After spending every hour he could in the darkroom at Highschool playing with film, Will went on to earn a B.A. from The University of California Riverside in Film and Visual culture. At UCR he became a staff photographer for the schools newspaper, covering sporting events, concerts, and local news. In late 2006 Will and his friend Ryan started a photography company focusing on weddings, events, and their love for photography.
In 2007 Will continued on to Loyola Marymount University, earning an M.F.A. in Film and Telivision Production. While still shooting headshots, weddings, and events on the side, he focused on Cinematography. The years between 2007-2010 were an exciting time for film makers as it saw the first heavy transition from emulsion to digital. Having a base education in film exposure and a practical education in digital media allowed Will to excel as a cinematographer while in grad school. He went on to earn LMUs Panavision Cinematography award in 2008 and 2010.
Graduating in 2010, Will started freelancing as a Cinematographer, camera operator, and photographer. With heavy expirence in 16mm and 35mm film will transitioned into 4k cinema and up using REDs, Arri systems, and other cameras to take on Hollywood. The first few years of freelance saw Will shooting Music videos, short films, 2nd unit features, commercials, and web content.
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Reviews
By Radomír Pešek on 3/5/2024
Thanks again for so much effort that you put in. I truly feel I am beccoming a better photographer and I have already shooted some pictures for my company and friends and got even paid! Do thank you very much. I'll see you in next course/livestream.
By Krzysztof Śniegowski on 8/9/2022
Kurs był ciekawy i prowadzony w zrozumiały sposób. Dowiedziałem się wielu przydatnych informacji odnośnie zdjęć portretowych. Jedyne o co można uzupełnić kurs to mini szkolenie z ustawiania par lub ludzi w odpowiednich pozach, i interakcji z nimi. Poza tym drobnym szczegółem SUPER.
By Susan Dicandilo on 12/3/2021
You guys are awesome! Another course done and I'm ready to move onto the more advanced one that follows on from the Portrait for Beginners. Although I completed the Photography Masterclass prior to starting this one, this has given me the added benefit of understanding what Will was explaining and discussing throughout the sections of the course. However, I learned valuable information relating to portraits so a huge thank you to Will for sharing your skills and techniques to make this possible for us students. Thank you to Phil for your interaction with the Bonus Lessons. Your Case Study was quite interesting. I also found the Editing Section very interesting; I have already enrolled in both Photoshop and Lightroom, so I am looking forward to those courses when I get there. Thank you again Phil and Will for your time and effort.
By Pavankumar on 8/18/2021
Hai these tutorials given me more confidence to portrait photography .I am a landscape photographer when it come to portraits its big task for me ,after gone through these tutorials i believe i can able to shoot portrait too. Thanks for the will and video school providing the wonderful session about portrait photography.
By Alex Vujicic on 3/23/2021
The course was well prepared and taught. The content was good for practicing or following along. This course is good for all types who want to learn photography, brush up on their skills or as a refresher course.
By Jurvian on 2/24/2021
This course is really good for a beginner like me, I am learning a lot from this course, I recommend for beginners to take this course to improve your portrait photography skill. For william, thank you so much to share your knowledge in this course, I really like your photos at instagram, they are amazing. I would like to give a suggestion to you for this course, maybe you can add more explanation about printing because I really do not print my photos, but after I saw your video, it made me want to print some of my photos. Anyway, this is a great course and I learn a lot, thank you.
By Robert Waller on 12/20/2020
Yes.
By Naman Jaloria on 12/20/2020
To be honest, I found the course very useful as a novice. Personally, I'd like to recommend it to other aspirants who might be interested to learn photography skills.
By Elena bozza on 11/22/2020
davvero molto basica, non adatta a chi gi sa qualcosa in questo campo
By Cristian Toma on 11/21/2020
i learn few stuff, i wanted to be more detailed on DSLR Camera but it was ok
By Arne Kruger on 11/18/2020
Enjoying every moment. Learning a lot!!!
By BM Wiem on 11/13/2020
oui
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 88 / 100






