Are you planning on starting your portrait photography journey? We’ve got you covered.
Even though mastering portrait photography takes considerable time and practice, you can elevate your skills by learning and experimenting.
So here are the best portrait photography courses available online. These courses are ideal for beginners, intermediates, and professionals.
In this article, we have mentioned the details like ratings, duration, cost, and certifications for each course. This will make it easier for you to choose the best course according to your needs.
10 Best Portrait Photography Courses
- Portrait Photography (For Beginners) – By William Carnahan and Phil Ebiner
- Complete Portrait Photography Course (For Beginners) – By Lead Academy
- Portrait Photography Course (For Beginners and Professionals) – By Digital Sea Ltd
- Up-Close Portrait Photography: Start to Finish (For Beginners) – By Chris Orwig
- Portrait Photography with Natural Light (For Intermediates) – By Lupe de la Vallina
- Creative Portraits Photography Course (For Beginners and Professionals) – By Lara Zankoul
- Indoor Self-Portrait Photography On A Budget (For Intermediates) – By Taya Iv
- Portrait Photography (For Beginners) – By Ravi Dhingra
- Professional Portraits (For Beginners) – By Hannah Couzens
- Natural Light Portrait Photography (For Beginners) – By Kevin LJ
Let’s dive in deeper to see what each course has to offer.
1. Portrait Photography (For Beginners)
Created by: William Carnahan, Phil Ebiner
What will you learn:
This course by William Carnahan and Phil Ebiner is the ultimate beginner portrait photography course. This course will take you through the basics of portrait photography. From camera settings to editing final portraits, all the steps are explained in detail to help you understand them easily.
You’ll learn to take better portraits with any camera, with the proper settings, lighting, and appropriate posing guidelines. Additionally, this course provides downloadable photos to practice editing, and tips for shooting weddings, headshots, and family portraits. It also includes premium support from the instructors.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to take better portraits with any camera – DSLR, mirrorless, smartphone, or point-and-shoot.
Why should you take this course:
- The basics of portrait photography explained
- Easy to understand
- Downloadable resources to practice editing
- Premium support from instructors
- Affordable
Available on: Video School
Course Duration: 4.5 hours
Course Rating: 4.8 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $5.00
Course Completion Certificate – Yes
2. Complete Portrait Photography Course (For Beginners)
Created by: Lead Academy
What will you learn:
This course by Lead Academy is ideal for beginners willing to start their journey in portrait photography. It will allow you to learn about the principles and professional aspects of portrait photography. It will help you understand the portrait lighting patterns. You’ll also get to explore off-camera and on-camera flash ideas for getting better lighting.
This course provides knowledge about live portrait and natural light portrait sessions. You’ll also learn to photograph a family in natural light.
Additionally, the course provides e-learning study materials and an MCQ exam. You’ll also get 24/7 support access.
Why should you take this course:
- Helps you understand more about portrait lighting patterns
- Explains off-camera and on-camera flash ideas
- Provides e-learning study materials
- Provides MCQ exam
- 24/7 support access
Available On: lead-academy.com
Course Duration: 3.0 hours
Course Rating: 4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $25.63
Course Completion Certificate – Yes
3. Portrait Photography Course (For Beginners and Professionals)
Created by: Digital Sea Ltd
What will you learn:
This portrait photography course is suitable for both beginners and professionals. Anyone with a camera can master portrait photography using this course. It covers everything you need to start and excel in this genre.
This course has 17 easy-to-follow Photoshop tutorials and 18 comprehensive modules. It covers everything from scratch like styles of portraits, equipment needed, how to set up portraits, working with clients, and editing and retouching techniques.
Along with this, the course provides 10 optional assignments, interactive quizzes, downloadable guides, and access to the iPhotography app.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to capture stunning portraits of babies, pets, individuals, couples, and families.
Why should you take this course:
- Covers everything thoroughly from start to finish
- Guides you to take portraits of babies, pets, couples, and families.
- Includes 17 easy-to-follow Photoshop tutorials and 18 modules
- Includes 10 assignments, quizzes
- Downloadable guide for offline reference
- Access to iPhotography app
Available On: PhotoWhoa.com
Course Duration: 2.4 hours
Course Rating: 4.0 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $39.20
Course Completion Certificate – Yes
4. Up-Close Portrait Photography: Start to Finish (For Beginners)
Created by: Chris Orwig
What will you learn:
This course by Chris Orwig is all about up-close and natural light portrait photography. It is suitable for beginners just starting in the portrait field. This course will assist you in fabricating authentic portrait photographs and capturing their essence, emotions, and personality.
It covers post-production editing of portraits using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.
You will learn about combining black and white adjustments with creative cropping, retouching, color, and tone enhancements to create stunning portraits.
Chris will also walk you through the process of finding the most compelling image that stands out from the rest. So this course not only guides you to capture beautiful portraits but also to finish them with perfect and appealing editing.
Why should you take this course:
- Post-production editing explained in detail
- Explains about black and white adjustments and creative cropping
- Helps you in choosing the most compelling image
- Affordable
Available on: LinkedIn Learning
Course Duration: 2.5 hours
Course Rating: 4.6 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $17.65
Course Completion Certificate – Yes
5. Portrait Photography with Natural Light (For Intermediates)
Created by: Lupe de la Vallina
What will you learn:
This portrait photography course by Lupe de la Vallina helps you create memorable portraits with minimum resources. It focuses on capturing portrait photographs with natural light. This course is suitable for intermediates who have some basic knowledge of Photoshop. To take this course, you’ll need a reflex camera in manual mode, a luminous lens, and the Adobe Bridge software.
The course includes a guide to choosing the appropriate materials, shooting elements, and improvising tips to make flawless portraits. You’ll also get an idea of how to organize the photos to work on them. This course will teach you to organize space and time to find the best spots for photography. You’ll learn how to use light and color to convey the right mood and intensity.
So this course covers everything from capturing attractive portraits in natural light to finishing them off with final editing and a personal touch.
Why should you take this course:
- Explains everything you need to know about natural light photography
- Explains the use of light and color effectively
- Explains final editing of portraits
- Guide to choosing appropriate materials and shooting elements.
- Very affordable
Available On: Domestika
Course Duration: 2.1 hours
Course Rating: 4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $5.66
Course Completion Certificate – No
6. Creative Portraits Photography Course (For Beginners and Professionals)
Created by: Lara Zankoul
What will you learn:
This course by Lara Zankoul takes you through everything you need to know to create extraordinary, creative portraits. It will give you some innovative techniques to help you appealingly tell a story in a single frame.
This course focuses on teaching you to add fine art to your portraits. It gives an idea about concept, lighting, shooting, and pre-processing. It also comes with a live demo in a studio to help you understand the concepts clearly. This course covers four important stages: Lighting, framing, mood setup, and image retouching.
It is ideal for beginners as well as professionals who are interested in combining fine arts with photography.
Why should you take this course:
- Innovative techniques to tell a beautiful story in a single frame
- Includes a live demo to understand the concepts clearly
- Covers important steps of portrait photography
Available On: Artandcreativity.com
Course Duration: 4.3 hours
Course Rating: 4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $49.00
Course Completion Certificate – No
7. Indoor Self-Portrait Photography On A Budget (For Intermediates)
Created by: Taya Iv
What will you learn:
pPortrait photography courses by Taya Iv are perfect for intermediates with basic knowledge of photography who are interested in learning and exploring self-portrait photography. This indoor self-portrait course will guide you to comfortably take creative self-portraits indoors. You don’t need the latest equipment or expensive props to excel in this genre. You’ll learn to use simple items in your home to create breathtaking portraits that tell a story.
This course provides engaging videos about inspiration, self-portrait photography techniques, and much more. You’ll also gain access to a community of self-portrait photographers, and you’ll be able to communicate with Taya.
By the end of this course, you’ll feel more comfortable in front of the camera, and you’ll be able to take beautiful photos of yourself and make the most of your indoor space with the equipment you already have.
Why should you take this course:
- Step-by-step guide for self-portrait photography
- Helps you to use simples items in your home to create attractive portraits
- Includes engaging videos to boost your confidence
- Access to a community of self-portrait photographers
- Support by the instructor
Available On: photographycourse.net
Course Duration: 4.3 hours
Course Rating: 5.0 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $99.00
Course Completion Certificate – Yes
8. Portrait Photography (For Beginners)
Created by: Ravi Dhingra
What will you learn:
Portrait photography courses by Ravi Dhingra explain the fundamentals of portrait photography. It is ideal for beginners who want to understand the concepts of portraits and learn about the different techniques, poses, and lighting. This course gives you a basic idea about the camera settings required for portraits. It mainly focuses on different types of lighting used in portrait photography. It covers front lighting, butterfly lighting, front angular lighting, split lighting, and more.
This course also includes techniques to make your subject comfortable, posing tips, and tips for using gears. Additionally, it comes with some assignments and access to a discussion forum.
Why should you take this course:
- A detailed explanation of the fundamentals of portrait photography
- Covers all types of lighting techniques
- Includes posing tips and tips for using gears
- Comes with assignments
- Access to discussion forum
- Affordable
Available On: pixelviilage.com
Course Duration: 2.0 hours
Course Rating: 5.0 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $12.60
Course Completion Certificate – Yes
9. Professional Portraits (For Beginners)
Created by: Hannah Couzens
What will you learn:
Portrait photography courses by Hannah Couzens are excellent for beginners. It is perfect for anyone with basic or no knowledge of portrait photography. In this course, you’ll learn how to create natural-looking portraits indoors and outdoors.
You’ll discover how to mix ambient light and a flashlight to create beautiful and elegant portraits. This course gives you an idea of how to use various elements in your surroundings to create different portraits.
It comes with a guide to creating a variety of corporate headshot portraits. Additionally, you’ll learn to use advanced lighting techniques to create cinematic and dramatic portrait photographs.
So this course mainly focuses on the overall idea of portrait photography and how you can spruce up your portrait photographs.
Why should you take this course:
- Perfect for absolute beginners
- Gives you ideas for taking portraits indoors and outdoors
- Teaches you to use advanced lighting techniques
Available On: Profoto
Course Duration: 2.4 hours
Course Rating: 4.1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $199.00
Course Completion Certificate – Yes (Extra $20)
10. Natural Light Portrait Photography (For Beginners)
Created by: Kevin LJ
What will you learn:
Portrait photography courses by Kevin LJ give you all the essentials of portrait photography. It is perfect for photographers who want to learn the art of natural light portraits. It covers all the steps of taking portraits like choosing lens focal length, checking your shutter speed, refining your natural expressions, directing your subject, reading the light, and much more. You’ll also get an idea about working in bright light, shade, and overcast light. So if you’re interested in exploring natural light portrait photography, this course is for you.
Why should you take this course:
- Explains in depth about natural light photography
- Explains about bright light, shade, and overcast light
- Helps you choose lens focal length, and check the shutter speed
Available On: photographycourse.net
Course Duration: 4.3 hours
Course Rating: 5.0 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Price: $29.00
Course Completion Certificate – Yes
So now that you have an idea about all the best portrait photography courses available online, you can choose the course that suits you best. You can check for criteria like price, duration, ratings, and certifications.
Get enrolled in the best course that will help you to start your portrait photography journey and enhance your skills. You would also want to check out our best selling portrait photography products 3,100+ Portrait Photography Poses
If you think we missed out on any good courses, let us know in the comments.
