Top 50 photography websites

Posted by Haje Jan Kamps

Of course, Photocritic is your favourite photography resource in the whole wide world, and you’d be mad to think otherwise. Nonetheless, I have to admit that there are some pretty damn amazing websites out there. This is my attempt at collecting some of my favourites - which isn’t easy, considering how many bookmarks I have.

So, I give to you, 50 of my favourite photography websites - these should keep you busy for a while…

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Top 10

1. Photo.net: A community of photographers

This site is the perfect blend of education, art, and community. This site provides information about all major camera brands and informative articles about everything from aerial to street to wedding photography as well as interactive user forums and galleries. There are free and paid subscriptions that allow users to create accounts and upload portfolios and request critiques from fellow members.

2. Digital Photography School blog

Well-written useful articles about composition and techniques for different types of photography make this a great resource. It includes tips on photographing everything from silhouettes to waterfalls to spider webs.

3. Guide to Film Photography

A guide to old-fashioned film photography that includes a comparison to digital photography, a blog, a glossary of terms, and information about cameras, exposure, film types, and processing.

4. Flickr

A community-based site that allows user to create profiles and upload, tag, and organize their photos to share with friends and family. It also has groups so users can share photos about similar topics, themes, or concepts.

5. Photography

This website allows users to ask questions and get answers from fellow users. There are also product reviews, news articles, forums, and stock photos available.

6. Picture Correct

A resource with information about exposure, light, composition, and techniques for night, macro, portraits, and panoramic photos. It also provides info on camera lens and how to best use histograms.

7. Outdoor Photographer

A useful site including information on gear, how-to guides, and weekly technology tips. In addition, there are columns by photographers and information articles about favorite outdoor locations along with workshops to hone your skills.

8. Popular Photography

A site with tests and reviews of various cameras as well as blogs, podcasts, and articles about various topics. It also includes forums, contests, and a buying guide for those interested in buying a new camera.

9. Photonhead

This site includes a beginner’s guide, photography tips, and editing techniques. It also includes a SimCam, a camera simulator that teaches photographic concepts such as shutter speed and aperture.

10. Kodak - This is a popular site from one of the major photo industry leaders. It offers tips for taking great photos, a digital learning center, product information, and galleries.

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11-50

11. Ultimate Exposure Computer - A guide to the sunny 16 rule of estimating exposures without a light meter.

12. The Luminous Landscape - A site devoted to the appreciation and art of landscape and nature photography.

13. Picasa - A free Google site that allows users to edit, organize, share photos, and create slideshows.

14. National Geographic Photography - Tips and galleries from the magazine known for its stunning photographs.

15. Sports Shooter - Information on workshops, tips, equipment, and contests for sports photographers.

16. Ephotozine - A popular online photography magazine produced in the United Kingdom.

17. Photoblogs - A handy compilation of various photoblogs with links for discussion lists and live chat.

18. Photo District News - An award-winning monthly magazine about the photographic industry for professional photographer.

19. Photo News Today - A site devoted to news, reviews, podcasts, training, and opinions about photography.

20. Infrared Photography with a Digital Camera - Excellent information about techniques for infrared photography including fitlers, focus, and post-processing

21. Weather Photography - Information on weather and nature photography such as shooting lightning, clouds, and the moon.

22. Photography Tips and Techniques - Beginner and intermediate tips, as well as information on composition, lenses, and darkroom techniques.

23. Darkroom Source - Articles on equipment, accessories, and techniques to use in a darkroom.

23. Basic Photography Tutorials - Tutorials on composition, camera, exposure, shutter, aperture, and film processing.

24. Lomographic Society International - Information on lomography and casual, snapshot, special effect cameras

25. Photography on Wikipedia - Encyclopedic information on different types and styles as well as links to other relevant topics within and without Wikipedia

26. About Photography on About.com - A recognizable format with information on styles, equipment, forums, and lessons on various themes

27. Photography Blog - A blog written by professional photographer Mark Goldstein that has news, opinions, and reviews.

28. Photobucket - Provices free image hosting, sharing, and linking to provide access to photos online.

29. Bodyscapes - Alan Teger’s amazing photos, where the human shape is the landscape.

30. Picture Social - An online social networking site for photographers to make friends, critique photos, and blog.

31. Center for Fine Art Photography - An international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting photography as an art form.

32. Photo Secrets - Tips including the top five photo mistakes and how to fix them.

33. The F-stops Here - Articles about outdoor photograph including wildlife, hunting, fish, and children in the outdoors.

34. Digital Photography Tutorials - Explanations of imaging and the use photo editing software such as Photoshop to create better photos.

35. Long Exposures - Explanations of how to use long exposures (long shutter speeds) in both daytime and nighttime.

36. Black Cat Photographic Rules of Thumb - Fifty quick photo tips that are important to all photographers.

37. A History of Photography - The historical background of photography: how it came to be and the people who shaped its evolution.

38. Digital Photography Review - Side-by-side comparisons, sample images, and reviews of different camera brands and models.

39. Nikonians - Resources, news, and forums for fans of Nikon cameras.

40. MyShutterpace - A social network for digital photographers with forums, blogs, and online photo sharing.

41. The Pinhole Gallery - Information on making and using your own pinhole camera including a gallery of photos.

42. Camera Hacker - A handy site with ‘hacks’ such as how to do multiple exposures wit ha 35mm camera

43. Photojournalism - A blog written by Mark M. Hancock that discuss photojournalism as a career and artform.

44. Strobist - A site detailing how to use off-camera flashes to illuminate subjects… In ridiculous detail.

45. Choose Film - An online community dedicated to the art and technique of film photography.

46. Resize It - A Web-based tool that allows users to crop and resize photos from anywhere.

47. PC Photo - Information and reviews on cameras, software, and gear for digital photographers.

48. Food Photography Blog - A blog with information on special effects and lighting used for food photography.

49. Lens Culture - An international online magazine celebrating the culture of photography.

50. Vignetting - A discussion of natural, mechanical, and optical vignetting used to frame the center and give a unique feel.

Honorary mentions

I did say I was going to forget some of my fave sites, despite listing 50 of them, right? Well, here’s a few of the ones I’ve thought of since..

Photocompetitions.com - I’m deeply ashamed for forgetting Will’s site - I run his feed in my sidebar, for heaven’s sake! Anyway, if you’re into photography comps, you could do a lot worse than checking out this site - to pick which competitions to enter!

The illustration image used with this article is by Riot Jane.

What’d I miss?

It’s really hard to choose only 50 sites - there are so many awesome resources out there. Some times a site doesn’t do much for me, but has one or two articles of such brilliance that I just can’t pass them by, others are not in this list because they’re sites belonging to friends of mine - which I’ll check frequently, but which I feel I’m too close to to really objectively suggest to others.

So - go on - what’s your favourite photography site, and why? Leave a comment below!

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Insights, suggestions and comments

By Tim L. Walker on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

You missed PhotographyCorner.com - you even blogged about our Photograph of the Year contest a couple of years ago. ;)

By 1001noisycameras on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

A great diverse collection of websites, and with thousands of great websites out there, it’s really hard to pick 50 since there are so many different subjects and segments.

Off the top of my head, how about The Online Photographer for Top 50 consideration?

By Wolf189 on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

It’s a pretty good list….although photo.net is not what it used to be few years back.

By Aissa Galoso on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

What a comprehensive list. Thanks!

By will on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

http://www.photocompetitions.com => for photo competitions! ;)

By Phil on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

You also missed http://www.redbubble.com :)

By donna on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

bythom.com - best nikon site

By De Ville on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

How about photozone.de? I’ve found their lens reviews very useful.

By Clint on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

I’m really surprised that http://www.APUG.org didn’t make the list.

It’s the world’s best source for information on analog/film photography, alternate process, printing, etc.

By Ben Jacobsen on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

you also missed http://www.newschoolofphotography.com/forums. We’re a small site for now, but eventually we’ll make lists like these.

By Mike on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

passed right over scottkelby.com
google NAPP and you’ll find an amazing amount of info.

By Silverhalide on September 30th, 2008 (permalink)

How about POTN (http://photography-on-the.net), Flying with Fish (http://flyingwithfish.blogspot.com), or Rob Galbraith (www.robgalbraith.com)?

Also, your link to photography.com doesn’t seem to be working for me. And I’ll second Wolf189’s assertion that I find photo.net disappointing.

By Daniel Teh on October 1st, 2008 (permalink)

Thank for posting all this website, it give me a lot of information and tips. It help me a lot by improving me photography skill.

By nicolas d on October 1st, 2008 (permalink)

Eyeka.com for photo contests & great talent ;-)

By Stefan Tell on October 1st, 2008 (permalink)

Very good list, a lot of sites I haven’t checked out yet. Thanks

By Flo on October 2nd, 2008 (permalink)

Although it is not a pure photography site, deviantart is worth mentioning. It’s a very active art community which also has a very very large photography section.

By Rick on October 2nd, 2008 (permalink)

I would like to recommend ILovePhotoblogs.com. As publisher and owner of this site, we have reviewed hundreds of great photography blogs and cover a wide range of photography related topics. Thanks.

By Adrian on October 3rd, 2008 (permalink)

Great list some really usefull resources.

Thanks
Adrian
http://www.weddingphotoshot.com

By Johannes on October 5th, 2008 (permalink)

This is a very good list. Thank you for sharing! I’ll add a link to this list of yours to my Top 10 list of photography websites.

By Noons on October 6th, 2008 (permalink)

How could this list be put together and possibly miss http://www.APUG.org ?
There are at least three sites in this list - within the top 10 - that I frequent as a film photographer, but apug is at least two orders of magnitude more useful than any of them.
That is was omitted only shows this list as useless.

By Daniel on October 11th, 2008 (permalink)

You missed redbubble, and even if it’s not really a photography site but an “art” site.. you find millions of photos… DeviantArt

By KT on November 15th, 2008 (permalink)

Thanks, this is a good list.

By Marc Adamus on November 26th, 2008 (permalink)

Wow! I am shocked to see NPN (naturephotographers.net) missing from this list. IMO the best site online for Nature Photographers, and the best landscape photography forum online. A no-brainer for this list.

Also missing, would be Mountain Trail Photo (mountaintrailphoto.com), a wonderful resource for photographers featuring a blog, dozens of book titles, instructional articles, workshops, gallerys, etc.

By dave on December 1st, 2008 (permalink)

kenrockwell.com has great information on technical aspects of photography including before and after shot examples. camera equipment reviews and more. I think he must own 100 cameras or more and knows every one of them inside and out. has helped me considerably with my nikon equipment.

By Rachel Ann Foster on January 14th, 2009 (permalink)

I’ve learned a lot here (http://openphotographyforums.com/forums/).

By Robert Hammar on February 5th, 2009 (permalink)

Thanks for the post, and for taking your time to share your information. I found many new great sites about photography.

Best

Robert Hammar

By Garry Cooke on February 7th, 2009 (permalink)

I just joined this website, they have amazing tips on photoshop plus weekly video and forum features. They also give members gallery space to showcase their work.
http://www.myphotoclub.com

By lymephotos on February 8th, 2009 (permalink)

What a great list. I am just getting into photography and have found this to be very helpful. Thank you!

By Thomas Semesky on February 13th, 2009 (permalink)

photo.net is one of my favorites.

By alex on February 16th, 2009 (permalink)

I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

By Steve on February 19th, 2009 (permalink)

ONEXPOSURE for some of the best images anywhere.

By Renchi Arce on February 27th, 2009 (permalink)

thank you for the wide variety of resources. let me add one more:
http://1x.com
great artistic photos!

By Valarie on March 4th, 2009 (permalink)

Database of primarily public domain underwater photography and videos: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/photos

By Joe Blogs on March 4th, 2009 (permalink)

Good list, but would have been better with this:

http://www.blipfoto.com

Take a look and lose a few hours..!

By joe on March 5th, 2009 (permalink)

I like the site

http://www.fredmiranda.com

By Daryl SWS on March 5th, 2009 (permalink)

What, no Photojojo?? This has to be my favorite site for interesting and quirky photography ideas.

Have a look for yourselves: http://photojojo.com/

@darylsws

By Cris on March 5th, 2009 (permalink)

Another great posting site with lots of talent and feedback is

http://www.Photoforum.ru

Some really good stuff and some really good people from all over the world. Worth a look!

By Haje Jan Kamps on March 6th, 2009 (permalink)

@daryl - hot damn that’s an ugly oversight. I love PhotoJoJo, and I’ve subscribed to their newsletter since the very first issue. I think this is what they call, in the industry, an ‘embarrassing oversight’.

By Laurent on March 7th, 2009 (permalink)

May I suggest Behance Network and their “Photography Served”:
- http://www.behance.net/
- http://www.photographyserved.com/

By Haje Jan Kamps on March 7th, 2009 (permalink)

Laurent - great suggestions!

By pixelshots on March 10th, 2009 (permalink)

Oh thanx for the big variety of listing,,, i think its time for a journey thru ur information…

Me too have a photo publishing place.. photos from digital cams, cell phones etc are published and the subject varies from nature,tourism,adventure boat journey,waterfalls,Indian tourist destinations,jew street and synagogues in kerala,palaces,archeological sites like mahabalipuram,crocodile parks,and some photos on the mumbai terrorist attacks…

http://www.pixelshots.blogspot.com

By Vancouver photographer on March 28th, 2009 (permalink)

Flickr has to be at the top of the list. So much of what photography has been in the past few years can be attributed to Flickr! No doubt!

By Robert on April 3rd, 2009 (permalink)

Along the same format as DPReview the following two sites offer a second and third opinion and comprehensive review of the newest camera models including point and shoots. Both post full size images taken at various settings of the same target subjects for comparison among models:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/allreviews.php
Also for lens testing, visit SLRGear.com.
Cheers!

By Jon on April 5th, 2009 (permalink)

Here’s one site I visit every day - Wozofoto - it’s a “deal-a-day” site for photography.

http://www.wozofoto.com

By Chee Siang on April 8th, 2009 (permalink)

Great Collection of informative links!

By Photography on April 21st, 2009 (permalink)

Nice list!

By Jimmy on April 30th, 2009 (permalink)

Good things for Canon photographers here: http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc

The Canon Digital Learning Center

By Bec Thomas on May 2nd, 2009 (permalink)

I didn’t see Photo Attorney http://www.photoattorney.com/
or
PND http://www.pdnpulse.com/ listed, unless I just missed them.

By Robin on May 3rd, 2009 (permalink)

Neil van Niekerk
http://www.planetneil.com

Looking through you list and the comments, it’s amazing how many photography sites there are. Another good one:

Photocrati

Thanks for the fun post.
E

By Cris Mitchell on May 6th, 2009 (permalink)

Shameless Plug ;-)

By dario on May 19th, 2009 (permalink)

how dare you not put deviantart >:3

By ludon on June 11th, 2009 (permalink)

The list is great but lacking BlueMelon

By Gordan on June 13th, 2009 (permalink)

Here is the best shameless plug ever. This is the most talented young photographer out now. http://www.tylershields.com

 

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About

This site is all about learning more about photography, from the incredibly insightful (rarely) to the dreadfully mundane (also, hopefully rarely) via just about everything in between.

If this website seems a little whimsical and random, then that's because the author of this blog, who for the occasion is confusing himself by writing about himself in the third person, is slightly whimsical and random himself.

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