My Favorite Photography Websites and other References

Favorite Web References:

For digital photography gear, particularly digital cameras, my favorite site is Digital Photography Review.  In some cases you may find this information overload.

If you have an interest in older rangefinder cameras, no site can compare to Steven Gandy's site, Camera Quest.  I stumbled on this site while looking for some information on my old Contax I rangefinder.  Most information on the site centers on Leica cameras and his business selling the currently produce Voigtlander range finder cameras.  A good way to find out information about the history and value of any of those old cameras you might find on a dusty shelf in you or your parent's closet. 

Landscape Photography Sites:

My favorite site for reviews and tutorials centered around landscape photography is Michael Reichmann's Luminous Landscape site.  While at times this site does move into some pretty obscure corners of equipment, such as large format scanning backs for 4X5 view cameras, there is still some very good information. Look particularly at the Photoshop tutorials and reviews of Canon equipment.

Photographers Sites:

The grand daddy of them all, Ansel Adams lives on through his work at http://www.anseladams.com/.  Although most of the site is dedicated to selling calendars, note cards and posters, there is some of the history of his pioneering effort to preserve the environment, particularly through the creation of the National Parks system and the Sierra Club.  The best deal on the website are the reprints of Ansel's work made by one of his lab technicians.  These prints are made from the original large format negatives using photographic wet processing, selenium toning and all the other careful darkroom technique that Ansel was famous for.  I consider them a deal at less than $200 for an 8 X 10" print.

Steve Kossack's site, F-8 and Be There, lists all of Steve's workshops.  I can recommend as a guide without reservation.  Most of Steve's workshops have six to twelve participants, which allows quite a bit of flexibility and lets everybody get to know each other very well.  Many will have been on previous workshops as Steve gets a lot of repeat business, which I think is testimony to the value people find in the workshops.  Steve's knowledge of the Southwest and easy going manner make Steve's workshops a creative and personal learning experience.  Highly recommended.

One of my personal favorite landscape photographers, John Shaw, has a site with a lot of useful information and his schedule of workshop opportunities (usually only one or two a year). John has written several books, my personal favorite is the Nature Photography Field Guide.  Good information, especially for Nikon shooters.