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Each January always marks a slow start for me and my business, as everyone becomes a shut-in for a couple of months with the colder weather. But being a shut-in allows me to organize my business a bit for the new year, and take some time to sharpen my skills in the photo and video fields. So as a result, I often spend a lot of time in January, reading about new lighting and retouching techniques, and watching a lot of YouTube videos. So I figured, if you all are sharing the same winter blues, I can at least provide a few YouTube channels to binge during this cold month. So without further adieu, let’s look at a list of 9 YouTube channels to sharpen your photo and video skills for 2024.

Peter McKinnon

Known for his engaging and informative content, Peter McKinnon’s channel covers a wide range of photography and videography topics, including tutorials on editing, camera gear reviews, and creative tips to improve your craft. That is why you’ll likely see his name on every one of these lists on the internet – he’s just that good. And at nearly 6 million followers on YouTube, I assume most people reading this article are already following him, but he had to be included because he’s among the best.

Ted Forbes (The Art of Photography)

Ted Forbes’ channel covers a broad spectrum of topics related to the art and history of photography. He dives deep into concepts, techniques, and the philosophy behind the craft, offering insightful perspectives that can inspire photographers at any skill level. And while he does cover new gear and his thoughts on them (tackling a lot of obscure products), I love his perspective on the lesser talked-about topics of a photographer. Most notably, I really appreciate his reviews of Photography Art Books, and tackling a lot of the day-to-day life as a photographer and content creator.

Mango Street

Rachel and Daniel of Mango Street create content that is both artistic and educational. They share tips on composition, lighting, editing techniques, and creative ideas to help photographers and videographers improve their skills. Perhaps what makes Mango Street such a great channel, is they don’t waste any time. No long intros or punchy titles, Mango Street gets straight to the point of the topic at hand and gives you a fresh take on photography, filmmaking, and editing.

Jessica Whitaker

Jessica Whitaker is a Seattle-based photographer and content creator who does a great job breaking down photography topics and skills into easy-to-understand tutorials. Focusing on anything from lighting, to posing, to just great behind-the-scenes looks into her shoots, there is certainly something for everyone on her YouTube channel. While a lot of her content is tailored to beginners, there are plenty of clever ideas and concepts that everyone could learn from. In particular, her entire series on how to shoot with film is particularly informative and interesting, and worth a browse through.

Corridor

While Corridor might not give you much educational content in post-production, they have a lot of fun with their content. In the heart of the Arts District in Downtown LA is Corridor, a post-production house that really shines on YouTube. From going through and reviewing various special effects in movies to tricking the internet with fake UFO content, Corridor covers a lot of topics on video post-production. You’re not really going to find many tutorials on their channel, but instead, some really polished special effects with a behind-the-scenes look into how it’s made. They also have a sister channel, Corridor Crew that lets their personalities shine even further.

Captain Disillusion

Continuing on the topic of special effects and video editing, is another light and charming YouTube channel with incredibly high production value. Captain Disillusion is a debunking channel, that exposes viral videos and unveils the truths behind their video editing. Another one with little educational value (at least in a tutorial sense), Captain Disillusion finds popular ‘unbelievable’ videos on the internet and debunks them as fake through the help of expansive knowledge in special effects and video editing. While his subplot with the silver facepaint might be a bit much for some, he’s considered one of the very best on YouTube when it comes to debunking popular videos.

DIY Perks

While not directly photography or videography-related, I had to include DIY Perks in this article because he’s a brilliant engineer with a passion for photography, videography, and light. His topics are broad, from video game console redesigns to LED lighting projects – but his topics on cameras are always particularly special. Most notably, he was among the first people to solve the Canon R5 overheating issue plagued when it was first released – by making a custom water-cooled R5. If you want some great knowledge about lighting and cameras, mixed with some clever engineering, DIY Perks is definitely the channel to check out.

LensRentals & LensProToGo Channels

Finally, we have to give our two YouTube channels a shout-out as well, with the LensProToGo channel and the LensRentals channel. Tune in as Dom at LPTG and Andrew at the LensRentals channel talk about all the latest gear that has hit our inventories. From first impressions of new gear, to comparisons and tutorials, the LensRentals and LPTG channels are the most gear-focused of all the channels mentioned here today. So if you haven’t checked out our channels yet, give a video a watch and give us a follow.

Is there a channel that is your favorite? Think we missed an important YouTube channel about photography or videography? Feel free to chime in in the comments below.

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