Best MasterClass Photography Classes 2026: Leibovitz, Chin + Sessions Ranked

Last updated: October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. See our review methodology.

Why MasterClass for photography?

MasterClass has three photography classes and one Session, each from a well-known photographer: Annie Leibovitz on portraits, Jimmy Chin on adventure photography, Tyler Mitchell on telling stories through portraits, and Petra Collins on film photography. They teach how a working photographer sees: concept, light, composition and how to work with a subject.

They are not complete camera courses. Chin’s class and Collins’s Session cover settings, and Leibovitz has a lesson on the technical side, but none of them walks a beginner through a camera from scratch. The production quality is high, with real shoots filmed on location and in the studio.

How we ranked these classes

Each class was scored on:

• Instructor authority: published work, awards and career
• Practical applicability: whether a serious amateur or working photographer can use the techniques
• Lesson depth: the number of lessons and how much ground they cover
• Genre coverage: portrait, adventure, commercial, documentary
• Technical level: how much prior experience the class assumes

The best MasterClass photography classes (ranked)

1. Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography

Best for: portrait photographers and anyone photographing people. Length: 15 lessons, 3 hours 4 minutes.

MasterClass notes that Leibovitz’s portraits have appeared in museums, books and magazines from Vanity Fair to Rolling Stone. The class covers portrait photography, creating concepts, working with light, studio against location and working with your subject, then a case study on her Angels in America shoot for Vogue. Later lessons cover photographing people close to you, looking back at your own work and the technical side of photography. A 25-minute lesson of student sessions shows her reviewing other photographers’ work, and a two-part case study follows a shoot with chef Alice Waters from the session itself through digital post-production. The class ends with her influences and how a photographer evolves.

If you photograph people in any setting (families, weddings, branding or journalism), this is the most useful MasterClass photography class.

Watch Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography →

2. Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography

Best for: outdoor, travel, sports and documentary photographers. Length: 20 lessons, 4 hours 10 minutes.

MasterClass notes that Chin has shot National Geographic covers and won an Academy Award. His class opens on location with a climbing shoot and natural-light portraits, then covers capturing your passions, the principles of narrative (concept, research, pitch, shoot and edit), commercial work with a case study on a Canon shoot, high-stakes photography and building a team. The technical lessons are the most detailed of any MasterClass photography class: gear (cameras, lenses, power and storage), settings (modes, ISO, focus and depth of field), editing and two post-processing walkthroughs.

It is longer than Leibovitz’s class and more practical about the business of photography. Only a few lessons need a mountain.

Watch Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography →

3. Petra Collins: Capture Your Vision Through Photography (Session)

Best for: hobbyists who want a guided project, and anyone curious about film. Format: a MasterClass Session in four modules.

This Session used to be listed as “Take Photos You Are Proud Of”; the same page is now Petra Collins’s Capture Your Vision Through Photography. Sessions are project-based: you shoot an original photo series over four modules (gearing up for inspiration, understanding your camera and lighting, portraits and your subject, and creating your series), with a peer community for feedback and discussion. Skills listed include loading film, setting your f-stop, adjusting exposure, using the focus ring, depth of field, natural and studio light, and editing your series.

Note that it is a film photography course: the starter kit and checklist assume a film camera. MasterClass says it suits all levels.

See Petra Collins’s photography Session →

4. Tyler Mitchell Teaches Storytelling Through Portrait Photography

Best for: portrait photographers building a personal style. Length: 11 lessons, 1 hour 30 minutes.

Mitchell’s class is short and demo-led: telling stories with photography, lighting and composition, shooting indoors and outdoors with natural light, editing your photos, choosing a camera that reflects your voice, film photography in the studio, art directing your photos, finding an audience online and building confidence as an artist.

Take it after Leibovitz if you want a younger photographer’s approach to portraits and sharing work online.

Watch Tyler Mitchell Teaches Portrait Photography →

Lesson counts, running times and Session details come from each class page on masterclass.com, read on 14 October 2026. MasterClass re-edits and renames classes from time to time, so check the class page before you plan around a specific lesson.

Which MasterClass photography class should you take first?

• You photograph people: Annie Leibovitz, then Tyler Mitchell for a second view on portraits.
• You shoot outdoors, travel or sports: Jimmy Chin. His narrative and commercial lessons also help anyone pitching photo work to clients.
• You want to understand your settings: Jimmy Chin’s gear and settings lessons first, then Leibovitz’s technical-side lesson.
• You want a project to finish: Petra Collins’s Session, which ends with your own photo series.
• You shoot film or want to start: Petra Collins, then Tyler Mitchell’s film-in-the-studio demo.
• You want to share work online: Tyler Mitchell, whose class ends with finding an audience and building confidence as an artist.

What’s not on MasterClass for photography

Know the gaps before you subscribe purely for photography:

• A beginner’s camera course. Chin and Collins cover settings, but nothing walks you through a digital camera from the start. Use your manual, YouTube or a beginner course.
• Lightroom and Photoshop. Chin’s post-processing lessons, Leibovitz’s post-production case study and Mitchell’s editing demo show editing, but there is no dedicated software class. Our photo editing courses guide covers that.
• Wedding and event photography. Portrait principles transfer, but the business and workflow are not covered.
• Running a photography business. Chin covers pitching and commercial clients; pricing and contracts are not covered.

If photography is your only interest, MasterClass works best next to camera and editing training rather than as a complete curriculum.

Should you subscribe just for photography?

The three photography classes run 46 lessons and just under 9 hours, plus the Session. At $120 a year for Standard, that is fair value if you watch all of them, and better if you also use classes from other categories such as design, film or writing.

If you only want one class, watch it within the 30-day guarantee window and decide whether to keep the membership.

What MasterClass costs (October 2026)

Every plan includes every class, photography included. MasterClass does not sell single classes: each class page offers the membership (“Get this class and 200+ more”). The 30-day money-back guarantee covers first-time purchases made on the MasterClass website; renewals and memberships bought through Apple or Google follow those stores’ rules (our cancellation and refund guide has the steps). We read these prices from MasterClass’s checkout on 14 October 2026, when no sale was running. MasterClass took 50% off annual memberships for Black Friday in both 2024 and 2025 (see our Black Friday tracker), and a gift membership renews automatically after its first year unless the recipient turns renewal off.

Photography-specific alternatives to MasterClass

• CreativeLive has one of the deepest photography libraries online, with structured classes from working photographers. Our CreativeLive courses guide goes deeper.
• KelbyOne is a photography-only subscription with nearly 1,000 courses and a strong focus on Lightroom and Photoshop. On 14 October 2026 it cost $199 a year (marked down from $249) or $19.99 a month (marked down from $24.99).
• Skillshare has project-based photography classes from a wide range of instructors; see our Skillshare alternatives for how it compares.
• Free YouTube channels such as Peter McKinnon, Jessica Kobeissi and Mango Street cover technique with no subscription.

For broader context, see MasterClass alternatives and our full list of the best online photography courses.

Final recommendation

Only one class: Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography.
Outdoor, travel or commercial work: Jimmy Chin, which also has the most technical lessons.
Want a guided project: Petra Collins’s Session, if you are happy to shoot film.
Building a portrait style: Tyler Mitchell after Leibovitz.

See our worth-it analysis if you are still on the fence about MasterClass overall.

Start with Annie Leibovitz (30-day guarantee) →

Every lesson in the three MasterClass photography classes

The ranked list explains what each photographer teaches. These are the full lesson plans with running times, so you can see where the technical lessons sit and how much of each class is a case study you watch rather than a technique you practice.

Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography: 15 lessons, 3 hours 4 minutes

The two longest lessons are “Student Sessions,” where she reviews other photographers’ work, and “Portrait Photography,” at about 25 and 20 minutes. Only one lesson, “The Technical Side of Photography,” is about equipment and settings; the two-part Alice Waters case study shows a shoot from planning through digital post-production.

Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography: 20 lessons, 4 hours 10 minutes

Chin opens on location with a climbing shoot, and the Canon commercial case study is the longest lesson at 23 minutes. The technical block (editing, two post-processing walkthroughs, gear and settings, lessons 13 to 17) runs 1 hour 2 minutes, more hands-on technical teaching than any other MasterClass photography class.

Tyler Mitchell Teaches Storytelling Through Portrait Photography: 11 lessons, 1 hour 30 minutes

Four of Mitchell’s 11 lessons are demos (natural light indoors and outdoors, editing, and film photography in the studio). Together they run 45 minutes, about half the class, which makes it the most demonstration-led of the three.

Lesson titles and running times come from each class page on masterclass.com, read on 14 October 2026. MasterClass re-edits and renames classes from time to time, so check the class page before you plan around a specific lesson.

What photographers on Reddit say about MasterClass photography classes

We read the main photography-subreddit threads about these classes (2018 to 2023). The verdict is consistent, and it matches how we rank them:

• Leibovitz is a lecture about how she thinks. In a 2018 r/AskPhotography thread the top replies called it an interesting lecture or interview rather than an instructional class, with her philosophy front and center and little on the technical side. In a 2018 r/photography thread one buyer said they asked for a refund because it felt more like a documentary; another subscriber called it more inspirational than instructional.
• Quality varies by instructor. The same r/photography subscriber said some classes, such as Aaron Sorkin’s, were very educational while others rambled, which is why we rank Jimmy Chin’s technical lessons highly for anyone who wants practical instruction.
• Most improvement comes from shooting. A 2023 r/AmateurPhotography thread on whether masterclasses are worth it leaned no: free tutorials, shooting regularly and getting feedback from other photographers did more for most people.
• Where photographers send beginners instead. In a 2021 r/photography thread asking for a worthwhile paid class, the top answers pointed to free YouTube channels, community-college photography classes, KelbyOne and LinkedIn Learning, and a Udemy course called Photography Masterclass (covered below).

Not the same thing: Udemy’s “Photography Masterclass”

Searches for a “photography masterclass” often turn up a different product: Photography Masterclass: Your Complete Guide to Photography, a Udemy course created by Phil Ebiner with co-instructors. It is unrelated to MasterClass the company. On 14 October 2026 its Udemy page showed a 4.7 rating from 78,930 ratings, 415,847 students and a last update in September 2026.

It is the opposite of the MasterClass approach. Its Udemy page lists 55 sections, 702 lectures and 121 hours 17 minutes of material, and promises manual camera settings, composition, flash and natural light, editing, and making money with photography. It is sold as a one-time purchase, and Udemy prices change constantly. If your goal is to learn your camera from scratch, it covers the ground MasterClass leaves out; if you want to understand how Annie Leibovitz or Jimmy Chin approach a shoot, MasterClass is the only place to get that.

See the Udemy Photography Masterclass →

What MasterClass members say, and how to avoid the renewal surprise

If you are subscribing mainly for photography, these points matter more than any single lesson:

MasterClass’s Trustpilot page had a TrustScore of 1.6 from 1,178 reviews when we read it on 14 October 2026, and Trustpilot notes that MasterClass has no recent history of asking customers for reviews, so the page leans toward people with a problem. We read the 40 most recent dated reviews (18 June to 30 September 2026): 33 gave one star, and nearly all of those were about billing rather than classes. The same complaints repeat: an annual membership that renewed without the buyer noticing a reminder, a cancel option that was hard to find, support handled by an AI chatbot, and partial refund offers after a renewal had gone through. Several people who received a gift membership said activating it asked for a card that would renew. Two complained about extras: one said the PDF workbooks for some classes sat behind a further paywall, another that the Certificates they bought came with 12 months of access rather than for life. The content complaints called some classes basic. The two happy reviewers said the teachers were inspiring and that canceling was easy for them.

None of that is specific to these classes, but it should change how you buy:

• It is an annual charge. Class pages say “Starting at $10/month, billed annually”: the monthly figure is the yearly price divided by twelve, and the membership renews each year until you cancel the renewal.
• The refund window is 30 days. MasterClass’s FAQ says it offers a full refund within 30 days of the date you bought the subscription, and that there are no refunds for partially unused membership periods.
• Cancel the renewal early if you only want one year. MasterClass says you cancel renewal on the Settings page of your account, and the membership will then not renew. Doing it the day you join, or putting the renewal date in your calendar, avoids the most common complaint above.
• Certificates are extra. MasterClass Certificates are a separate product priced from $299, not part of the membership.

Our MasterClass cancellation guide walks through the steps, including memberships bought through Apple or Google, which those stores handle.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the best MasterClass for photographers?

Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography is the strongest pick for most people, especially anyone who photographs people. Its 15 lessons (3 hours 4 minutes) cover portraits, creating concepts, light, studio against location and working with your subject, with a case study on a Vogue shoot.

How many photography classes does MasterClass have?

Three classes and one Session. The classes are Annie Leibovitz (portraits), Jimmy Chin (adventure photography) and Tyler Mitchell (storytelling through portraits). The Session is Petra Collins’s Capture Your Vision Through Photography, a project-based course in film photography.

Does MasterClass teach camera operation?

Some of it. Jimmy Chin’s class has a lesson on camera settings (modes, ISO, focus and depth of field) and one on gear, Leibovitz has a lesson on the technical side, and Petra Collins’s Session covers setting your f-stop, exposure, focus and depth of field on a film camera. None of them is a full beginner course on your camera’s menus.

Is Annie Leibovitz’s MasterClass worth it for hobbyists?

Yes, if you photograph people. Leibovitz teaches how she thinks about a portrait before, during and after the shoot. If you mainly want help with camera settings, start with Jimmy Chin’s settings lesson or a beginner course.

Is MasterClass photography enough for a beginner?

Not on its own. The most beginner-friendly option is Petra Collins’s Session, which MasterClass says suits all levels, but it teaches film photography. A digital beginner should pair MasterClass with a beginner course from our best photography courses list.

Does MasterClass cover Lightroom or Photoshop?

Not directly. Jimmy Chin’s class has two post-processing lessons, Annie Leibovitz’s has a digital post-production case study and Tyler Mitchell’s has an editing demo, but there is no dedicated Lightroom or Photoshop class. For editing software, see our photo editing courses guide.

How long is Annie Leibovitz’s MasterClass?

15 lessons and 3 hours 4 minutes. Jimmy Chin’s class is longer at 20 lessons and 4 hours 10 minutes, and Tyler Mitchell’s is the shortest at 11 lessons and 1 hour 30 minutes.

Can you learn film photography on MasterClass?

Yes. Petra Collins’s Session is built around film: it covers a starter kit, loading film, setting the f-stop and exposure, and shooting a photo series. Tyler Mitchell’s class also has a demo of film photography in the studio.

Do MasterClass photography classes come with a certificate?

No. The photography classes and the Session have no certificate. MasterClass’s separate Certificates program covers business, leadership and AI topics, not photography.

Is Jimmy Chin’s MasterClass relevant if I don’t climb?

Mostly, yes. Only a few lessons are about climbing. The rest covers natural-light portraits, telling a story with photos, pitching and commercial work, gear, settings, editing and building a body of work.

Is Udemy’s Photography Masterclass the same as MasterClass?

No. Photography Masterclass: Your Complete Guide to Photography is a Udemy course by Phil Ebiner and co-instructors, bought once on Udemy. It had a 4.7 rating from 78,930 ratings on 14 October 2026. MasterClass is a separate company whose photography classes come with its annual membership.

Can you download MasterClass photography lessons?

Yes, on the Plus ($180 a year) and Premium ($240 a year) plans, which include offline downloads in the MasterClass app. The Standard plan ($120 a year) streams only, and MasterClass says offline lessons are available for select classes.

Does MasterClass have a monthly subscription?

No. Every membership is billed annually: Standard $120, Plus $180 and Premium $240 a year, which MasterClass shows as $10, $15 and $20 a month. The 30-day money-back guarantee on first-time purchases is the closest thing to a trial.

Can you buy a single MasterClass class?

No. Each class page offers the membership instead (“Get this class and 200+ more”), so you pay $120 a year for Standard and get every class. If you only want one class, finish it inside the 30-day refund window or wait for a sale.

Can I watch MasterClass photography classes for free?

Only for a short time. Every class page has a free trailer, and MasterClass’s FAQ says memberships include 14-day Guest Passes that members can share, so a friend who is a member can give you two weeks of access. The membership itself has no free trial; the 30-day money-back guarantee on first-time purchases is the closest thing. We don’t link to the unofficial uploads and downloads that show up in search results.

Does MasterClass renew automatically, and how do I cancel?

Yes. Memberships are billed annually and renew each year until you cancel the renewal, which you do on the Settings page of your MasterClass account. MasterClass offers a full refund within 30 days of purchase, but its FAQ says there are no refunds for partially unused membership periods, so cancel the renewal before the renewal date if you don’t want a second year.

Related: Want to edit your shots, not just take them? See our guide to the best photo editing courses (Lightroom, Photoshop & more).

Part of our photography guide: see all the best online photography courses, ranked by goal.

More MasterClass guides: our full MasterClass review, the 25 best MasterClass courses, and our rankings of the best MasterClass leadership, acting, writing and cooking classes.