As you can tell, I’ve been a photographer for many years, and I love sharing my tips, from how to clean a camera sensor to how to take better photos at night. My secret is that I brush up on these types of skills using YouTube.

I really enjoy watching a few videos a day, as the experts on YouTube have access to all sorts of equipment, gear and software that I wouldn’t normally get on my own. Watching videos is a digestible way for me to catch up on the new ideas for camera accessories, versatile travel cameras and great additional camera lenses.

A good number of talented YouTubers are putting out incredible content for photographers at all skill levels. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned about photography, all by watching a variety of YouTube videos from photo experts.

I’ve listed out some of my favorite YouTubers whose channels are all about photography, videography, life and everything in between. I’ve learned a lot about editing photos, how to shoot events, how to light subjects and so much more.

I’ve created a few categories for grouping these YouTube channels. There may be some overlap between the types of content that any given YouTuber produces. I’ll try my best to make each description helpful enough in order for you to get an idea of the content on the channel.

Watch the playlist or check out the list below!

Photography & Gear

Jared Polin

It’s clear from Jared’s videos that he is incredibly knowledgeable about photography. His channel also showcases his team, who are all very talented. My favorite part of his channel is the Photo News Fix. The Photo News Fix gives you a snapshot of what’s happening in the photography world.

You can expect a lot of great photography content from Jared. You’ll see a mix of gear reviews, general advice, camera walk-throughs and more.

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Kai W

Kai’s channel is really informative for gear suggestions and for what’s new and up-to-date. Kai is also very passionate about photography, and it shows, through his videos. Some of my favorite videos of his are the ones in which he shares his camera organization and his street photography series.

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James Popsys

If you like watching videos that have outtakes sprinkled among real content, check out James. His tutorials are helpful and he’ll “bring you along” on his photo shoots. He has a unique style that blends images from various scenes together. He shares some insight into achieving the shots he gets, as well as providing helpful tips and tricks.

Specifically, you’ll get a great overview of general photography knowledge. You’ll be able to watch a mix of photography concepts, gear reviews, photo walks and editing.

To support James, you can check out his prints!

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Mango Street

Mango Street’s videos are quick and right to the point. You’ll get some of the best knowedge about photography, styling, editing and so much more. Daniel Inskeep and Rachel Gulotta also have their own YouTube channels where they focus on personal finance and fitness, respectively.

Also, check out their Skillshare course to learn even more about product photography.

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Chris Winter

Chris will show you some affordable options for camera gear. His personality is genuine, which makes him engaging. You’ll get a good list of gear and content about cameras and lenses. He has rebranded his channel and a lot of the older videos will be about photography. Take a look at these lists of playlists to browse some photography content.

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Tony & Chelsea Northrup

Tony & Chelsea seem to cover it all, when it comes to photography advice. They talk about a very wide variety of different photography advice. They have a lot of technical videos, as well as beginner tutorials.

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FStoppers

My favorite segment of FStoppers is the “Photographing The World” (behind the scenes) coverage. They do a great job of discussing various tech behind photography and videography. Their past work includes videos that cover techniques for photo storage, as well as helpful lighting ideas and various setup methods. If you’re into learning even more about photography, you can check out their premium tutorials.

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Micael Widell

I’m a fan of Micael because he tries really interesting things. He does a lot of macro work and adapts different lenses to his cameras. He has a really fresh perspective on photography.

He recently wen’t full-time with his YouTube channel. In addition to YouTube, Micael also has a newsletter. Subscribe to his newsletter to get additional information about photography!

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PhotoRec TV (Toby)

I like watching Toby’s videos because he takes the time to explain a variety of different photography concepts.

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Eric Rossi

Eric gets a lot of gear to review. He puts a lot of personality into his videos and I benefit from watching his videos when I’m looking at a specific camera or lens. Aside from the reviews, he’ll take you to some events and photography days. These are my favorite videos.

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Thomas Heaton

Thomas is my go-to YouTuber for landscape photography inspiration. When you watch his videos, you nearly think someone else is filming, but he’s doing it all by himself! He’ll take you to his workshops, which are great for getting some inside looks. Lastly, he does talks about how he films his photoshoots. These BTS (behind the scenes) videos are my favorite videos.

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Mango Street

Mango Street is this awesome couple, and together they make short and succinct videos. Their videos are easy to watch and you can watch a few in one sitting, easily. Once in a while, you’ll see a Mango Street short that is really inspiring.

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Joe Allam

I originally found Joe Allam when I was researching travel photographers who essentially get paid to travel and do their work. I really enjoy “coming on his journeys” in different cities and watching him shoot travel street photos.

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Brendan van Son

Brendan van Son was one of the first YouTube channels I subscribed to when I was searching for travel photographers. It came at a time when I was learning the business of travel photography. His breakdown of financials and various workflows was really helpful in defining a plan for myself! His channel and his business have both evolved, and for this reason, it’s fun to watch some of his workshops and see his new opinions about travel and photography.

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Mike Smith

I like Mike Smith’s channel because his tutorials are simple and easy to follow. A lot of his tutorials are with Sony cameras (which are what I shoot with). His videos are super clear and easy to follow.

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Jason Vong

I found Jason Vong’s channel when I was looking for tips on how to use my Sony camera. His videos share a lot of advice on how to use a lot of different Sony cameras. He also gives good lens reviews for various full-frame and APS-C lenses. I like his lens reviews more than others because he puts them to use and lets you see the results in an easy-to-see way.

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Adrian

I like following Adrian’s journey through photography. He shoots a lot of classic film, as well as some digital. He talks a lot about his experience with film and his photography compositions, planning and more!

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Christopher Burress

Christopher Burress has done some really interesting experiments with adapting different lenses and testing different mounts and gimbals. My favorite videos were his tests early on. They used cheap CCTV lenses and you could see how they performed. His later videos put lenses and cameras to real-world tests. You can easily see the various different levels of sharpness and picture quality in his reviews.

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Julia Trotti

I like watching Julia Trotti’s videos because she talks a lot about portraits, fashion and editing. I always like seeing a new perspective on editing, which is great to see with her content. Because I don’t have much experience with portrait work, I enjoy seeing her process.

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ZY Productions

ZY’s videos (I don’t think I know his name?) are short and always informative. The videos that I can remember off the top of my head are the ones that explain random things about cameras and accessories. Like, do you know what that DOF preview button is? He has a video that explains it.

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Dan Watson

I like watching Dan’s videos (it’s not because we share a name) because he has a good mix between sharing facts and his opinions. He shoots a lot of weddings and shares some insight into gear, settings and workflow that makes him successful.

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The Art of Photography

The Art of Photography is run by Ted Forbes. He has a great skill in storytelling in all of his videos. You’ll get to learn about cameras, photography, life and everything in between!

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We Eat Together

When I was learning a lot about food photography, I watched a lot of the videos on this channel. There are a lot of great tips about lighting, time-lapses, shooting on different surfaces, props and more!

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Sean Tucker

Sean Tucker’s videos have so much knowledge and insight. Some of his portrait work and the process about how and why he picked his equipment is so helpful. All of his videos are very thoughtful and genuine.

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Jonathan Lee Martin

I recently discovered Jonathan because he’s traveling around the world. As someone who also traveled around the world (and worked remotely, the whole time!), I instantly identified with him. His videos share really awesome in-depth tutorials about editing and photography in general.

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Jessica Kobeissi

When I first started researching portrait photography, I found Jessica’s channel. Her tips are super helpful about posing models and general tips about photographing people. She also has some great photography commentary, reaction and behind-the-scenes videos.

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Signature Edits

I’ve been really enjoying the editing process from the videos on this channel. I learned a lot about controlling color and using contrast in different ways from a lot of videos in this channel. Some of my favorite videos have been the longer (sometimes 2+ hours!) videos about editing an entire photoshoot.

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Video

Daniel Schiffer

Daniel Schiffer has a good style of teaching when walking you through tutorials. I’ve learned a lot about video color correction and various different things in FCPX because of his channel!

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Brandon Li

Brandon Li mostly has videos about making videos. Some of my favorite videos from Brandon are his travel videos. He shares advice on how to shoot popular destinations and how to be creative when you have limited resources around.

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Potato Jet (and Gene Nagata)

I don’t really shoot video that often, but I watch Potato Jet to see what’s new in the video space and learn about the newest stuff out there. His second channel falls more in the lifestyle category. Video is almost always a theme in both of his channels.

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Everyone Else!

Tyler Stalman

Tyler is a great explainer of concepts and also talks about other subjects related to photography, like cell phones and various other tech. His tutorials, and especially his photography tutorials, are very in-depth and cover a lot.

If you want to hear more from Tyler, check out his podcast! The podcast covers photography, videography and tech. It’s one of my favorite podcasts to listen to while I run.

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Sorelle Amore

Sorelle Amore has one of the best personalities among everyone that I follow on YouTube. I stumbled on her channel and found so many great travel tips and a new perspective on photography. More recently, she’s been posting brilliantly about art, life and work.

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Patrick Tomasso

Patrick breaks out of the 10-minute mold with his YouTube videos. You’ll often find short and to-the-point videos about photography, mobile photography, video and more. Patrick is active on a few different platforms. Make sure to follow him on Twitter and listen to his podcast!

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Hayden Pedersen

As I watch more of Hayden Pedersen’s videos, I like him more and more! He’s super genuine and shares a lot of personal stories about himself and photography.

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Moment

While Moment isn’t one person, it’s actually several personalities. The awesome people on the Moment team share this channel and post a mix of tutorials, reviews of Moment products and collaborations with various other YouTubers. I like watching their channel because it isn’t always about Moment gear. Speaking of Moment gear, if you want to upgrade your photo and video kit, shop the moment store!

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Marques Brownlee

I don’t think YouTube would be YouTube without the videos of MKBHD. What does the “K” stand for? Who knows! He doesn’t go too in-depth about cameras, but he talks a lot about smartphone photography and he’ll always be able to talk at length about the tech specs of the cameras on new smartphones coming out. If you like taking pictures on your phone, MKBHD is a great channel to follow.

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JR Alli

JR Alli has one of the most unique video styles that I’ve seen. Aside from the short films that he makes, his tutorials and process videos are even better. I like that he puts such a heavy emphasis on story. My favorite part about his videos are the special effects.

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Lifestyle

Peter McKinnon

Peter’s growth and personality on YouTube is unmatched. He adds a lot of personality in his videos, while still producing great value and inspiration to the photography community.

Peter McKinnon has become one of the most popular YouTubers over a short period of time. His cinematic B-roll, knowledge and storytelling are the clear reason why.

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Matti Haapoja

Matti now shares an office with Peter McKinnon. My favorite Matti videos are his “best friend” segments with Peter. They always make me laugh because they’re so well-done! Matti’s videos are helpful if you’re learning to take video and they’re also helpful for choosing which camera you might want to get.

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Cody Blue

I originally found Cody Blue’s channel when I was trying to figure out why my GoPro footage wasn’t coming out as nicely as I hoped. I then discovered that he has even more videos about Sony picture profiles that I actually currently use. In addition to that, he’s done some really nice mountain bike and mountain bike BTS videos that have been amazing.

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Becki and Chris

Becki and Chris have a really nice channel to watch. Their videos are entertaining and mostly informative. I like seeing a glimpse into their lives through their photography.

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Photography and Business

Evan Ranft

Evan invites his audience to join him on his photo walks, which are actually very informative. He also gives good insight into the business of photography with stories and tips and tricks. I often revisit his color-grading tutorials because they’re so helpful.

He can teach you something like the outcome of taking a still from your video, editing it in Photoshop and then saving that as a custom LUT. Find his video about it to learn more of the process.

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Chris Hau

Chris talks a lot about personal stories and where they have taken him in his career. It’s less of, “you should do this,” and more of, “I did this and it got me to here.” You’ll get to learn a lot of the business of photography and apply some of his stories to your own business.

Chris has an interesting niche, which is an underlying theme through some videos, with travel content and Mercedes-Benz content.

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Oh hi, it’s me!

Did you know that you can follow me? I make videos about travel and travel photography. I hope you can learn something from my videos!

Follow me!

As you can see, photography is all about learning. Even hearing some basic topics can spark new interest and push you to try something new.

I still watch beginner-level videos from time to time, because I enjoy hearing perspectives and learning strategies from a variety of experts on YouTube. With this list, I think you’ll be learning more about photography in no time from all of these experts.

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Last updated on December 30th, 2022