50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Photography Skills
Photography is a wonderful hobby enjoyed by lots of people all over the world. It’s a very enjoyable passtime, but also a very technical one. There’s a bewildering range of cameras, lenses and accessories, and photographers also have to get to grips with computers and image editing software packages. It can get very confusing, especially for newcomers to the hobby, and there always seems to be something to new to learn, even for experienced photographers.
With this in mind we’ve put together a list of over 50 free resources that will be useful to anyone involved in photography. We’ve compiled a list of the best and most comprehensive websites that will help you get the most out of your photography equipment. You’ll find a gold mine of articles on equipment and technique, plus advice from some of the most active and well-known professional photographers practising today.
We’ve divided these websites into categories for easy reference, but please bear in mind that many of these websites deal with more than topic. Many talk about both photography techniques and camera equipment, for example. We’ve categorised them according to how we think you will find them most useful. The resources section at the bottom of the article has links to more articles about photography websites, so check them out.
Beginner’s Zone
These websites are an excellent place to start for beginners. They have content for more advanced users too.
Digital Photography School
Very comprehensive photography resource. Lots of inspirational and informative articles.
Photodoto
Click on the Photography 101 link for an excellent set of articles for beginners.
About.com: Photography
Photography articles and techniques from the team at About.com.
Inspiration
The EOScars
More and more digital SLRs are coming with a movie recording mode. The highest spec models rival the quality of high end movie recording equipment and have been used to shoot music videos and movie trailers. The EOScars compiles the best movies recorded with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
Photography Now
Portfolios from past masters and contemporary greats.
World Press Photo
Anyone interested in photojournalism needs to check out this website. You can look at the winning images from the annual World Press Photo Contest and read interviews with professional photojournalists.
National Geographic Photography
Beautiful showcases of inspirational photography plus tips and advice from National Geographic photojournalists.
Exposure Compensation
Focusing on the work of inspirational photographers from around the world.
Technical Stuff
Cambridge in Colour
A series of very technical tutorials about aspects of digital photography such as camera sensors, histograms, colour management and autofocus.
Luminous Landscape
Another website with a comprehensive series of technical articles. One of the oldest and most prestigious photography websites around.
Depth of Field Master
Depth of field is commonly misunderstood. This website explains depth of field very well. You can also print out depth of field tables for your lenses – a must for landscape and architecture photographers.
Ken Rockwell
Straightforward technical advice from a pro photographer.
Canon Professional Network
Lots of technical advice for Canon users and inspiration from Canon’s Ambassadors – pro photographers using Canon equipment.
Canon Digital Learning Centre
More technical advice and tutorials for Canon users.
Nikon Digitutor
Camera specific tutorials for Nikon users.
Pentax User Magazine
The website of Pentax User Magazine, brought to you by the publishes of ePhotozine (another great photography resource), lots of useful info for Pentax camera owners.
Photo Notes
Technical articles. Some excellent summaries of camera specs – click the Lookup link to see them.
Photography Equipment
It’s stating the obvious but photography is impossible without the basic equipment of a camera or camera body and lens. There are hundreds of pieces of equipment and many brands to choose from. These websites will help you make sense of the choices.
Digital Photography Review
Comprehensive reviews on just about every new piece of digital photography equipment released over the last few years. The first stop for anyone interested in purchasing new gear or understanding more about the features of what they already own.
Radiant Lite
Lots of equipment reviews.
Photography and Photoshop Technique
Photo Answers
The official website of UK photography magazines Practical Photography and Digital Photo. Lots of news and technique to complement the magazines.
Strobist
All the information you need to use your camera’s portable flash unit to its full advantage.
Joe NcNally
Joe McNally built his reputation as a commercial photographer specialising in the use of Nikon’s portable flashes. He passes on his knowledge in his blog.
Photoshop Daily
Photoshop tutorials from the publishers of UK magazine Photoshop Creative.
Apogee Photo Magazine
Articles, tips, techniques and portfolios.
Photojojo
Technique and creative ideas.
Photography Blogs
Discussion about the topics and techniques that matter most to contemporary photographers.
The Online Photographer
Lots of articles about equipment, technique and the concepts behind photography.
Epic Edits
Lots of techniques and advice. The recent series about making fine art prints is very useful.
All Day I Dream of Photography
Lots of interesting photography articles.
Toy Cameras
Toy cameras have become very popular over the last few years. Learn all about them at these websites:
Holga Blog
All about holgas.
Light Leaks
Print magazine featuring the best toy camera photography from around the web.
Square Frog
Life through a plastic lens – techniques and tips.
Professional Photographers
One of the best ways to learn about photography is to study the work and ideas of professional photographers. Luckily, the trend for pros to blog about their work has created some priceless educational resources. Here are some of the best:
Chase Jarvis
Professional commercial photographer Chase Jarvis on the latest developments in the industry.
The Digital Trekker
Travel photographer Matt Brandon talks about his work and the ideas behind his photos.
Pixelated Image
Humanitarian photography David duChemin discusses his career and work.
Pixsylated
Syl Arena’s photography web magazine. Includes the excellent ‘Lessons I didn’t learn in photo school’ series.
Photo Smudger
London based snapper Tom Miles shares his real world experience. Essential reading for any student or photographer aspiring to work in London.
Digital Pro Talk
Social photographer David Ziser blogs about making a living in the competetive world of social photography.
Photocrati
Articles for photographers, by photographers. A wealth of information and insights from some of the world’s best pro photographers.
Interviews by Crash Taylor
Social and wedding photographer Crash Taylor interviews some of the best known names in the business. Essential reading for anyone who wants to break into wedding or social photography.
Other Useful Resources
Photo Compete
Once you’ve polished up your photography skills no doubt you’ll be tempted to enter a few photography competitions. Photo Compete has a listing of current photography competitions.
Photo Competitions
Even more photography competitions including the big name competitions from companies like Sony and National Geographic.
Pro-Imaging Photo Competitions
But make sure you read this before entering a photography competition. There are competitions that take away your copyright – this website lists the competitions that don’t.
Photopreneur
A ton of ideas for making money from your photos.
Photo Netcast
Photography podcasts bought to you by a team of passionate photographers.
Photographers who photograph need models, stylists and make-up artists. You can search for them at Model Mayhem and Purestorm. You can also search by geographical area there.
In light reports of photographers being harassed by security guards and police, it’s a good idea to know your rights. These websites have the information that you need:
Photographers’ legal rights – UK
Photographers’ legal rights – United States
Photographers’ legal rights – Australia
Last Click
JPG Mag
The magazine that publishes your photos and your articles.
Resources
- 87 Great Photography Blogs and Feeds
- 29 Fresh Blogs and Photoblos to Add to Your RSS Readers
- 85 Great Photography Blogs, Galleries and Sites You Can’t Afford to Miss
- 40 Great Photography Websites, Portfolios and Resources
- 90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources
- Some Great Photography Techniques, Tips, Tutorials and Resources Part 1
- Some Great Photography Techniques, Tips, Tutorials and Resources Part 2
- 60 Photography Links You Can’t Live Without
John (Human3rror)
August 30th, 2009 4:32 amFreaking awesome. tahnks so much!
Joanne
August 30th, 2009 4:41 amWOW THANK YOU FOR THESE. These help a lot. I actually bought mine last June 10, 2009 and I do not even take any lessons. :| So… really, these are awesome. :)
Olaf Ledeer
August 30th, 2009 4:45 amNice list of resources, maybe you should remove the typo from the title :)
Rachael
August 30th, 2009 6:39 amGreat list! Scott Kelby’s blog is also a great place for photography & Adobe Photoshop-related things – http://www.scottkelby.com/
Murtaza Imran
August 30th, 2009 7:05 amGreat Article!
Please also post http://www.photoshopusertv.com/
They have weekly broadcast on photoshop and photography!
Romuald
August 30th, 2009 7:58 amThe best photography site (at least for me) with lots of reviews/tutorials and very good forums covering various aspects of photography as well as equipment is photo.net…
It is so good so it would be helpful to put it in the main article here…
Marc
August 30th, 2009 8:25 amNice list of resources. I can probably spend a whole day going through them all. The Photography Now site is important because you can’t really be a good photographer without knowing something about the history of photography.
http://www.one-photo-a-day.com
MissRisa
August 30th, 2009 9:27 amAwesome Article!!
I think http://www.jpgmag.com/ is also a good site. People can review your images and you can connect with other photographers and learn from them. It’s also a super way to get your stuff noticed even if your just a little guy :)
Stephen Steele
August 30th, 2009 11:01 amSad to see Scot Kelby wasn’t on there.
Also, Ken Rockwell…. really?
david
August 30th, 2009 11:44 ambelle sélection, merci ;)
Missu
August 30th, 2009 12:17 pmI’m sad to see This Week in Photography (TWIP) – http://www.twiplog.com/ was not on there. Great podcast about photography.
jurica
August 30th, 2009 12:22 pmNice and useful list, thx.
Thorsten Meyer
August 30th, 2009 12:26 pmHi,
thank you for the very useful and great Collection
Cheers, Danke Sehr,
Thorsten
http://www.PhotoMocha.com
Great photos from extraordinary Photographers
http://www.StrongMocha.com
Your News Source for DFX (Digital Effects), VFX (Visual Effects), Photos, Food and Travel
S.W.Schilke
August 30th, 2009 12:56 pmSomething on Food photography would be nice!
Bobby Jr Sr
August 30th, 2009 2:27 pmI think what most “photographers” out there need is not a bunch of Photoshop guides and stuff. What they need is a basic understanding of what makes a good picture, as goes for colors, composition, etc. Also a lot of dudes must understand to limit themselves – instead of posting a gazillion shitty pics, limiting to a few really good ones is key. ALSO many must just stay the f away from Photoshop altogether – I’ve seen soooo many Photoshop murders done to good pictures that should just have been left untouched.
Jay
August 30th, 2009 4:39 pmI’d recommend Joey Lawrence. A prodigy and I don’t think he’s even 21 yet. http://www.joeyl.com/
Okibi
August 30th, 2009 6:10 pmGreat list of urls, thank you for taking the time to share.
w1sh
August 30th, 2009 6:15 pmWay to sum up everything PhotoTuts will ever do. :D
antialias
August 30th, 2009 6:40 pmBobby Jr Sr, I definitely agree with you, Sir!
I hate dealing post-processing with Photoshop when I can do that correctly direct on my JPG from the camera. Why wasting my time with PS?
I’d rather take another pics than sit all day long PS-ing.
Arun
August 30th, 2009 7:01 pmthanks for this collection of web links. wondering why dpreview.com did not make it into the list
regards,
Arun Sasidharan
Jordan Hilario
August 30th, 2009 9:01 pmHaving all these resources are definitely a plus, but, the real key it to go out and shoot, shoot, shoot.
yoxx
August 30th, 2009 9:14 pmthank you very very much, mate…
Jesoph
August 30th, 2009 9:55 pmThank you for your advice.And I also have some photograph for you to improve yout photograph skill.The tool can help you share your photos at all kinds of styles.
if you want to improve your photograph skil,you can visit at
improve photograph skill
josik
August 30th, 2009 10:51 pmAwesome list, but missing a reference to online art galleries devoted to photography just like http://www.arsfotografika.net. Cheers!
AlaskaWebDesigner
August 30th, 2009 11:54 pmNice job putting all this together. We have a lot to digest as my wife is working on becoming a pro photographer.
Alaska Web Design
begs
August 30th, 2009 11:57 pmOh i really thank you so much. This is excellent!
Chris
August 31st, 2009 12:26 amdpreview is definitely missing – helped me greatly in chosing my equipment
Alvito Falcon
August 31st, 2009 2:06 amReally nice list. I think a lot of people will take from this list as designers are 90% of the time into photography. Visual people will always be visual people! Thanks again Smashing.
CMYK
August 31st, 2009 2:12 amNice post
Thanks men
Thiago
August 31st, 2009 5:30 amHere’s an awesome brazilian photographer website: http://www.oikosimagem.com.br
Gary Crabbe / Enlightened Images
August 31st, 2009 7:31 am49 out of 50 isn’t bad. I have to agree with another poster; whenever I see Ken Rockwell included in something like this, the list credibility dips by at least 8 points. (groan)
Still, that one item not withstanding, it really is a good list, and I’ll be including a link back here from my web site, where I also have a lot other of Professional Photo Business Resourcesprofessional business resources listed on my weblog.
Cheers,
- Gary.
Ben Rama
August 31st, 2009 7:47 amcool
Matt
August 31st, 2009 8:42 amAWESOME LIST! All my favorites are on here. Also check out for some great beginner explanations of the basics, some photoshop tutorials, inspiration and more.
Thanks SMASHING MAG! You guys are the best in the biz.
Pye
August 31st, 2009 8:51 amYou forgot to add http://www.slrlounge.com to this site, it is another great resource with a lot of practical tips and tutorials.
gemmacat
August 31st, 2009 1:41 pmfor anyone interested in HDR techinques, http://www.stuckincustoms.com/ is a fantastic site!
gem :-)
printedproof
September 1st, 2009 4:16 amThanks for the resource, I cant wait to go through each site!
Wallace
September 1st, 2009 4:50 amGreat list of links and resources, thanks! You covered one of my favorites – Strobist. You left out another one of my favorites – ProPhotoLife. His free video series takes you through logical steps to become a better photographer.
http://www.prophotolife.com/video-library/
jon
September 1st, 2009 10:45 amCommercial crap
Brad
September 1st, 2009 11:36 amKen Rockwell? You’re joking right?
Bleh
September 1st, 2009 12:37 pmI love to see the old, outdated, and uneducated complain about photoshop.
Jourdan
September 1st, 2009 1:37 pmI love the article! Great tools.
Luke Sheppard
September 1st, 2009 2:18 pmKen Rockwell?? Oversaturated, poorly composed, absolute rubbish. What ARE you talking about?
BR
September 1st, 2009 5:26 pm3 favs are Photoshop Insider, Imaging Insider and 1001 Noisy Cameras. But, only a real photographer would know this.
Bunty
September 2nd, 2009 2:16 amGreat Post Thanks a bunch….. Ken Rockwell website is sooo poor to navigate and dull, some of his photos are pants but some of the knowledge is good.
brian
September 3rd, 2009 7:50 amthank you very much for this wonderful list!
kudos!
Pete
September 3rd, 2009 7:51 am@Missu
Agreed, TWIP is one of the most informative, accessible photography podcasts I’ve had the pleasure of listening to.
For any body else who spends the day sat at a desk wishing they could be outside shooting, I’d also highly recommend The Candid Frame, Nikonians and Tips From The Top Floor.
Tony
September 3rd, 2009 8:35 amLOADS of great ideas here! Thanks…
shall reblog it here
kyle steed
September 3rd, 2009 7:00 pmI’m sad to see that lomography didn’t get included in this list. With all the hub bub about holga’s I would’ve figured you would’ve done your homework. Anywho, check out the amazing network over at – http://lomography.com/
Dibya Pradana
September 3rd, 2009 7:19 pmVery helpful photography links..
Found one photography site ayofoto.com.
This site combine community (photographer) social networking and also micro-stock agency (based on it’s community)..
A lot of great photography articles/blogs although mostly in Indonesian language but I use google translate with no problem :)
Rajesh R. Nair
September 7th, 2009 1:56 amVERY IMPORTANT FEEDBACK– please open other urls in NEW WINDOW.. or user will loose this great site. Just i had faced the problem by clicking “Inspiration” image with play button.. it directed me to viemo site… please take care of this
Hakon
September 9th, 2009 11:59 amGreat list!
One good website with lot of quotations about photography is http://www.PhotoQuotes.com
Claudio Uribe
November 5th, 2009 2:08 pmAmazing list and great post, i dont think i’ll bookmark the individual sites i might just keep this post. I must say Digital Photography School not only contains Beginers stuff, it’s content can be also very advanced in many fields.
Mark Stagi
January 16th, 2010 10:47 pmGreat list, thanks. Lots on there I have never seen before! Also check out my site for a range of tips and inspiration at: http://digitalphotobuzz.com/
raheleh
February 3rd, 2010 10:05 pmthankk you so much,great link and article
Digitized
March 17th, 2010 1:59 pmGreat list here thanks, some really useful sites
Jhon Frank
June 27th, 2010 12:23 amThis is very nice article about photography. It’s very useful for new photographers.
Thanks good post.
Tk Fu
July 6th, 2010 7:51 pmBeautiful!!! I\’m definitely using these resources in my journey toward being a better photographer. Thanks Smashing Magazine!
Bruce
July 8th, 2010 5:50 pmI wish I had the time to use all of these resources. If I could only absorb them all at once.
Definitely a fan of Digital Photography School.
I just found Smashing Magazine and only spent all night exploring it. ( :-o)
Happy Shooting!
Digital Photo Tips
Mack
July 29th, 2010 12:14 amGreat resource, but it will take time to check all of this.
It’s amazing to have this.
Check out more Photographer ports and Models.
Thomas Flight
July 31st, 2010 9:09 amI’m honored to have my article: “40 Great Photography Websites, Portfolios and Resources,” featured in the resources section. Thanks!
Guess the Lighting
August 31st, 2010 6:30 amGreat list here. If you’re interested in seeing how famous photographers light their just-as-famous images, you should check out: GuessTheLighting.com
Photocaster
September 8th, 2010 3:06 pmAwesome list. Muchas gracias. I have to second the notion of GuessTheLighting.com
Brett Widmann
October 23rd, 2010 10:17 amThanks for so many good resources!
Stephen
February 22nd, 2011 9:16 pmI am surprised by all the negative comments on Ken Rockwell I read in here. I have found his equipment reviews to be quite useful over the years.
sandra
March 6th, 2011 12:51 amKnowing how to use your camera is one thing, and understanding how to take good pictures is another. The best way to take better quality pictures is to PRACTICE! They say practice makes perfect and this couldn’t be more true than with photography. Use your digital camera daily, take pictures regularly, experiment with some of the special features of your camera, and get out of your comfort zone by shooting subjects you don’t normally shoot.
Stacy
November 2nd, 2011 4:40 amThanks for the information – very helpful!
Vincent
December 9th, 2011 6:20 amGood post, perhaps more guide on photoshop would be good.