picture this: a fellowship of photographers - at all levels of ability from interested beginner through seasoned pro - sharing knowledge, thoughts, and feelings on aesthetics, technique, equipment, and everything else pertaining to the art and science of photography (and of course showing off our photos ;). film, digital; APS, DX-format, 35mm, medium-format, view camera; lighting, metering, composition, megapixel counts, labs, darkrooms both chemical and digital; fashion, nature, product, travel, wedding, nude/erotic, abstract, portrait, photojournalism, whatever: it's all good, and it's all welcome here (and please only request admission if you agree with that statement).
while friendly, mutually-educational debate is welcome and encouraged, this is not the place for heated arguments about the superiority of Canon or Nikon or one area of specialization over another or whatever, and such posts (and any others deemed detrimental to the peaceful and comfortable atmosphere of the fellowship) will be deleted at the sole discretion of the Big Boss (that's me. :)
that said...if you're interested, please request membership...then come on in, teach, learn, and enjoy!
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here are a few (well, okay: more than a few) links of interest to photographers; links to members' images first, followed by more general-interest links, in more-or-less alphabetical order. members, please feel free to suggest more. all links open in new windows or tabs, unless i've missed any (*grin*) ; also, there's a lot of links here, so i can't reasonably accept responsibility for any broken or outdated ones:
general photography links which i'm gradually breaking down into more manageable categories; if you don't find a link that used to be here, please look below - that's where i'm planting the new categories
* The Luminous Landscape: "the web's most comprehensive site devoted to the art of landscape, nature and documentary photography using digital as well as traditional image processing techniques." this site features a lot of excellent information on many aspects of photography - check out The Understanding Series that appears about three-quarters of the way down the main page * naturfotograf.com, pro nature photographer Bjorn Rorslett's excellent and educational website, including exhaustive reviews of a remarkable number of Nikkor lenses * photocheatsheets.com: photography- and equipment-related laminated cheat sheets to carry in your camera bag; they even have a "photography course on a card" * photographyreview.com - user reviews of film and digital cameras * PhotoshopSupport.com: Photoshop tips, techniques, tutorials and plugins * ShootSmarter.com is, in my opinion, simply one of the best photography sites there is * Shutterfreaks.com - Photoshop tips! *get* yer red-hot Photoshop tips (and other photography-improving information) here! * TAKEgreatPICTURES.com * vtc.com: online and CD-based training courses in all *kinds* of things, including digital photography and Photoshop
brand-specific - sites explicitly dedicated to information regarding the equipment of a particular manufacturer
* Contaxinfo.com, the biggest Contax & Zeiss community on the Internet * the Leica Users Group is an email community of people who discuss the use of Leica and similar cameras * Nikonians.org, an online community of Nikon shooters * Pentax User, an exclusive club for Pentax camera owners * SigmaUser, the place on the web for users of Sigma photographic equipment including lenses, cameras and accessories * "Zuikoholics Anonymous" - a.k.a. the Olympus Users Mailing List * and there's a dedicated forum for almost every kind of camera at dpreview.com/forums.
digital - sites pertaining specifically to digital photography
* All About Digital Photos: lots of information on what digital photos are and how to handle and store them * digitalphotocontest.com: "No matter what your level of expertise, DigitalPhotoContest allows you to experiment, learn and grow from entering your digital photos in competitions. And best of all, you can WIN" * dpchallenge.com, a digital photography challenge * dpreview.com, the place for the scoop on digital cameras of all descriptions; includes news, reviews, discussion forums and more * dustylens.com, a site for Photoshop tips and other information, with an emphasis on digital * photozo.com, a cool site dedicated to digital photography - they have photo contests and such - lots of tips and stuff. nice "community" of users. (link and description courtesy of BIG BAD WOLF) * Rob Galbraith's Digital Photography Insights: Digital photography news, reviews, tutorials and discussion forums for professional photographers (but that doesn't mean a non-pro can't learn a lot there) * Steve's Digicams - another site that comes bearing digital equipment reviews.
film - sites pertaining specifically to film photography
* APUG.ORG is an international community of like minded individuals devoted to traditional (i.e., non-digital) photographic processes * Now defunct:digitalsucks.com, a site dedicated to photographs made with the inexpensive, highly "flawed", and very popular Holga toy cameras and other cameras of that ilk (e.g., the Diana and Diana clones) * Now defunct:EMULSION - the magazine for film-based photography
labs - places to get your photos professionally processed and printed
* adoramapix.com, a promising-looking online digital photo lab * Mpix.com: the professional online digital imaging lab for both the professional photographer and the advanced amateur * ProLab Express: a professional photographic custom lab focused primarily on providing low cost, high quality digital photographic output up to 50" wide from digital files for professionals nationwide
light - sites pertaining specifically to the use, creation, and manipulation of light in photography
* Strobist: "This website is about one thing: Teaching you how to use your small flashes, off camera, to get professional results. In short, your flash photography will never be the same again."
retailers - where to buy all those expensive goodies you know are one of the reasons you love photography
* Adorama: i don't think i've ever bought anything here, but they come very highly recommended by more people than i can count * B&H: one of the best-known, most reputable and widely-respected retailers of photographic (and audio and video and computer) equipment for pro and consumer alike * Calumet Photographic: another photographic retailer known for excellent service
schools - photography schools proper: online, offline, all over the place
* New York Institute of Photography: a school that's been training photographers since 1910, and offers excellent correspondence courses stock agencies - places to buy other people's stock photography and to sell your own
* Alamy Images: a traditional (i.e., non-microstock) agency through which to buy (and sell!) royalty-free and rights-managed stock photography * Can Stock Photo: a scrappy little royalty-free microstock site through which you can sell your images (even some of the ones you can't get accepted at other microstocks) * dreamstime.com: a site for royalty-free stock imagery and another good place to get started selling * fotolia.com: another good microstock agency * Getty Images: the world's foremost provider of stock imagery * istockphoto.com: the designer's dirty little secret. now owned by Getty Images, this is probably the highest-profile microstock agency in business today