Everybody loves a list. This list is my homage to examiner.com which recently published a top 10 photography web site list. I liked the idea and decided to come up with my own version. So here are 10 photography related websites that I frequent and have found useful and/or entertaining.
1. Digital Photography School (DPS)
DPS has been a never ending source of how-tos and tips and tricks on photography for me. They offer a steady stream of information in three main categories – photography, cameras and equipment and post production. No matter what you need to know related to your photography you are likely to find it here. How to best photograph lightning; which is the best memory card; how to do some basic clean up in Photoshop – you name it. There are also some very well done user interaction options including polls, forums, a photo gallery and even the possibility to submit your own writings. The Digital Photography School’s website is a must have in your bookmarks.
2. photo.net
If you visit this site for nothing more than inspiration your every creative need is sure to be fulfilled. Photo.net is best described as a community of photographers. The user photo galleries are good, very good, and I can let time get away from me when perusing them. But, if you allow yourself to dig a little deeper, there are also some excellent forums, equipment reviews, industry news and tutorials. Yep, you need to bookmark this one too. (Warning: You will end up with 10 new bookmarks by the end of this post.)
3. Flickr
This is one you may have heard of before. It has its share of critics and nay-sayers as does anything of any size. But when it comes down to it, Flickr is just a great and easy way to share your photography. There are groups to join and discussions to chime in on, “friends” to be made and lots of great photographs (and some not so great) to discover. Be forewarned however, once you start posting your photographs you might find it a bit addicting a la Facebook. But what is one more online addiction? Go ahead and sign up, then bookmark.
Wait a minute; that is a magazine you say? Really it is a matter of, “but wait, there’s more…” As with any savvy publication in the 21st century Outdoor Photographer has a web site, and a very good web site at that, to compliment, if not enhance, their printed publication. Two things I love most about the Outdoor Photographer site (is this a list within a list?) are the professional galleries and the contests – who doesn’t love a contest? On top of that they have all the other bells and whistles – forums, reviews, tutorials, well written articles. Yes, you guessed it, add this one to your bookmarks as well. At this point you might want to create a folder so these don’t get lost in a mass of other bookmarks.
5. DSLRTips.com
Digital is the future and the here and now. So a whole site dedicated to nothing but the Digital SLR has got to be an awesome site. And it is. This is the place you want to go if you are shopping for accessories for your DSLR. They have reviews and buying guides for everything from the tripod to the lens. But the Brits who run this site kick it up a notch by offering a whole lot of workshops in video form. Anything from mastering night photography to blurring the background can be found in easy to follow video tutorials. No more of that boring reading – well hopefully you will still read now and again, at least until I turn shuttermike.com into a video blog.
Come back tomorrow for Part II and the remaing 5 top photography sites I recommend.
Note: I have no personal affiliation with any of these sites. So everything written here are my thoughts and opinions gathered through using the sites. Of course should any of them like to hire me to write a little something, I probably won’t object.
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