Up your photo game with the best photography classes in NYC
Nowadays, you'll see almost everyone on the streets with their phones out, thinking they're professional photographers, trying to capture the perfect foodie pic or landmark landscape for their Insta'. No shade though, smartphone cameras are pretty good when it comes to photo quality, and many of us are talented enough to get a great shot - even if we use filters that fix everything (no judgment here).
NYC is a photographer's wet dream. Whether it’s iconic buildings, stunning city views, beautiful churches, pretty parks or even incredible dishes and cocktails at the best restaurants and best bars in the city, you can get great shots of them all to share on social media. But for those who want to learn how to really capture the best pics, here are the best photography classes in NYC to get you started. Lights, camera, action.
RECOMMENDED: Full guide to classes in NYC
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This school caters to budding photographers and photo hobbyists, giving them both coursework and a confidence boost. Newbies can start off with lessons on getting better acquainted with their equipment and then take on subsequent course levels on composition, exposure, editing and building a portfolio. There are also courses designed for kids and teens, and seasonal classes and workshops extend to travel, street photography and landscapes.
Open to all levels and experience, The Art of Intuitive Photography focuses on enhancing your instinct and intuition regarding photography, helping you to learn how to see things differently and improving your compositions. There are beginner classes available, as well as ones for more experienced photographers. Taught in small groups to ensure everyone has equal opportunity to grow their expertise and skill.
In this digital photography course, you will get practical, real-world experience with the basics of digital photography and the foundational principles of photography as an art form. You’ll learn how to make use of your personal digital camera and how to take advantage of the unique features it has, then you’ll learn how to take photos that are more complex than simple snapshots as you learn about things like perspective and framing. This course serves as a great introduction to the art of digital photography for aspiring hobbyist photographers who want to take their work to a level above simple smartphone photography.
A photography classes gift card is a great gift for anyone looking to sharpen their skills in this creative art form. NYC is a learning hub with numerous classes and impressive backdrops that offer countless opportunities to learn and practice their photography skills in a vibrant location. For beginners, a gift card offers an accessible entry point into photography to learn the basics, such as understanding aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Advanced photographers can use their gift cards to learn specialized techniques like night photography or even post-processing with tools like Photoshop.
The Digital Photo Academy offers a wide range of photography courses, both studio classes and on-site photography seminars that will see students visiting some of the iconic spaces of New York City. Start your journey off with an introduction to your digital camera, in a workshop that will see a professional photographer guiding you through the process of working with the camera you have brought into the studio (ensuring that you get practical advice on working with your own tools). Then, put this knowledge to use in one of Digital Photo Academy’s many guided photography tours, with destinations like Central Park, The New York Public Library, Eldridge Street or Battery Park.
Explore the urban jungle camera in hand with this unique experience that combines city walking tours with lessons on how to capture the best photos while you're on the go. Tours take you to Central Park, Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, the NYC subway and many other destinations. Classes include a three-day intensive Photo Boot Camp under the direction of photographic pros who teach you the finer points of camera settings, composition skills and other improvements to your photography chops as you snap away at famous landmarks and icons of NYC.
Penumbra Foundation is a non-profit photographic arts organization with a mission to bring the opportunity to learn skills and educate people in a diverse and evolving international photographic community. They have several courses like Introduction to Lighting and Creating Narrative Through Still Life Photography, plus many others, all helping people of various skill levels learn more techniques within the photography world. Classes are taught in small groups to help ensure everyone gets 1-on-1 help from the teacher.
Intuitive Photography offers an introductory digital photography course that is perfect for anyone looking to learn how to navigate their way around their digital camera. Participants will learn the basics of photography concepts like ISO, aperture and shutter speed and they will get real, practical experience taking photographs to put this knowledge to use. By the end of this course, you’ll be more comfortable taking photographs, and you’ll be ready to start learning more advanced digital photography techniques.
Photo Safari offers a fast-paced and exciting photography experience for anyone looking to capture the iconic majesty of New York City. In this course, students will learn essential photography skills (with a particular emphasis on landscape and architectural photography, since this is New York, after all) as they visit Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Empire State Building, and Central Park to photograph all of the most beautiful vistas the city has to offer. If you are interested in photography and want to visit some of the most iconic sites in New York, this is the event for you.
While digital photography may be all the rage these days, there is something tactile and special about classic photography techniques that makes them a real joy to learn. For example, the art of wet plate photography, which involves pouring chemicals directly onto metal plates (and eroding them in a specific way to leave behind a photographic image) dates back to the 19th century and can allow artists to produce stunning images to display. In this wet plate course, offered by the Penumbra Foundation, students will learn how to prepare a sheet for corroding, how to safely handle the chemicals and how to pour the chemicals to ensure a beautiful finished product properly.
There are few places better to practice photography than a museum. Not only do you have a range of amazing art to photograph, but museums are full of interesting people, stunning architecture and beautiful scenery. And, if you live in NYC, there is no better museum to practice your photography skills in than The Met. In this guided walking tour of the museum, an experienced photographer will teach you about essential photography concepts, like lighting and composition, as you take advantage of the wide range of subjects offered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Lighting is, for a lot of reasons, one of the most important parts of getting a perfect photograph. Naturally, this makes taking photos in low ambient light (like at night) significantly more difficult. In this photo safari to New York’s Time Square, you’ll learn how to use ambient light and low light to create stunning photographs that leverage the darkness to your advantage. You’ll learn how to scout out locations, utilize flash and high exposure time techniques to create stunning images and how to capture ethereal motion. This course does require a tripod and a camera with the necessary features (a knowledge of photography techniques isn’t a must, but this also isn’t recommended to be your first photo safari).
The first step towards mastering any art form is becoming familiar with your tools and understanding how they work. Photography is no different, and it can be intimidating for new photographers when they upgrade from a point-and-shoot smartphone to a real digital camera. The Digital Photo Academy understands this and offers a seminar on digital camera controls to help new photographers feel comfortable with their cameras. These lessons are tailored to your specific camera, so you bring it in, and the instructor will walk you through how to make changes to settings (and why you would want to) on your personal camera. Plus, every session of this workshop is scheduled immediately before one of Digital Photo Academy’s other photography safari courses, meaning you can start using your new photography knowledge right away.
Central Park is one of the great wonders of the modern world, and it is a perfect place to visit if you are looking to learn the art of photography (particularly landscape and architectural photography, but also human photography, given how many people visit the park). In this guided photo safari, students will visit Central Park and receive a guided tour with a professional photographer who will teach them the essential photography skills they need to capture the beauty of the park’s scenery and landscapes. Students will learn how to scout locations for a shoot and how to ensure that the photographs they take are well-composed and well-lit, even during a live outdoor shoot.
Are you ready to take of that set of training wheels called automatic mode on your camera and take pictures like a real pro? Does the idea of taking to the skies and learning the art of drone photography get you stoked? Are you itching to take your camera into the streets, and nail that perfect shot on the fly? Well here's some good news: You can learn all of those and and more at the various photo classes being offered as part of NYU's continuing education program.
You’d be forgiven for not thinking of daguerreotype, a method of creating images using silvered copper plates and mercury-based chemicals, as a type of photography (or, at all, given that it was developed in the 1850s). However, if you are looking to create stunning works of art in a manner that isn’t commonly practiced, taking a daguerreotype class might be worth your while. You’ll learn how to prep the plates, prepare the chemicals (which are now, thankfully, mercury free) and process the images. By the end of the class, you’ll have your own daguerreotype image to take home and put on display.
Smartphones have fundamentally changed the way we think about photography, as the average person now carries a digital with them everywhere that is significantly higher quality than even professional set-ups from a decade ago. While not as powerful as a modern digital camera, smartphone photography offers significantly more complexity than just point and shoot. This course will guide you through the art of smartphone photography so that you are comfortable making use of the specific features of the camera that you use to make phone calls and connect to the internet.
If you are looking for a fun corporate team-building event, birthday activity or just something to do with a bunch of your friends, you may want to consider a photography course. Nowadays, virtually everyone is carrying a phone (attached to a super computer) in their pocket that is more powerful than even top end commercial digital cameras from a few decades ago. In this group workshop, you’ll learn how to maximize the quality of your shots with a phone camera and your attendees will get hands-on practice using photo editing tools to compose brilliant shots and tell compelling stories.
f you are interested in a private photography lesson, you and up to five other people can spend a half-a-day on location getting personalized instruction and assistance in all things digital photography. You will have the chance to work on your own photography projects and get the assistance that you need regardless of your experience level or the kinds of work that you choose to undertake. Perfect for new and experienced photographers alike, this private photography class is a great way to develop the skills that you want to practice.
If you’re searching for a beginner-friendly photography class, you couldn’t ask for a better backdrop than New York City. The city’s array of unique, urban landmarks, contrasted with the natural beauty in places like Central Park and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, make it a wonderful place for photographers of all backgrounds and skill levels to find inspiration and improve their techniques. With the wide range of classes to pick from, choosing the one that’s right for you can feel somewhat daunting. Below, you’ll find a list of tips and essential factors to consider that will help you narrow your search and feel more confident in your decision. From researching the style of photography that you’re most passionate about to more practical matters like budget and schedule, there are multiple ways you can streamline the selection process and find a photography class that aligns with your goals.
One of the best ways to start narrowing down your choices is to select from a list of classes that match your current skill level. If you’re a complete beginner, the Photography Crash Course program at PhotoUno Photography School is worth looking into. This class only takes a single day (six hours) to complete and covers a wide range of essential techniques and concepts like ISO and composition. This class is ideal for people who want to learn how to take high-quality pictures in a variety of settings, including outdoor action shots and portraits. If you already feel confident in the basics, perhaps a class that focuses on editing or lighting would be a better fit. The Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp at Noble Desktop takes learners from beginner to intermediate as they explore some of the program’s most essential functions, including retouching, masks, layers, and filters.
You can also explore classes based on the type of photography that interests you. For instance, aspiring digital photographers can check out Digital Photography I: An Introduction for Beginners at Art of Intuitive Photography. This three-hour program helps students learn more about the various functions of a digital camera, like aperture and shutter speed, through a variety of hands-on exercises. More advanced students who are more interested in portrait photography might enjoy the Portrait Photography program at PhotoUno Photography School. This is a five-week intermediate program that covers posing and lighting principles that serve to enhance the visual appeal of a portrait. Students will also study the work of other photographers to further hone their individual artistic styles.
You’ll also want to feel comfortable with your budget before settling on a particular class. The amount of money you’ll spend on a photography class depends on a few factors, but one of the main things that influence the price is the duration of a class. Some photography classes only last for a few hours or a single day. These workshops tend to cost between $125 and $375 and are an excellent option for those looking for a quick introduction to photography before investing in a more extensive class. There are also some private single-session options, but these tend to be more expensive. Longer workshops have a wide range of prices depending on what you’re learning and the tools provided, but most cost around $600 and last anywhere from three to eight weeks.
Before finalizing your decision, you may also want to research the credentials of any potential instructors you want to learn from. You can look at their work at various galleries and on social media to see if you gravitate towards their style, or, if you want to learn from someone with a different approach to photography, you can search for an instructor whose style is very different from your own. You may want to check out reviews of any classes that interest you as well. Reading reviews of former students is a great way to gather additional information on a class that you may not find anywhere else. From reviews, you can typically learn more about the instructor’s teaching style and whether students felt that the class was a positive experience that was worth their time and money.
Once you’ve decided which photography class you’re going to attend, there are still some additional steps you can take to ensure you get the most out of your experience and that it’s as stress-free as possible. One thing you can do is conduct a little research about the style of photography you want to learn. For example, if you’re taking a portrait photography class, you can look at some famous portrait photographers’ work to see what inspires you and what specific styles you gravitate towards. Taking some time to learn more about different techniques will help you pinpoint what you want to learn and may even help you come prepared with questions for your instructor.
You may also want to purchase a camera and photo editing software if you don’t already own these things. While some schools allow students to borrow a camera for the duration of the class, most encourage participants to bring their own so they can get more comfortable with specific settings and features of their personal devices. In terms of editing programs, Adobe Photoshop is the gold standard. This program is primarily used to edit, enhance, and retouch photos, but it also has graphic design and animation capabilities as well. A subscription to Photoshop costs between $20-$54 a month, depending on whether you want access to other Adobe programs as well. Adobe also offers a free trial if you want to try out the basics before making a purchase.
On the day of the class, you’ll need to dress and pack appropriately for the day ahead. Some photography classes are in a classroom, but a lot of them take advantage of the city’s surroundings, which means you’ll be walking and will want to wear comfortable shoes. Depending on the weather, you may need to prepare for rain or bring lots of water to stay hydrated. A lot of photography classes last for an entire day, so it’s important to bring snacks or inquire about any lunch/dinner breaks as well.
There are multiple kinds of people who would highly enjoy a photography class:
Aspiring photographers
If you’re hoping to pursue photography as a professional, a structured class is an excellent way to ensure you’re learning appropriate techniques and getting high-quality feedback on your work. Photography classes can also provide exciting networking opportunities as well as several chances for students to build their portfolios and learn from others. A class like Digital Photography I: Taking Control of Your Camera at PhotoUno Photography School is a comprehensive option that meets for six sessions, so you’re sure to get a thorough education on topics like exposure, focus control, white balance, and more.
Teens
Photography classes offer teens plenty of opportunities to develop both practical and interpersonal skills. For those interested in attending a college that specializes in the arts, a class also enables them to add work to their portfolios and demonstrate their skills in a concrete way. A photography class will also expose them to numerous artistic concepts like composition and lighting, which is valuable regardless of the type of art they wish to pursue. Beyond technical and creative expertise, photography encourages self-expression and allows teens to explore their unique creative perspectives and artistic styles. A photography class could also help to boost self-esteem as they share their work and develop a sense of accomplishment. The three-hour workshops at Digital Photo Academy are all appropriate for students 15 and older and provide an excellent introduction to the world of photography.
Colleagues
Coworkers looking for a unique team building activity in New York City may want to consider a photography class. Because these workshops are often held outside or at a museum, they provide a much-needed change of scenery from the busy and stressful workplace. These classes are laid-back and offer a collaborative atmosphere where peers can spend plenty of time brainstorming ideas and offering suggestions to each other. A photography class can also be an excellent way for coworkers to get to know each other better. Wandering around the city naturally encourages conversation about people’s interests, travel experiences, favorite restaurants, and other lighthearted topics. A class like Iconic New York at New York City Photo Safari would make a wonderful team building activity because it combines the creative aspect of learning a new skill with the gorgeous backdrop of some of New York’s most famous landmarks, including Radio City Music Hall and the Empire State Building.
For those looking for adult education programs to help them get in touch with their creative sides, there are also plenty of high-quality painting classes in New York. Both photography and painting allow for someone to explore their unique artistic style while learning how to tell a visual story. They both also require a great deal of patience and continuous practice, so someone skilled in one area may thrive in the other since they’re aware of the level of discipline required to improve. Painting and photography also benefit from an understanding of similar artistic concepts, like composition and color theory. Whether you’re creating an image from scratch on a canvas or finding the perfect shot in Times Square, it’s important that you understand the best way to frame the image so it appeals to an audience.
Those who enjoy photography could also look into some of the best drawing classes in New York. Like photography, drawing can be an incredibly relaxing and meditative hobby, allowing someone to reduce stress as they get more in touch with their imaginations. Drawing and photography also require proficiency with similar principles, like a deep understanding of how light and shadow impact a final image. A photographer looking to experiment with new techniques may also welcome the wider range of tools available in a drawing class. Both hobbies offer plenty of opportunities to experiment with your creativity as you observe your surroundings and visually tell a story.
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