References & Referrals: I often read books and visit the Web searching for information pertaining to my photographic interests. Sometimes just looking at photos on other photographer's sites can provide ideas and inspiration for future projects. I have placed these at the bottom under the heading "Looking for Inspiration?" As I find Internet sites or books that I feel would be a help to "budding" photographers, I will make an attempt to list them here so that others may benefit from them as well.
Looking for sites that provide Photography Tips? - Check out the following:
There are literally thousands of websites where you can find information, help and tips on becoming a better photographer, however, the one "go to" site that I find the most helpful is
DPS Digital Photography School. This is a site that is supported by a vast number of both professional and amateur photographers that provide just about everything you need to know about how to use your digital camera. In addition to being a vast resource of "How To" tips for photographing just about any subject, they also provide information and help tips on post editing and reviews on a wide variety of cameras, lenses, and other photographic equipment. I don't know what I would do without it. Click above now to go to the site and sign up for their weekly newsletter.
Cambridge In Color - A Learning Community For Photographers. Learn how to take and edit digital photographs using visual tutorials that emphasize concept over procedure, independent of specific digital camera or lens. Cambridge in Colour is an online learning environment where photographers can come to improve their skills. On any given day, over 20,000 different people are learning about photography and contributing in the forums community. Their tutorials typically focus more on concept than procedure, are highly visual and often interactive, and cover each topic thoroughly but concisely. They also try to keep them as independent of the type of camera or software as possible. This is a great site that I recommend to any beginning photographer.
Photographycorner.com/
- a leading photography resource website that includes member-written articles, an active photography forum, photography tutorials, equipment & product reviews, photography projects, and a photography blog. Feel free to post a photograph up in the Critiques & Feedback Corner and have the community critique your work, or get some feedback on a photograph. Keep up to date with Photography News, discuss and review Photography Equipment, and discuss issues that revolve around photography and matter to photographers. You can also keep up-to-date with photography industry news and everything important to a digital photographer with The Corner Blog.
Photography Tips - make your pictures look as good as the professionals. For photography tips, tricks and help on all types of photography - digital cameras, SLR and compacts, you can find it on this site ...
Top Photography Tips They will help you make your pictures look as good as the professionals. This site is a free photography guide on how to use your camera and how to take great pictures.
Digital SLR Photography Guide is another site that offers information on how use your digital SLR camera to its full potential. This website serves as a free SLR Photography Guide that will help you understand your camera better. For those yet to make their first purchase, we recommend starting with the following articles: What does SLR stand for and Canon vs Nikon! If you already own a digital SLR camera, our photography tips for beginners listed below, is a good place to start.
PictureCorrect. This is another great site that, in addition to offering great photography tips, also provides an equipment shopping guide on just about everything. However, the photo tips found here are the real gems of this site. With over 900 tips, there is a vast wealth of helpful information here. You can even signup to receive daily tips.
Pixelated Image.com is another great site that offers a wide spectrum of photography information including, a daily blog, books, articles and much more.
Mansurovs.com: In addition to providing both beginner and advanced photography tips, this site has many featured articles, camera and lens reviews, and tips on making camera purchases.
PhotoRadar.com is an excellent site provides hundreds of photo taking techniques, tips and videos to improve your photographic and editing skills, as well as a dozens of up-to-date camera and equipment reviews. Joining up is free and allows you to share your photos to your own gallery, comment on the work of other members, get involved with their photography forums, write reviews of the latest camera gear, and receive their PhotoRadar newsletters.
Looking for sites that will Print Your Photos to Canvas? - Check out the following:
Get your your prized photographs printed on canvas, transforming them into an amazing work of art. There are a couple of sites that I use for this, however I prefer
Canvasondemand.com. When doing this you have a variety of rendering options to choose from such as PhotoRealistic which brings your photo to full life even more vivid than the original, or BrushStroke, which gives the appearance that it was produced by delicate strokes of an artist's brush. The canvas can simply be stretched and framed to your specifications, or it can be Gallery Wrapped, stretching the canvas over a wooden frame so that the edges of the material are drawn around it. Select your favorite photo and click the link above now to go to the site and order a canvas print - you won't be disappointed.
Image Canvas is yet another Internet site that will transfer your photos to canvas. They offer full editing capabilities with previews so you see what you get before you order. Your photos are printed on museum quality canvas printing with heavy UV coatings designed to last 100+ years mounted on premium quality canvas stretcher bars. There are a variety of finishing options including image enhancement and photo color correction when needed.
Canvas People is another Internet site where you can transfer your photos to canvas. They provide a lot of printing ideas and offer a variety of printing options, special effects and framing, all at reasonable prices. A special feature of this site is that, unlike many sites, they off three framing options.
Looking For Help on Purchasing Cameras and Equipment:
Adorama.com is a very good site for doing research before making any decision to purchase a camera or associated accessories. Adorama is easy to navigate, they offer a wide selection of merchandise and their prices are extremely competitive. Doing a search for coupons will get you free shipping. Signing up for their email mailing lists will get you some of their specials. They have a very generous return policy as well.
Probably the best site for reviews of cameras and accessories is
DPReview.com. All about digital cameras and digital photography, the website has comprehensive reviews of digital cameras, lenses and accessories, buying guides, and user reviews. It has a large database with information about the individual digital cameras as well as very active forums for the individual cameras and general photography forums. It claims that "These days the site is one of, if not the, premium digital photography site with an audience of seven million unique visitors a month reading over one hundred million pages".
Imaging Rresource.com is another good site for finding in-depth reviews on digital cameras, lenses and accessories. They have a bi-monthly newsletter that provides hands-on reviews of digital cameras, software, and books--plus tips, how-tos, and more--with special deals for newsletter subscribers only. Your photography knowledge will grow by leaps and bounds with each installment! There is even a 10-year archive of newsletter you can pour over.
BOOKS:
Digital Expressions - Creating Digital Art with Adobe Photoshop Elements: Interested in performing extensive editing and manipulation of your photos? Digital Expressions is probably the best book I've found. It provides dozens of step-by-step procedures and digital art techniques for manipulating images, merging images to create montage art, applying brushwork and filters to mimic art, and layering elements to create digital collages, and more. Though it is written to be used with Adobe Photoshop Elements, you can follow the procedures in other photo editing programs such as Paint Shop Pro. I actually was able to get a copy at my local library.
This is a free eBook containing 11 great essays containing practical stuff that together will help photographers improve what they do. With articles on things such as, “The Power of The Moment”, “Make Your Images More Dynamic”, “Learn To Direct The Eye”, “Refine Your Composition”, “Understand the Stages”, “Forget Lens Stereotypes”, plus six more. This helpful, wonderfully illustrated 69-page book, is an invaluable resource that can be downloaded free at the following link … Craft Vision - The Free eBook. Just click on the “Add To Cart” link and fill in your email address to download this free PDF book.
Exposure For Outdoor Photography by Michael Frye: This 50-spread PDF ebook, tackles the basics, and goes on to discuss the different ways of accomplishing different exposures to bring about different aesthetics. There is more to exposure than just getting the right amount of light into the camera. Every exposure also creates a specific aesthetic. Exposure For Outdoor Photography is about natural-light photography and the creation of exposures that are not only technically perfect, but aesthetically compelling. Learn about metering modes, exposure modes, histograms, high-contrast scenes, depth of field, shutter speeds, exposure blending, and more! This helpful and wonderfully illustrated book can be downloaded for $5.00 at the following link ...
Craft & Vision - Exposure For Outdoor Photography. Just click the "Buy the PDF" or the "iPad App".
Looking for Inspiration?
