Back when I first became interested in photography, the internet was barely more than a twinkle in Tim Berners-Lee’s eye and my main sources of information for learning about photography were magazines and books. Nothing wrong with that, but in today’s wired world there’s a ton of information online, plus inspiration in the form of photography websites, photoblogs, Flickr and photo.net (to name just a few). It really is a great time to be learning about photography. This, along with cheap and powerful digital cameras and computers, is one of the reasons for the recent explosion of interest in our hobby and profession.

One phenomena I’ve noticed with interest is the rise of educational photography blogs. From beginners and hobbyists blogging as they learn, to seasoned professionals imparting years of experience, educational photography blogs are a great source of knowledge. Here are some of my favourites:

Epic Edits

Brian’s blog is very popular and I love his approach. He has a great mix of articles about photography and processing techniques, and he promotes other photography blogs and websites by publishing regular round ups of useful articles.

I particular like ‘Your Complete Guide to Adobe Bridge’ ( I learnt a lot from this very comprehensive guide) and ‘Five Fantastic Flickr Photographers’ (this article was a big ah-ha moment for me and finally made me realise that there is some extraordinary photography on Flickr).

Read my interview with Brian Auer.

Neil Creek

Neil, like Brian, is a hobbyist photographer and also a contributing writer on the Digital Photo School blog. He runs a monthly photo challenge on his blog that anyone can enter, and has some interesting articles on sometimes quite unusual aspects of photography. One of the more recent topics he’s covered is 3D photography, something that has no appeal to me I must admit but it makes for interesting reading and an off beat project.
Digital ProTalk

Professional wedding and portrait photographer, photography lecturer and writer David Ziser runs the Digital ProTalk blog. David’s an established figure in the US wedding photography business and there’s a lot of great information on there that could only come from an experienced photographer.

Check out the category list on the right hand side (under the ‘about’ panel) to go straight to articles on the topic you’re looking for. The largest category, naturally enough, is Wedding Photography, and David also covers topics such as Photoshop Tutorials, Fine Art Photography and Business.

Oh, and I bet you don’t know what carrot-cake lighting is.

Dan Heller’s Photography Business Blog Industry Analysis

The blog’s title is a real mouthful but the information is priceless. Dan describes himself as a professional photographer and business analyst, and his blog reflects that with articles about topics such as model release forms, stock photography, photo licensing and so on. This is a must read for any professional or aspiring professional photographer and it’s definitely the most in-depth analysis I’ve ever come across on these matters.

Just one word of advice. Make sure you have plenty of spare time and a large mug of coffee. Dan likes to write - a lot - and none of his articles are short.

Digital Photography School

The digital photography school is like having every issue of your favourite photography magazine rolled into one. It has a whole series of articles for beginners plus plenty more for the more advanced hobbyist.

Topics covered include composition, digital camera equipment, photoshop techniques and specific subjects like portraiture, urban landscapes, weddings, sunsets and more. But what really sets it apart from the rest is a neatly organised forum for visitors to discuss what they’re learning on the site.

Know of any other educational photography blogs? Leave a comment and a link below.

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