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292 Best + Free Photography Courses & Certificates [2026]

292 courses compared 30 over 10 hours long Updated October 19, 2026

Ranked by Michael Kuhlman, CourseDuck's founder, from student reviews across every provider. How we rank

Our guide: The Best Photography Courses on Udemy in 2026: Camera Basics, Phone, Food, Real Estate and Lightroom

Our top picks

  • Photography Masterclass: Your Complete Guide to Photography [Udemy]Most Popular
  • iPhone Photography | Take Professional Photos On Your iPhone [Udemy]
  • Photography Fundamentals for Beginners: 1-Hour Crash Course [Udemy]
  • Photography: Ditch Auto - Start Shooting in Manual [Udemy]
  • Beginner Nikon Digital SLR (DSLR) Photography [Udemy]
  • Mastering Architecture and Real Estate Photography [Udemy]
  • Digital Photography for Beginners with DSLR cameras [Udemy]
  • Your Road to Better Photography [Udemy]
  • Beginner Canon Digital SLR (DSLR) Photography [Udemy]
  • Food Photography: Capturing Food in Your Kitchen [Udemy]

About the best Photography courses

Learn photography with this comprehensive list of the web's best photography courses, ranked by 1,000+ student reviews.

Frequently asked questions

The most-reviewed Photography course in this category is Photography Masterclass: Your Complete Guide to Photography by Phil Ebiner, with about 78,800 reviews at 4.7 as of October 2026.

Photography is the craft of capturing images with a camera, using exposure, composition and light. It is used for portraits, landscapes, products, events and documentary work. Courses here cover photography basics, DSLR cameras, iPhone photography, food photography and cinematography.

Average
$81,962 a year
Full range
$11,000 to $401,500

Share of US job postings in each pay band; the dark bar holds the average, the striped bar the 25th percentile. Source: ZipRecruiter salary data collected in 2020-21, when this FAQ was first written; pay has moved since, so treat it as a rough guide.

Paid Udemy video courses include a certificate of completion when you finish; free courses and practice-test-only courses do not. It shows you did the work, but it is not an accredited qualification. LinkedIn Learning gives a certificate of completion for most of its courses as part of the subscription.

Related topics

Video Editing & Animation 329Adobe Premier Pro 99Adobe Lightroom 79 All Photography & Video topics
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292 Filtered Courses
iPhone Photography | Take Professional Photos On Your iPhone
provider

2

iPhone Photography | Take Professional Photos On Your iPhone (2023)

4.5
(34,530 reviews)
byDale McManus

An 83-minute crash course from a YouTuber who shoots for a living on his phone: composition, light and Lightroom editing, with no camera gear needed.

Best for: Complete beginners who want a few composition and editing rules to try on their phone this weekend.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Gets to the point: 27 short lectures with no filler, according to reviewers
    • The 30-minute Lightroom mobile editing section is the part some students found most useful
    • Teaches on a free app and a phone, so there is nothing to buy beyond the course
    • A quiz section that one reviewer says showed him what he had learned
    • Last updated February 2023; iPhone 14 and 17 owners report settings like HDR are no longer where he shows them
    • Very basic; one two-star review says the tips could be googled in ten minutes, and others want more shooting examples
    • Over a third of the runtime is Lightroom editing, and one reviewer got no reply to a Lightroom question
$129.99 Certificate Length: 1.4h
Photography Fundamentals for Beginners: 1-Hour Crash Course
provider

3

Photography Fundamentals for Beginners: 1-Hour Crash Course (2024)

4.6
(9,568 reviews)
byPhil Ebiner

A 90-minute walk through aperture, shutter speed, ISO and composition that about 154,000 students have used as a first stop before a longer photography course.

Best for: Total beginners who leave the camera on auto and want the exposure triangle explained in one sitting.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Explains aperture, shutter speed and ISO in plain language; several reviewers say it finally clicked
    • Roughly 50 minutes of actual instruction, easy to finish in one sitting
    • Works for DSLR, mirrorless, point-and-shoot and phone users; no gear or prerequisites required
    • 4.6 rating from about 9,600 reviews, with 5 and 4 stars making up the large majority
    • 42 of the 93 minutes are a photo contest review, not teaching
    • Too elementary for anyone past auto mode; no assignments or practice steps
    • Composition gets about 15 minutes across two short sections
$54.99 Certificate Length: 1.6h
Photography: Ditch Auto - Start Shooting in Manual
provider

4

Photography: Ditch Auto - Start Shooting in Manual (2021)

4.5
(8,133 reviews)
byJerad Hill

A free, four-and-a-half-hour walkthrough of shutter speed, aperture and ISO from a working wedding photographer, aimed at DSLR owners stuck on the green auto dial.

Best for: DSLR owners who understand nothing about exposure yet and want a working pro to talk them through the dials at no cost.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Free, with 4.7 hours split into seven short sections and five quizzes
    • Reviewers say the shutter speed, aperture and ISO explanations are easy to follow
    • Taught by a working wedding photographer, so the people and flash advice comes from real jobs
    • Several reviewers say they were shooting in manual for good by the end
    • Long stretches of the instructor talking to camera, with few on-screen demos of settings or results
    • Frequent ums and a dry delivery; one reviewer counted 50 in two lectures
    • Last updated in 2021 and first published in 2013, so some of the gear on screen may be dated
Free Certificate Length: 4.7h
Beginner Nikon Digital SLR (DSLR) Photography
provider

5

Beginner Nikon Digital SLR (DSLR) Photography (2014)

4.7
(7,378 reviews)
byJP Teaches Photo

A 71 minute, Nikon-only walk through exposure, aperture, shutter speed and the mode dial, taught by doing rather than memorizing, with 34,000 students behind it.

Best for: Nikon DSLR owners who have never left Auto and want the mode dial explained in about an hour.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Learn by doing: exercises on your own camera replace memorizing settings charts
    • One reviewer says he felt more confident changing settings right out of the gate
    • Short and focused: one section, seven lectures, about 71 minutes of video
    • 4.7 rating from more than 7,000 reviews, with 34,000 students enrolled
    • Last updated in April 2014, so more than a decade old with no updates since
    • Reviewers call it a bit short, with one wanting more on hardware and camera symbols
    • Only exposure and modes; no composition, lighting, focus or editing
$69.99 Certificate Length: 1.2h
Mastering Architecture and Real Estate Photography
provider

6

Mastering Architecture and Real Estate Photography (2024)

4.4
(4,137 reviews)
byCharlie Borland

A working pro's 20-hour course on lighting, shooting and editing homes and commercial interiors for agents and builders, aimed at photographers who already know their camera.

Best for: Photographers with a camera, tripod and flash who want to sell real estate and architecture shoots as a business.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Lighting lessons for interiors that one reviewer rates as the best they've seen on the subject
    • Explains why a shot is failing and what causes it before showing the fix, drawn from real client jobs
    • Full Lightroom editing series added in a 2021 update, plus a section critiquing a student's real estate photos
    • Practice photos to download and a 20-hour syllabus covering exteriors, interiors and commercial properties
    • Older videos look dated and one low-star review calls the picture quality poor
    • Editing sections run long and repeat similar adjustments room by room
    • Leans on flash and lighting gear and expects intermediate camera skills; nothing on shooting listings with a phone
$94.99 Certificate Length: 19.8h
Digital Photography for Beginners with DSLR cameras
provider

7

Digital Photography for Beginners with DSLR cameras (2023)

4.5
(3,874 reviews)
byVilliers Steyn

A short, calm intro to Canon and Nikon DSLR settings, light and composition, taught in 2 to 5 minute lectures for people stuck in Auto mode.

Best for: Canon or Nikon DSLR owners stuck in Auto mode who want settings and composition explained slowly.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Short 2 to 5 minute lectures, with key ideas repeated at the end of each one
    • Calm, slow delivery that reviewers say makes it easy for true beginners to follow
    • Covers settings first, then light, composition and creativity in separate sections
    • At about 2.4 hours it is easy to finish, then go out and practice
    • Demos center on Canon and Nikon; a Lumix owner was put off and a Pentax owner had to hunt for settings
    • Only one quiz and no assignments, so it stays at the basics with little guided practice
    • One four-star reviewer picked up only a few new things, so seasoned hobbyists may find it light
$109.99 Certificate Length: 2.4h
Your Road to Better Photography
provider

8

Your Road to Better Photography (2024)

4.3
(3,875 reviews)
byCorey Reese

A 48 minute crash course on aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for beginners who are stuck shooting in auto mode.

Best for: Beginners with a camera who freeze up once they leave auto mode.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Breaks aperture, shutter speed, and ISO into short, plain-language lectures
    • Two field assignments, including phone-only challenges, force real practice
    • Refreshed in 2024, so the material is not outdated
    • Works for total beginners, even one reviewer who is legally blind
    • Very short at under an hour, so it stays surface-level
    • No coverage of aperture priority, shutter priority, or scene-specific settings
    • Some footage is dim enough that camera settings are hard to read on screen
$44.99 Certificate Length: 48 mins
Beginner Canon Digital SLR (DSLR) Photography
provider

9

Beginner Canon Digital SLR (DSLR) Photography (2014)

4.4
(3,570 reviews)
byJP Teaches Photo
Learn how to use your camera intuitively. Learn through doing rather than memorizing.

iconWhat You'll Learn

  • You will learn how to see your images in a more sophisticated way, like a professional photographer.
  • You will add exposure to your photographer's tool belt and learn how it impacts many visual elements of your images.
  • You will learn how to adjust your aperture and why you would choose one aperture over another.
  • You will learn how to adjust your shutter speed and why you would choose one shutter speed over another.
  • You will learn how all of the modes (Auto, P, S, A and M) work and when you should be using each mode.
  • You will learn to recognize the difference between depth-of-field blur and motion blur.
  • You'll start spending more time observing and capturing beautiful moments around you, rather than staring down at your camera feeling confused.
$44.99 Certificate Length: 1.1h
Food Photography: Capturing Food in Your Kitchen
provider

10

Food Photography: Capturing Food in Your Kitchen (2026)

4.7
(3,345 reviews)
byPhil Ebiner

A short, no-gear-needed intro to shooting food at home with natural light, a white sheet and a phone, plus a water-splash workshop and free Lightroom presets.

Best for: Home cooks and food bloggers who want better phone or camera photos using natural light and household props.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Lighting setups use a white sheet and poster board, so there is little to buy
    • Five demo shoots show how setup, styling and angles come together
    • Easy to follow for beginners, yet a 35-year SLR shooter still found new ideas
    • Adds a water-splash workshop and free Lightroom presets
    • Editing gets little time, and one reviewer could not see the buttons being clicked
    • Presets are Lightroom only, which leaves Affinity Photo users out
    • Several reviewers wanted more content, including whole tables and multi-dish scenes
$59.99 Certificate Length: 2.9h
Complete Photography Masterclass: 21 Courses in 1
provider

11

Complete Photography Masterclass: 21 Courses in 1 (2025)

4.5
(3,187 reviews)
byCreative Online School

A slow, plain-spoken photography starter that spans exposure, Lightroom, macro and even WordPress blogging, in under ten hours and 150 short lectures.

Best for: New camera owners who want a gentle, wide first pass at settings, editing and side income ideas.

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Pros
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Cons
    • Reviewers say the explanations are slow, simple and step by step, with little jargon
    • Wide syllabus: exposure, lenses, Lightroom, Photoshop, macro, portrait, landscape, night
    • Portrait and landscape sections run over an hour each, so they get real time
    • Refreshed in November 2025 and taken by more than 215,000 students
    • Several sections run two to seven minutes, so many topics stay shallow
    • Some reviewers call parts slide-heavy, with few photo examples and uneven audio
    • Nearly four hours go to WordPress blogging and web design, not camera skills
$109.99 Certificate Length: 9.7h

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