Photography: Photo.net

I'm about to send you to a site beyond your wildest photographic dreams.

No, no...not my site. That's more like an odd nightmare caused by a gas bubble during a cat nap.

I'm talking about http://www.photo.net

Photo.net is going to expand on that effort and more. It's simply an amazing site. Actually I can't extol it's virtues enough but I'll summarize the best bits:

• Inspiration
• Art appreciation
• Technique
• Critical Feedback
• Understanding Gear
• An online portfolio for you

Inspiration:

I want you to quit reading this blog for a second. I'm going to send you a link to photo.net's top rated images (on a rolling 30 days). I want you to spend a few minutes looking through these photos. However just before you do that, place a pillow on your desk directly below your jaw. It's about to drop.

http://www.photo.net/gallery/photocritique/filter

Are you back? I hope you saw some amazing photos. I often stop by just to look. I usually spend about a minute on each photo, deciding what I like and why. This helps me be better at what I do. While you would never catch me duplicating the exact photo of someone else, the concept get's dumped into the mishmash of my subconscious and comes out in my own unique style. Looking at art is an excellent way to sharpen your own artistic abilities. It will challenge you, excite you, inspire you. Do it as often as you can.

 

Art Appreciation:

This blends in a bit with the above but on photo.net I think you will find photographers who are pushing the top of the game, many of them 'amateurs'. These are people who eat, drink, and dream composition, tonal range, and color theory. Some of the people on photo/net will never sell a single photo in there lifetime but will produce an unparalleled catalog of beautiful work, all available at your keyboard.

You are going to see some work truly deserving of the term 'art'.

 

Technique:

Guess what? Curious how a photo was achieved? Was it a photoshop miracle, a technological superhero named Hassleblad, how about a shoe box image? Ask the photographer!

There's a place to post at the bottom of each image. Guess what? Those photographers like to talk about their work - that's why they are posting!

If that isn't enough their are forums specifically for asking the questions you might have bouncing around in your head and if that isn't enough...there are tutorials also! And they aren't even as dang wordy as mine! :P

 

Critical Feedback:

I'm not sure quite how they managed it but photo.net has ducked the silver bullet of tech speak. I'm talking about sites like DP Review (which is an excellent site for it's purpose) that focus on the technology. Stop by there some time and you will see endless arguments about Canon Vs. Nikon (Canon is better Muahahaha!), FF Vs. Crop, My style is Better than Your style. It's silly. I wonder if any of these people actually take pictures. They seem in love with their tools and not what they can do with them.

Photo.net is different. While there are some folks like the above many people will provide real, honest to goodness constructive feedback. What's that you ask? Allow me to demonstrate:

Constructive feedback:

• Very good use of composition, I like the strong horizontal lines
• Have you considered a vertical crop? I think it would favor the subject better
• I'm not sure the color balance is quite working for me
• This style is very interesting and evokes a sad feel, was that your intended goal?

Everything else:

• Cool photo!
• I like it!
• It's my favorite!

It's nice when people offer positives about our photos (hey, I admit I like it). But good solid constructive feedback is essential for your development. It's going to make you a better photographer 100x faster than simple value judgements.

There are folks on photo.net waiting to provide that kind of help. You simply need a bit of thick skin (some criticism will be just that) and you need to post up your photos in the critique forum.

 

Understanding Gear:

There are a pile of forums and tutorials for helping a newbie or an experienced photographer develop a better understanding of your equipment. In fact I'll almost always suggest you visit photo/net before a site like dpreview simply because you are more likely to get a straight answer from someone who is excited by great photos, not the latest expensive camera.

 

Online Portfolio:

If you don't have a dedicated website photo.net is a place you can post your portfolio work, or any work really. Work you want help with, work you like, work you aren't sure about. Actually even if you do have a website you should post it up there too!

Let me tell you about something that is so cool. If you are brave, and post up your work, someone is bound to bump into it. Chances are that someone may really like your work. They may then offer a print exchange.

This is where they offer to print you up a bit of their work (which you select) in exchange for yours. This is an awesome way to get some fantastic custom photography in your home for pennies. Not only that but you know the artist and have developed a further relationship with them. Cool!

BTW, photo.net is 100% free to the non professional. For those of us earning our living from photography they request we donate but it's the honor system so you have your choice where you fit in. Personally I've given them a pile of money and am a lifetime patron as a result. I did so because I think it's a great community and worth supporting. That said I'm not otherwise associated with them in any way.

I'm hoping you guys will take a peek simply to enrich the community as well as encourage you to be better photographers.

Enjoy. :)

-B

Real-Estate-Photography