Editor's take: Knowing how to adjust lighting, tweak settings and properly compose a shot are useful skills for anyone, not just a pro photographer or someone using a Nikon-branded camera. Given how far along mobile camera technology has come in just a few short years, it's now possible to get stunning shots with modern smartphone cameras when taking manual control of them.

Nikon was among the first companies to make its online photography classes available for free at the onset of the pandemic. For the month of April, nearly a dozen Nikon School Online courses ranging in length from about 15 minutes to over an hour were available to view absolutely free.

Now, the offer is back for the holidays.

From now through December 31, all of the Nikon School Online classes are open to the public free of charge. Topics include getting started with a DSLR, the fundamentals of photography, how to shoot better holiday photos, and tips on photographing pets and children as well as classes focusing on portrait and landscape work.

There's even a course on how to make music videos led by Chicago-based filmmaker Chris Hershman.

Best yet, owning a Nikon camera or even a standalone digital camera in general isn't a prerequisite.

Masthead credit: Vladimir Razgulyaev