January 2027 cohort
A free photography course that runs for roughly 20 weeks. Ten units, a shooting assignment in each, and feedback from mentors and photographers all over the world.
You’re enrolled. Getting Started opens December 18, and we’ll email you when it does.
Starts January 1.Getting Started opens December 18.
The ones that come up most before a cohort starts. Everything else is in the full FAQ, and the Discord is the fastest place to ask. New to the Discord? Here's how to get around.
Photoclass runs twice a year, with cohorts starting in January and July. Each cohort runs for roughly 20 weeks.
Units unlock every other week throughout the cohort. There's no hard deadline for individual units, but the pacing is intentional and worth following.
Yes, completely. No paywalls, no premium tiers, no catch. Photoclass has always been free and that's not changing. The course, the community, the mentor feedback, all of it.
If you want to support Focal Point, there's a Ko-fi, but it's entirely optional and doesn't unlock anything.
No registration required. All course content is accessible at focal-point.co/photoclass. If you’d like email reminders when units open and other updates during the cohort, you can enroll for free. Joining the Discord is recommended but not required.
Photoclass is built for photographers at every level. It starts with foundational concepts and builds through intermediate and advanced material over the 10 units. If you're a complete beginner, you won't be lost. If you've been shooting for years, there's still a lot to work through.
The assignments and the final project are open-ended enough that your work will reflect wherever you are, not where you're supposed to be.
Yes, but it depends on where you're coming in. The course is intentionally paced, and the units build on each other, so joining a few weeks late is very manageable. Joining near the end of a cohort is a different situation. At that point, waiting for the next cohort start makes more sense than trying to catch up on the majority of the course at once.
Cohorts start in January and July.
You'll be able to submit your photo for each unit on the site, and share it in the Discord to get feedback from the community and mentors. If you post it on Instagram, add @focal.point.co as a collaborator. Sharing publicly is encouraged but never required.
Whatever you have. The course covers concepts that apply across camera systems, from smartphones to DSLRs to mirrorless to film. Some technical lessons will reference specific controls that smartphones may not have, but the underlying ideas are the same regardless of what you're shooting with.
The camera you have with you is the right camera.
You don’t need it, but it helps if you like working things out on paper. Each unit has a page for your favorite photo from the assignment and prompts to write against. The paperback is on Lulu, and the PDF is free to download, fill in on screen, or print.
2027 edition
Each unit has a page for your favorite photo from the assignment and prompts to write against as you go. Order the paperback, or download the free PDF to fill in on screen or print.
Getting StartedBefore You Begin
Get set up before the first unit opens: how the course runs, who’s teaching it, where the community lives, and what you want to get out of the cohort.
Unit 1Introduction & The Gear
Find inspiration, get to know what a camera actually is and how the main types compare, and see how lenses and focal length shape a photo. Then sort out raw versus JPEG and a workflow that keeps your files organized.
Unit 2Photography Basics
Learn to work with exposure from the ground up, starting with the histogram and moving through how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO work together and what each one does to the look of a photo.
Unit 3The Art of Photography
Learn to use light on purpose, both natural and artificial, along with the compositional guidelines and color theory that help a photo hold together.
Unit 4Post Processing
Edit with a plan, from a non-destructive workflow to processing objects, landscapes, and portraits, with full editing sessions recorded in real time.
Unit 5The Decision Process
Tell a story in a single frame or across a series, study the masters, cull your own work, and learn to give and receive feedback that actually helps.
Unit 6Taking Your Camera Skills Further
Get to know your autofocus modes and when to switch to manual focus, how your camera meters a scene, and how to start working with flash and light modifiers.
Unit 7Personal Projects
Revisit the goals you set at the beginning, then brainstorm, plan, and start the long-term personal project that carries you through the rest of the class.
Unit 8The Art of Photography, Part 2
Take a second, deeper pass at lighting, composition, and color, including studio lighting setups, Gestalt principles, and color spaces.
Unit 9Exploration
Find inspiration in your own work, tour the main photographic genres and the photographers who define them, and use constraints to push yourself into something new.
Unit 10Wrapping Up & Next Steps
Build confidence in sharing your work, pull together everything from the class, and plan what comes next once the cohort ends.
Final Project
Bring your long-term personal project together and share it, with exercises and prompts to keep practicing after the class wraps up.
Photoclass is free and run by volunteers.
Donations cover the costs of keeping it going.
