The Best Online Photography Courses in 2026, Picked by Goal

All facts as of September 2026, from each provider's own page (linked in the sections below).

Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR is a five course series from Michigan State University, taught by Peter Glendinning and a colleague. It's rated beginner level. Coursera estimates about 3 months at 10 hours a week. The courses start with exposure and camera control and move on to composition and post-production. The series ends with a capstone project where learners share work in progress with each other.

You earn a certificate from Michigan State University when you finish. Coursera's page says you can't take it for free, but you can apply for financial aid.

Good fit if you like a university-style syllabus with deadlines. Less good if you want a specific genre or quick answers: it's a big time commitment.

Photography Masterclass: Your Complete Guide to Photography by Phil Ebiner, William Carnahan, Sam Shimizu-Jones and Video School is enormous: 702 lectures, about 121 hours of video, last updated in September 2026. It covers exposure, composition, focus, white balance, lighting and flash, and mobile photography.

It also has a section of recorded critiques of photos that students submitted to challenges, 34 lectures and about 43 hours. You won't necessarily get your own photo reviewed, but watching others get critiqued teaches a lot.

Udemy sets prices per course and region and runs frequent sales. Its refund policy gives 30 days, though Udemy can refuse if you've already watched a notable part of the course.

Good fit if you want one course to cover everything, cheaply. Less good if 121 hours sounds more like a library than a plan.

MasterClass photography

Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography has 15 lessons, about 3 hours. She takes you into her studio and onto her shoots to teach portraiture and telling stories through images, from developing concepts to shooting with natural light. As of September 2026, the class comes with a MasterClass membership starting at $10 a month, billed annually, with a 30 day money back guarantee. The membership includes 200+ other classes, among them other photography classes.

Magnum Learn

Magnum Learn sells on-demand courses by Magnum photographers for $99 each. Alec Soth's Photographic Storytelling has 19 lessons over more than five hours, on building a project and making a photobook. Bieke Depoorter's Chance Encounters covers photographing near-strangers over 17 lessons. Magnum says more than 35,000 students have taken its on-demand courses. The videos are streaming only, and refunds are limited to 14 days if you haven't started streaming.

Magnum also has a street course, The Art of Street Photography. I compare it in detail in Phototactic vs Magnum Learn.

Good fit if you want to understand how great photographers think. Less good if you need camera basics or a practice plan: these are masterclasses, not step by step courses.

Magnum Learn offers Get Started in Photography for free, supported by MPB. Photographer and educator Daniel T. Wheeler and Magnum photographers Cristina de Middel and Rafał Milach cover the fundamentals over nine lessons: camera basics, equipment, genre, composition, editing, storytelling and voice, and more.

Free online photography classes are a great way to find out whether you enjoy the craft before you spend money. What they rarely give you is a plan you finish. If you go the free route, set yourself one small shooting assignment after every lesson.

CreativeLive

CreativeLive has a library of 2,300+ on-demand classes. A subscription includes a seat in its 100+ live classes a year, where you can ask questions during live Q&A. You can also buy many classes individually. On-demand class purchases aren't refundable, but you can exchange one within 7 days. I couldn't confirm a current subscription price on the pages I read, so check the site.

Skillshare

Skillshare is a subscription with a 7 day free trial, priced by region. Its photography classes are mostly short and end with a class project you can share in a gallery. It's a good way to sample many teachers, and you get design and illustration classes too. I cover its street photography classes in Phototactic vs Skillshare and Udemy.

Good fit if you like variety and want one bill for many creative skills. Less good if you tend to watch without shooting. A library that big makes it easy to keep watching.

The New York Institute of Photography runs self-paced online certificate programs, such as a Professional Photography Course and Fundamentals of Digital Photography. Its main selling point is one-to-one feedback: you submit photos online and a professional photographer mentor reviews them. Students also get a forum to share work. NYIP offers 14 days to try it and a full refund if it isn't right. I couldn't find the tuition on the pages I read, so ask them.

If feedback is what you need, the other option is a live online workshop. Maine Media Workshops runs live online workshops, including a street photography one capped at 10 students.

Good fit if you want someone to look at your photos. None of the video-only courses above does that for you.

Disclosure: this is my course and this site sells it.

Phototactic: Street Photography Secrets is an online street photography course about seeing, not settings. You learn picture patterns, the recurring structures in strong street photos, and composition keys: 5 laws, 6 elements and 8 arrangement principles. Later modules cover emotion and editing. Each of the eight modules has a cheat sheet and email exercises.

Six bonuses come with it, including a Photography Basics camera course and a recorded shooting demonstration. It costs $297, one payment, with a 60 day money back guarantee, and you can stream it or download the mp4 files.

Where it falls short: it only teaches street photography. Nobody critiques your photos, and there is no community. If you want feedback, NYIP or a workshop fits better.

For every street photography option, from Magnum's street course to free courses and workshops, see the best street photography courses. If you're new to the genre, start with street photography for beginners.

Start with what's wrong with your photos today. Photography is part science and part art. Some photos are technically correct and leave you cold, because they're missing emotion. Others have a clear idea but fail technically. Which one sounds like you decides the course.

• Blurry photos, or unsure of your settings: a technical course like Coursera's series or Udemy's Photography Masterclass. Our exposure triangle guide is a free start.
• Sharp but boring: a course on seeing and composition. Read photography composition, then pick a course that makes you practise it.
• Want to learn a specific genre: choose a teacher who works in it, such as Annie Leibovitz for portraits or a street photography course for the street.
• Stuck and need outside eyes: a program with mentor feedback, or a workshop.

Then check four practical things before you pay:

• Refund terms. They range from none to 60 days. Some only apply if you haven't started watching.
• Access. Streaming only, or downloads you keep?
• Practice. Are there assignments, or only videos?
• Feedback. Does anyone ever look at your photos?

Whatever you pick, the course only works if you shoot. Plan one assignment per lesson and go out with it the same week. If you want help deciding between a course and other ways to learn, read is a photography course worth it.