The 32 best photography sites in 2007

by Jatin Valabjee

Over my many years researching photographic equipment, learning from photography tips and browsing galleries of others, I have visited literally thousands of photography sites. I have distilled and compiled a list of the best of the best photography sites which I think you, too, can use to improve your photography, inspire you, and gain a valuable insight into the wonderful world of photography. There are some photography sites here you may know, as well as some Australian and obscure ones you may have never seen before. This list is in no particular order (well, they’re in the order I thought of them ). Feel free to post your favourites in the comments.

Photography Tips, Guides and Tutorials

1. Radiant Vista - I recently discovered this site and can’t recommend it enough. Every day a professional photographer picks a user-submitted photo, critiques it and makes suggestions in a freely downloadable video. Great for improving your composition and photoshop skills.
2. Digital photography tips from the top floor - loads and loads of photography tips, guides and tutorials. Check out the photoshop corner for some great retouching tips.
3. Ask the ‘ole pro’ about photography - The author, Joe Zeltsman, is obviously very experienced and offers up comprehensive guides for free. This one is great for some quick and easy ideas to pose your male or female model in the most flattering ways possible.
4. Taking the mystery out of lighting - Monte Zucker - This quick and easy-to-follow guide unravels some of the mysteries on the complex topic of lighting your subject.
5. Epic Edits - This guy gives away lots of useful photography tips and tutorials, and updates quite often. Subscribe to his RSS feed.
6. Photography Blog - This site is updated very frequently with reviews of the latest camera gear and news from the photography industry. Subscribe to their RSS feed.
7. Photography on the Net Post-processing tutorials list - Posted by a forum user, this is a fantastic list of links to post-processing guides.
8. Photoshop Road Map - A great list of easy-to-follow Photoshop retouching guides for common situations (whitening teeth, blending images etc.)
9. How to create black and white from color - This great tutorial from Photoshop Support provides some easy tips on enhancing your black and white images. I learnt a lot from this one.

My Favourite Photographers

1. Magnum Photos - Some of the finest photography I’ve ever seen. Only the best photographers in the world are accepted into the Magnum group. This site showcases some of their work. My favourite photographer here is a Sydney resident, Trent Parke.
2. Mystery Me - This guy takes very unique and visually striking landscapes and street shots.
3. Sheila Smart - A local Sydney resident, I have been following Sheila’s work for many years. She takes a fine-art approach to her photography that really makes her compositions and subjects shine. Also take a look inside her brain.
4. Anna Warr Photography - A Sydney resident and dear friend of mine, she has photographed just about every major concert and festival in Sydney. Her photojournalistic qualifications shine through in her photos, which combine careful lighting and excellent composition to create truly memorable photographs. Check out her Flickr gallery.
5. Photos By Jay - The best wedding, social and event photography in Sydney. Oh wait, that’s me

Photography Contests and Communities

1. Flickr - This site needs no introduction (but will get one anyway). This site has exploded on the scene to become the number one photo sharing community site. You can create a free account right away and easily share your photos with the world. Flickr has one of the simplest and most efficient interfaces I’ve ever used. In fact, the gallery on this site is just a plugin that connects to my photos on Flickr.
2. Photography Voter - This is a relatively new site that fills the big empty photography links void that Digg has left. Users submit their photography links and the community votes on them, so all the best articles filter to the top. Check out my page on PhotographyVoter.
3. National Geographic - This magazine is known to have some of the best photos ever taken. I recently discovered that the NGM photographers actually share some of their shooting tips on the site - even down to the lenses, bodies, shutter and aperture settings! Brilliant for getting an insight into their minds. I also recently found this article on a personal experience out shooting with a Geographic photographer.
4. Luminous Landscape - Widely considered to be the authority on all things photography, Luminous Landscape is packed with reviews and photography guides from the pro’s.
5. Deviant Art - This site has been around forever. All forms of art are here - poems, photographs, drawings and paintings. There is some fantastic photography here of just about anything.
6. DP Challenge - I just love this site. There is a strong community of excellent photographers submitting their best photos and most importantly, sharing the steps they took to achieve the final result. An invaluable learning tool.
7. Photo.net - This photography forum has the largest user base of any forum I’ve seen. The huge community of professionals and amateurs are very active and always take time to respond to your questions. A very useful place to learn about photography.
8. Photo.net.au - The Australian version of Photo.net.
9. PhotoAxe - Lots of well-written photography tips and equipment reviews.
10. Fred Miranda - A very dedicated user following. Lots of useful photography tips and equipment reviews, with an active community. Some nice photoshop plugins too.
11. Photosig - Another very informative and handy photography contest site and forum.
12. Trek Earth - Lots of high quality photos taken by members. This site gives me itchy travel feet.

Photography Equipment Reviews

1. DPreview - If you’ve done even the slightest bit of research into photo gear, you’ve probably run into this site. They post very comprehensive and in-depth reviews on new and upcoming cameras and accessories with sample photos. Highly recommended.
2. Steve’s Digicams - Steve’s is another very comprehensive and informative photo equipment review resource with an active user base.
3. PhotoReview.com.au - Camera equipment reviews and photo tips with an Aussie tilt.

Photography equipment sale and hire in Sydney

1. Discount digital photographics - If you live in Australia, these guys really have excellent prices on camera gear. I have bought my Canon body and many lenses and accessories from them because I’ve found them to be as cheap or cheaper than the cheapest on ebay, only this is better because you get local warranties and tax invoices.
2. L&P Photographic - In Artarmon, Sydney, these guys have lots of cool gear for hire. Great when you need a specific lens or flash gun but don’t want to fork out thousands (just yet).
3. JPM Productions - These guys are in St Leonards, Sydney. They have a very comprehensive range of gear for hire, as well as studio time. Their site is a bit hard to navigate (has someone told them all-flash sites went out with the nineties? ) so I recommend e-mailing them for a rates list.