Best online photography courses in 2020
I hope this blog finds you safe and well and being socially distant. I don't know about you, but for me self-isolation at home is a dream. What a wonderful excuse to take a break from real life.
But I don’t want to sit around all day being useless. Having to self-isolate is a great opportunity to learn online, and since I’ve taken a number of online courses over the last 12 months that cover all areas of photography, I thought I’d share them with you so you can learn too.
I have personally taken all of these courses, so if you have any questions, shoot them my way. The thing I love most about courses that are online, is that I have lifetime access to the information.
Okay, let’s get into it. In no particular order:
1. Northrup Photo Stunning Digital Photography
This online book features 20 hours of video where you click on the corresponding video clip within the section in the pdf. It's a very technical teaching of all things photography covering the basics of photography right through to advanced skills. Nothing is missed out here. If it's possible to learn everything about photography in one course, this is it. It's also very affordable. They also have a great YouTube channel with tonnes of free material.
Summary - technical, straight-forward all-round photography guide.
I'd recommend for - any level of photographer looking to fully understand the technical side of photography.
2. Shooting For Brands with Andrew Kearns
This is my most recent purchase and one of my favourite courses. Strohl. Works collaborated with successful YouTuber Andrew T Kearns and shows us his personal way of pitching to a brand, planning the shoot, doing the shoot and editing the images. I love to see people's creative processes so I really learnt a lot from this. I would highly recommend this course for anyone looking to gain confidence in shooting for and working with brands. This course is pretty unique. You can see a summary of the course here as well as grab a discount code for $50 off.
Summary - informal, hands-on look at how to work with brands as a photographer.
I'd recommend for - anyone wanting to gain confidence in working with big brands.
3. Water Photographer Course by ST Images
This course is everything you need to know to take your photography into the water. Power couple Sherrin and Tom Woods are bringing out some amazing water-specific courses at the moment, and this one's only open for enrolment until 2nd April so get in quick if you don't want to miss out. This is an easy-to-follow but in-depth video-style course covering everything from housing set-up to settings and behind the scenes of in-water shooting. Highly recommended!
Summary - in-depth but easy to follow all-round guide to taking your photography into the water.
I'd recommend for - beginners to advanced photographers wanting more guidance on anything to do with shooting in the water.
4. The Fearless Photographer by the Clique Photo
This is a new business from one of my favourite photographers Cait Miers. She holds in-person workshops but this is the online version. It's more in-depth, comprised of 5 modules released over 5 weeks, this course is about discovering your niche in photography and fearlessly putting yourself out there and pitching yourself to your dream clients. This course gave me more confidence and got me pitching for the first time.
Summary - a video-based guide on how to market yourself as a photographer with confidence.
I'd recommend for - photographers comfortable with their camera skills that want to put themselves out there for the first time.
5. Pitching with Confidence by Olivia Bossert
Another course about pitching from UK fashion photographer Olivia Bossert. I think I discovered this course through a podcast and wanted to get another perspective on pitching. This is a really honest course, providing actual email examples and pdf's she uses to pitch herself to clients. Enrolment is not available at this time, but worth checking out when it is.
She also has a great education blog with lots of free resources that are worth checking out.
Summary - a succinct, written course (mostly) that's in-depth with real life examples of how a working professional photographer finds work.
I'd recommend for - photographers looking to gain confidence in marketing themselves to clients.
And that’s it! I’d love to hear if you have any courses you’d recommend, and I’ll add them to my wishlist, or if you’ve taken any of these yourself I’d love to hear your feedback. Leave me a comment below.