Locating information

This is a biggie for me.

Photography is a never ending process of learning.

I took a beginners class in photography in college. Digital photography wasn't even out yet, well, in a consumer form at that time. So it was all film, dark room work, and developing your own prints. I was highly interested in the end result, but I hated all the work/time it took. Just hated it. It was costly in money too. But importantly, I learned some basics. I felt a little more intelligent when people talked images, or I saw a print that was interesting to me. But photography as a hobby was too far away because of the dollar and time cost to me.

So moving quickly forward to now- I get my photography information from various sources. I read books, magazines, talk to other photographers, look on websites, read photography forums, and investigate. I honestly feel like I will never come up with an original idea ever. Seriously. It is daunting!

The one marriage of tech and photography that has worked out nicely for me are RSS feeds. I currently have 28 different directly related to photography in my Bloglines account. (I don't count techie sites that post about photography) If you can wade through the muck and find some gems, it is more than worth it to use this form to stay on top of your reading. Think of it as getting mail to your computer and having it keep sorted which information you have read and which ones you haven't.

Some sites updates frequently like Patrick Smith. Some update as an event is coming like Photo Nights for Charity. I also subscribe to my own Flickr account to keep tabs on comments that pop in, and a group conversation in the area. So there is power in that as well.

I encourage each photography to figure out new ways of staying informed and challenged. Of course it doesn't help I am a geek at heart, and now digital photography hits my wheelhouse. If I can't feel challenged with just these three blogs, then I need to get paid for photography.

- Strobist
- Digital Photography School
- Zach Arias

Until then, I have another 25 other blogs or so keep informed with. And if those get boring, I can find a huge load more. Sites that cover just filters, or ones on DIY photography... I could keep going.