Ian Darwin: Resources for Photographers

You will find everything you need to learn about photography listed in the resources here. From the basics of aperture and f-stops and composition to the most amazing "how did they do that" wow photographs, youll find something here about it.

First, though, a word about your right to take pictures when and where you want.

Free To Shoot?

Rights that have been taken for granted for millenia (for drawing/painting) and for a hundred or more years since the invention of photography, are increasingly coming under attack from the growing mega-state, especially since the "war on terror" began. These sites call abuses to attention and remind us what it says at the bottom of my main photography page:

For Beginners

There are lots of tutorials on the web, including a few free ones; most are offered as lead-ins to commercial training. There are also many books (see below).

Non-Profits / Service Opportunities

Books about Photography

Schools - Canadian (Ontario)

Schools - Online - General

Schools Offering One or a few photo courses

Trade Shows

None during the pandemic, of course, unless they go virtual.

Web Resources

Magazines

Magazines: Canadian

Magazines: US

Software for Photographers

Commercial Software

The reigning champion of fancy editing tools is, of course, Adobe Photoshop. Almost everybody in the photographic software arena makes their plugins and actions compatible with Photoshop.

Adobe Lightroom is the cataloging, raw-format import, and lightweight editing tool that accompanies Photoshop but is also often used on its own.

Adobe no longer sells these products (though you can still find them on eBay). Instead, they rent them. The Creative Cloud Photography package is US$9.99/month for the package of two, which is not a bad deal if you'd previously have spent $1000 on the software and had to upgrade every couple of years anyway... since you always have the latest version, and have it (and your photos) on all your devices.

And speaking of Photoshop, this commercial training company offers some free tutorials on Photoshop

Free Software

Cameras and Gear

Choosing

Accessories

Dealers: Canadian

Dealers: USA

Not listed - there are too many! Adorama, B+H, 47th Street and Amazon are generally good.

Vendor-specific Links

I'm a Nikon guy so I only maintain Nikon resources. If you want Canon, Sony, Pentax, etc., then remember the immortal words of Obi-Wan Kenobi:

Use the search, Luke!

When You Are Very Good

Getting PhotoBooks Made

There are zillions of companies that will make picture books from your digital images. These ones either are known good or at least have been at it for a while:

Selling Your Photos - Stock Agencies

Despite the trillions of photographs that can be downloaded free, there are still a zillion online stock photo agencies. These have been around for a while:

The new 500-pound gorilla on the block is Adobe Stock.

As well, there are companies that will sell your work as prints:

Thinking of Going Pro?