The 7 Best Photography YouTube Channels To Follow If You Want to Become a Better Photographer

Eight years ago, my journey into the world of photography began with the arrival of my first daughter. I found myself unable to resist capturing every moment of her life through the lens, which ignited a passion for photography that still burns brightly today. What started as an unquenchable desire to preserve those precious moments led me down a path of self-discovery and a deep passion for photography. This passion led me to explore every resource I could find for taking better pictures. In this post, I’m excited to introduce you to the photography YouTube channels to follow that have been instrumental in my growth, guiding you from beginner to more advanced levels in your photography journey. In this post I’ll share:

The Best YouTube Channels For Photography Beginners

My Favorite Subscription Service That Helped Me IMMENSELY,

What’s In My Camera Bag 

and how YOU too, can follow your dreams into either taking better photos or becoming a photographer yourself 🙂

*This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure for more info. 

Right after I had my first child all I could do was take pictures of her every single day, all day. I’m talking like 20 pictures of her sleeping in the same spot, 15 pictures of her toes, and 10…..ok, 30 pictures of her little hands. Any other parent reading this out there relate? #sleepstalkersunite

So, I wanted to start taking a more professional approach to just using my iPhone all day which was constantly telling me that it was “out of memory.” I begged my husband for a camera and for my first Christmas as a mother, he gave me my very first camera bundle….The Canon Rebel T5.

I had no idea how to really use it at all, but I would play around taking pictures with it all day. Then I started figuring out that just using the camera in its basic, Auto mode, wasn’t gonna get me anywhere near the professional-looking shots I wanted and so began my search to find the best photography YouTube channels there was to use the darn thing and become a better photographer. 

Today, I have my own videos teaching others how to edit, am working on some courses, and actually give away a FREE PRESET right here on the blog, that you can view under my Photography tab including:

Editing Photos In VSCO

A Quick Lightroom Tutorial – Fixing Yellow Lighting

Lightroom Tutorial #2 – Portraits

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Best YouTube Channels For Photography Beginners

If you just got your camera and know absolutely nothing about how to shoot manually, how to achieve a blurry background, or what the different types of lenses are…these accounts are where you should start. And if you are seasoned, the last two will really help you learn a thing or two about different photography techniques. 

Shameless Maya

Maya is an extraordinarily fun individual to watch on YouTube with her many videos, but her “TECH TALK” series is what got me learning how to really understand my camera. This video in particular taught me right off the bat that I needed to learn three things first and foremost and that was the “THREE settings you need to know about photos and videos“…watch her spunky personality explain it below.

Other great videos to learn from her:

How To Achieve Blurry Backgrounds In Photos/Videos

Understanding Lenses For Beginners

Peter McKinnon

Peter is downright a huge BOOK of knowledge! I like to think of him as “the walking encyclopedia of all things photography” his whole channel is on photography, filmmaking, editing tutorials, tips and tricks, camera equipment, and I could go on and on! But, what truly sets him apart is his upbeat teaching approach and the way that he explains it in terms that everyone can understand. Just watch this video on Camera Basics below to see what I mean.

Other great videos to learn from Peter:

Camera Basics 2

Beginner Photography Mistakes – What to avoid to take better photos

Why You Aren’t Taking Better Photos

Mango Street

Rachel and Daniel are a husband and wife team who share amazing tutorials on their channel. Not only are they REALLY GOOD, but just watching how pleasing their videos are edited will get ya sucked in every time. They also get brownie points in my book for naming their French Bulldog – Carlton Banks! Here’s them explaining why it’s not always “about the gear you use” when shooting that gets the best photos. 

Other great videos by Mango Street:

Take Your Photos To The Next Level When In A Creative Rut

10 Tips To INSTANTLY Take Better Photos

So, these are the accounts that got me off the ground and running to learn how to become a better photographer but there are others that I believe could still help you immensely and you can check out those accounts at:

The Art of Photography 

B & H Photo Video

Taylor Cut Films

Lucy Marti

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Learning with Skillshare

Ok, now aside from YouTube I wanted to suggest the best online service I have subscribed to as well. Remember “the best investment you can make is one in yourself.” That means investing in courses and classes to help you become a better photographer as well. If you really want to learn various photography techniques I would REALLY recommend the subscription-based service Skillshare. 

Skillshare is seriously PACKED with over 29,000 classes! Not only is it jam-packed with all sorts of photography courses you can also learn about business, graphic design, Pinterest, blogging, and so much more! 

You can enroll for free with access to a few courses but to really gain some knowledge you can sign up for the Premium account (which I highly recommend!) at a monthly cost of $15 a month. Or pay in full the $99 for a year and you’ll be roughly $8.25 a month. Your 3 daily Starbucks runs can totally be sacrificed to benefit your skills! 

The best part is you can watch all of this on your phone with the app! When I first enrolled, I would just take a photography or editing class almost every night before bed for the first couple of months just soaking it all in. 

If you sign up HERE you can get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium to try. 

Some of my favorite classes have been: 

Low-Light Photography: Settings & Tips to Capture the Dark

Understanding Aperture: Add Drama to Your Street Photos

Fundamentals of Lightroom I: Organize Files and Boost Your Workflow

Read the reviews before hand to make sure others are finding a class useful and get a notebook out to write down any key points you want to remember. 

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Currently In My Camera Bag

Camera Bag

My camera bag is my fourth child and I lug that thing around with me everywhere! Honestly I really don’t need to bring the whole thing with me cause it’s HUGE but I love that in case I need it…it’s there. And ironically guys, my bag is actually from a brand called INCASE.

This thing can hold a DSLR camera and has fully customizable dividers. It can hold up to four additional lenses, multiple flashes, cables, and batteries. A monopod or tripod can easily be fastened to the side of the pack and it has a front storage compartment for your laptop! 

 INCASE BAG

Camera Body 

Like I said I originally started off with the Canon Rebel T5 which is a great beginner DSLR but after getting more familiar with and learning how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, all work together I was ready to upgrade to a full-frame camera and settled on the Canon 5d Mark II. 

Now this is an older camera body and honestly isn’t even sold in many places anymore aside from on resale sites. If I could upgrade (and recommend one) I would go with the Canon 6d Mark II because not only is it full frame and wifi capable, but it’s also one of the few full-frame DSLRs that has flip-out screens that comes in so handy when you’re taking videos or photos of yourself. 

 

CANON 6D MARK II

*NOTE: I’ve heard so many photographers who shoot with the ever-popular Canon 5D Mark IV (which seems to be the most used among influencers right now) say that they can’t see much of a difference between the two. But the price tag is pretty astonishing between them with the Canon 5D Mark IV at nearly $3,000 and the Canon 6D Mark II at roughly $1,300. 

Camera Lenses

For a beginner enthusiast photographer on a budget, the 50 mm 1.8 is the ultimate learning lens at an immersive price tag of only $125 new. A 50mm lens is considered to be the closest to the human eye. When you first learn about aperture (the depth of field), this lens is definitely a beginner’s go-to. 

I give so much credit to this lens for teaching me how to become a better photographer. 

CANON 50MM F/1.8 

Next up we have the Canon 16-35mm f/4.0. Now, they do make an f/2.8 which if I could have afforded it at the time would have definitely gone with, but this lens at f/4 is still such an amazing wide-angle lens. 

You can seriously take some epic photos with the 16-35mm and it is seriously my favorite lens to date! If you shoot a lot in your home, this lens will help you capture the whole room! (wide angle lenses are ideal for indoor photography and landscapes). 

CANON 16-35MM