Best Sites for Digital Photographers

Focus on these Web sites if you're shopping for your first digital camera or want to sharpen your photography skills.

By Ronaleen Roha

April 4, 2005

Every shutterbug wants to take better pictures. It doesn't matter if you're shooting your niece's eighth birthday party or an awe-inspiring panorama, you want every shot to be crystal clear and studio perfect.

The latest technology can certainly help. For example, digital photographers can now adjust the white balance of a shot -- making whites appear whiter regardless of lighting conditions -- right on the camera. In film photography, white balance is set in the film and changing it requires adding light filters.

If you're new to digital photography, there are plenty of online resources you can turn to for the latest imaging tips and tricks. And if you're still shopping for a digital camera, we've included some Web sites that can help you sort through the specs and pick the right model for you.

Better Pics and Prints

Prints Are Memories.com is a good place to start. The Photo Marketing Association (PMA), a leading photographic trade association, sponsors the site. Feature articles designed for beginners include:

• "Tips on Flash Photography"
  
  
• "Five Tips for Much Better Photos"
  
  
• "Getting the Most From Inkjet Prints"
  
  

Its sister Web site for the more experienced digital photographer is TakeGreatPictures.com, a site so full of great information you can explore it for days. There are forums; how-to articles; photos by celebrities, such as actor Leonard Nimoy, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and recording artist Kenny Rogers; photo projects to help you get more out of your photos; FAQs; glossary; and an extensive list of links to other useful sites.

Dave Johnson's Digital Focus columns for PC World offer tips galore on how to make the most of your digital camera, scanner, printer and image editing software.

Recent columns cover how to take better portraits and capturing great action photos.

WebPhotoSchool.com is a lively site that offers free and inexpensive lessons for photographers at every experience level.

More than 200 lessons are grouped into categories, including: basic camera, lighting, portraits, outdoor photography and digital manipulation.

New lessons are added regularly, and explain the equipment required as well as techniques. Detailed how-to color photos make the lessons easy to follow. Olympus seems to be the cameras of choice on this site, but you can easily apply the techniques to other brands with comparable features.

Lessons range from free to $2.99 each, or you can pay by the month ($8) or by the year ($60).

The Epson Online Experience is a unique and very interesting online digital photography course.

For $29.95 broadband Internet users get five new video lessons per week for 12 weeks. You'll go on actual photo shoots -- both in-studio and on location -- with professional photographers like Greg Gorman, Jay Maisel, and Bruce Dale. You'll hear how they think about digital photography and see how they get their award-winning shots.

There are tutorials and step-by-step guides to scanning, taking and printing great photos and a how-to video library. Award-winning photographer and musician Graham Nash hosts the programs.

Best for camera buyers

Before you buy a digital camera for the first time (or even the second time), read "A Short Course in Choosing A Digital Camera" a free eBook on ShortCourses.com. This is a comprehensive and easy-to-read explanation of just about everything you need to know to evaluate camera reviews or what the sales clerks are telling you. (Once you get your camera, read "Short Course on Using Your Digital Camera".)

The site also offers other free short courses and sells eBooks on CD-Rom including The Textbook of Digital Photography ($24.95) and Displaying and Sharing Your Digital Photos ($19.95).

For exhaustive camera reviews, visit:

• CNET.com's digital camera reviews
  
  
• Digital Camera Resource
  
  
• Digital Photography Review
  
  
• MegaPixel.net
  
  
• Steve's Digicams
  
  

Each site also offers camera news, discussion boards and user opinions of various camera models.

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