Resource Center: Photo Tips

Canon Explorers of Light Gallery 
In an initiative described as “photo education and inspiration” Canon’s Explorers of Light gallery is a slick and eye-catching showcase featuring work from 62 recognized photographers, each known for his or her specialty, and each a Cannon EOS camera user. The Gallery presents a small slide show of each photographer’s work as well as their biographies and links to their personal websites. There is a wonderful variety in the work shown here, which in itself is inspiring, and there are also interviews, videos and tip features that represent part of the educational side of the initiative.

Chuck Doswell's Lightning Photography Tips 
One man’s comprehensive tutorial on the exciting, not to mention dangerous, art of photographing lightning.

E Photo Zine 
At first glance, e-zine’s seems to be mostly concerned with gear news and reviews, but a little digging reveals out the site’s real strength. E-photo’s international members and readers post portfolios, submit to the Editor’s Choice competitions, vote on the competitors and comment on each other’s work. In the same vein, e-photo also publishes a large selection of essays on technique, written in the friendly tone of camaraderie that characterizes the site.

Fodors 
The publishers of the well-know travel guides have created a web space devoted to the how and why of travel photography. The surprisingly complete guide ranges from how to buy a camera, to selecting a subject, with plenty of tips and techniques in between.

Good Earth Graphics 
An entertaining site full of information pertaining to the little know art of photographing caves. Useful tips on how to capture the cramped, damp and dark beauty of caves on film.

Guillaume Dargaud 
A comprehensive exploration of the risks and rewards of climbing photography. The author has laid out all the “tips and tricks” that years of experience and observation have taught him, and the result is an interesting and well illustrated page about two intersecting passions.

International Center for Photography
Housing both a school and a museum, New York’s International Center for Photography is an important institution who’s website is full of unexpected and inventive resources. Rather than the typical list of technical advice, IPC’s Photo Tips page is an assemblage of thoughtful meditations on a range of topics from the Center’s faculty, staff and students. Tips cover a broad spectrum of photographic experience, from the do’s and don’ts of digital technology, to using the work of admired photographers as springboard to a personal vision.

Meteor Photography Tips 
A page of simple and direct instructions guides aspiring astrophotographers in the fine art of capturing meteor activity. The page also provides links to other meteor photography sites, including NASA’s Guide to Leonid Photography.

Mr. Eclipse 
A fascinating and detailed guide to capturing the slow progression of a lunar eclipse on film.

National Geographic 
The grand old man of photojournalism and travel photography publications has made good use of web technology to bring us a series of well-structured and copiously illustrated tips on adventure photography. Geographic photographer Mark Thiessen is the voice of experience who guides us through a day of outdoor “adventure” photography, backed up by an overview video, audio clips and photograph-illustrated tips, including all pertinent details of the shoot such as camera shutter speed, lenses, etc….

Photographic Magazine 
This digital photography guide offers a large and varied selection of photo tips, organized by topic and covering everything from outdoor photography to software. Each category has dozens of tips, each a different variation on the central theme, each written by professional photographers who contribute to the magazine.

Photographing Fireworks
In the course of its wide-ranging activities, the Smithsonian Institute has found the time to collect tips from their staff photographers on how best to capture the “spectacle of fireworks.” Looking out from the Institute’s prime position on the Washington Mall, their photographers have seen more than their share of inaugural and other celebratory fireworks. This page assembles the advice in the form of quotes, reporting on the best fireworks techniques in a style not unlike a Smithsonian Magazine article.

Photokaboom
A friendly, personal take on the basics of photography from a longtime photography teacher. Learning to use a camera, tips on software and thoughts on photography education are laid out in this accessible and unpretentious site.

About.com 
The About search engine turns up a huge selection of articles and resources on the subject of working with digital photos and scanned images, not to mention suggestions for related subjects and relevant sponsored links. The links are not vetted, so it can require sorting through the quantity to find the quality.

Adobe Tutorials - Camera Raw Basics
Although this video was designed for an older version of Adobe Photoshop, it remains a useful document that thoroughly covers the basics of processing raw images in Photoshop. Particularly good for someone who is new to Raw processing, this Quicktime video covers white balance, color correction, exposure correction and sharpening.

Adobe Tutorials - Non-Destructive Editing with Camera Raw
For those who have some experience with processing raw files and are familiar with digital imaging jargon, this short video tutorial is a concise overview of the new options for processing raw images in Adobe’s current version of Photoshop, Creative Suite 6 (or CS6). An excellent illustration of new features.

Digital Photography Review 
The amazingly helpful site for all things related to digital photography also brings us a reference and tip page for beginners and pros alike. Submitted by readers, many of the tips are refreshingly unusual.

Luminous Landscape - Understanding RAW Files 
What is raw mode? What is the difference between raw and jpeg files? What are the pros and cons on shooting in either mode? These seem like fairly simple questions, but sadly, most tutorials on the subject are far too technical and long-winded for the average reader to bother with. Michael Reichmann, originator of Luminous Landscape (a goldmine for all kinds of photo tutorials), offers up a clearly written explanation of the principles of shooting both in raw mode and jpeg mode, and the strengths and weaknesses of each – in point form!

Mac Dev Center 
The top ten tips on successful digital photography from the editor of a pocket book on the subject. His tips are followed by comments, questions and suggestions from the site’s readers.

Tuts Photo Tutorials

CNet 
Taking the guesswork out of shopping for electronics, C/Net tells you everything you’ll need to know when considering a new purchase. Lengthy editor’s reviews, complete specifications, performance test ratings, comparisons with similar products, user opinions and a guide to where to buy with price and service comparisons are just a few of C/Net’s features.

Consumer Reports 
Expert, Independent, Non-profit advice. You may not find reviews on the professionals equipment but this site is thorough in dealing with the latest digital cameras and the accompanying software and hardware. Product histories are there to allay worries before a new purchase!

Digital Photography Review - Features
All about digital cameras. Digital Photography Review offers a features-driven search engine to help consumers sort through a potentially overwhelming set of digital camera options. Extensive choices for criteria and pull-down menus help to narrow the field and inform buyers.

Digital Photography Review - Side by Side 
All about digital cameras. Among other helpful features in their online “Buying Guide” Digital Photography Review offers side by side comparisons on just about any camera on the market. Results yield complete camera specifications, a price guide, owner opinions, and links to product discussion groups.

Kodak 
Although it’s awkwardly labeled, the area of Kodak’s website called “consumer photography” contains a strong section on “Taking Great Pictures.” Tips range from composition to printing and deal with the nuts and bolts of both digital and film photography.

Photo Secrets 
Originally a site designed to promote Andrew Hudson’s books on the business of photography, Photo Secrets has also become a resource site that freely shares some of the author’s tips on such topics as what makes a good photograph, how and where to sell photos and copyright law for photographers. Other resources include a substantial group of photo links sorted by category, lists of location guides and references to over a thousand photography books.

Photo.net 
A community site for photographers that offers critiques, discussion forums, an online gallery, camera reviews and educational essays.The essays cover topics from beginning photography and care of equipment through to darkroom tutorials - by way of subjects such as underwater and “astrophotography.” The essays generally manage to be both genial in tone and succinctly informative.

Poynter Institute 
The Poynter Institute, a school for journalists that specializes in seminars and on-line education, has built a busy, content-heavy website to help support the work of journalists of all stripes. The Institute uses their site as a forum for critical discussion of media coverage (in all its forms), diversity, ethics and leadership, as well as offering a number of other valuable services. Poynter compiles very useful “Tip Sheets” for each medium (including photojournalism), which explore and explain a wide range of issues from the technical to the ethical. These are not simply a couple of lines and clever quotes; each tip is an article unto itself, often with a variety of sources giving serious and insightful thought to the question.