To those who celebrate Christmas, I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year! I further hope you are enjoy spend this time of year with your friends and family.
Switching topics slightly, I know that digital cameras are a popular item for Christmas. If you are looking excellent online resources to help you learn how to use your Canon or Nikon digital camera, particularly digital single lens reflex cameras—dslr— or Adobe Photoshop, I highly recommend two websites:
ProPhoto is an outstanding online community where photography enthusiasts and professionals discuss everything about photography. If you want to learn about your camera or about photography in general, you will find the ProPhoto members extremely helpful. Moreover, because this online forum is aimed at those who are serious about photography, the discussion is friendly and helpful. While the forum does have a large number of experienced photographers, there are also those like me who are still very much at the learning stage. What I really enjoy is the diversity of answers. Different photographers will provide different approaches to solving the same challenge. As a student, you can try several different approaches to see which best fits your style.
I have been following David J. Nightingale's Chromasia photoblog for quite some time. He recently decided to share his Photoshop knowledge with those of us who admire his photographs. So far, I have worked through Chromasia's tutorials on the following subjects:
- Tonal range and the Curves tool;
- Landscapes: creating dramatic skies;
- Black and white: part one;
- Toning colour images; and
- Portraits: part one.
David produces one tutorial per month. His next tutorial, soon to be released, will be: An introduction to Lab Color mode.
David's tutorials are extraordinarily well done. His explanations are thorough and complete, and he provides sample files. Moreover, he has an online forum where he answers questions. Even though Photoshop can seem complex and daunting, David's well organized tutorials allow you to work you way through the material while gaining a strong comprehension of the material.
This past year, I have become more interested in Photography. I have read several books on photography and Photoshop. And I have begun practicing taking pictures. The most important thing I have learned this past year is how much I do not yet know. There is so much to learn. If you are just starting out, like I was, you need to understand how your camera functions. You need to learn about light and color. You need to understand how to use Photoshop effectively. If you are working with people, you need to learn how work effectively with them to get great pictures. And the list goes on. Asking others is a great method to shorten your learning. I have found that just a quick few words of advice often pointed me in the correct direction. That as a backdrop, I heartily recommend these two online resources to help you learn more about photography.
Calgary model Judith Aldama is featured in the photograph above, which is hosted at Flickr. If you click on the picture of Judith, you will be taken to where you can view a larger version and see even more pictures of her.
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