Portrait Masterclass with Sam Elkins

Portrait Masterclass with Sam Elkins — Photograph the People Who Make Travel Unforgettable

The gist: Drawing from 7 years of professional portrait work and commercial campaigns for brands including Uber, Google, and Volvo, Sam Elkins teaches you to approach, engage, and photograph human subjects in any travel setting.

• Human-driven travel focus: Sam specializes in “human-driven stories and travel campaigns” — the exact crossover between portrait technique and real-world travel contexts.
• Full portrait range: Covers lifestyle images, posed portraits, and candid scenes — the three modes you actually use when shooting people while traveling.
• Subject direction skills: Explicitly addresses how to work with and direct subjects — the hardest skill for solo travelers to develop on their own.
• Business path included: Covers building a sustainable photography business, relevant if you want to monetize travel portrait work over time.

Sam Elkins has directed commercial portrait and travel campaigns for Google, Uber, Squarespace, and Volvo, bringing real client-brief discipline to how he teaches subject engagement.

Best for: Travel photographers who want to move beyond landscapes and capture the people and cultures they encounter. Skip it if: You need camera-settings fundamentals — this course assumes basic camera competency and focuses on subject direction and workflow. Runs ~$25 — check the current price before buying.