As photographers there is a constant need to improve our skill, not just the desire that we want to take better photographs but also in the respect that we seek inspiration and the inspiration will come in the forms of wanting to try a new technique.  This means that one must be introduced to new techniques and fortunately given the advent of digital photography and the progress of digital photography and the raft of resources available on the internet.  This now makes it so much easier because we can not only see photographs that other people have done and seek to put our own spin on them but we can also learn techniques that we can use in our own photography and this article seeks to address some of the resources available on the internet that can be utilized to improve our skill set through the use of podcasts and social networking.  For those of you who don’t know what podcasting is, podcasting is a form of communicating and sharing ideas via the internet in audio and visual form.  The beauty of podcasting is it is a platform where the average inspired person can share their knowledge without need for grand production houses in and audio and visual format.

Many photographers, such as Scott Wittenburg of the Photography 101 podcast, are sharing their knowledge of camera techniques, settings and other equipment in order to achieve an outcome through weekly/monthly episodes of their show and also inspire their audiences to enhance their cadre of skills through assignments or competitions.

For those of us who are not only learning photography now but also those of us who have been photographers for some time and are seeking to hone our technique this is a great outlet from which to do that, by watching/listening to podcast we can learn new techniques to utilize in our own photography, This means that  no longer are you limited to just your immediate inspiration sources but now you can get inspiration, points of view and learn

from sources around the world.  There are some great photographers who make podcast in order to be able to share their knowledge, some of those are Chris Marquardt who produces Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor and also Martin Bailey who produces the Martin Bailey Photography Podcast.     The competitions/assignments are important because they provide a benchmark for you to measure your own photography against.  There are also resources such as Flickr and Pbase, while both sites allow you to view photographs and
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EXIF data (which is helpful so you can see settings used to achieve an outcome), Pbase also allows you to search images taken with specific cameras such as the Nikon D3S and lenses such as the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8.  If you intend to buy a new lens in the future check out the actual lens performance to make absolutely sure it is what you want.

What scares many people with digital photography is the post processing aspect of ima

ging, Photoshop is a daunting program for the uninitiated but there are amazing tutorials by The Photoshop Guys of Photoshop User TV.  The Photoshop Guys present a weekly program with each of the 3 hosts providing a tip of moderate to advanced skill.  These tutorials are shown with clear visual instructions that make them easy to follow.  Justin Seely of Photoshop QuickTips, provides an amazing plethora of short quick tips on techniques that are easily understandable and will navigate you throw a gamut of amazing post production techniques for your images.  These resources are amazing and will bring you up to speed with your Photoshop skills.

In addition to podcasting you have another great resources on the Internet, Twitter.  Twitter is a micro-blogging resource where persons can post messages up to 140 characters in length for persons to read.  While this may sound both short because of character limitations and also congested will the millions of people that use Twitter, a simple feature, hashtags, allows one to separate the wheat from the chaff.  As photographers we would be interested in following the hashtags for photography (denoted as #photography).  Here you may expect to find all manner of news regarding photography including product/software releases, tips for new techniques/processes and also photographers posting and sharing their own images.  Twitter follows the old Chinese adage of “Many hands make light work” because no one person on their own can search and catalog the internet for all the possible resources available.  Following the appropriate hashtags lead to great opportunity for discussion and collective learning, you are able to utilize the reach of many persons searching, qualifying and sharing information they have come across that they think is of value to others.  You can also follow  other photographers individually on twitter (for instance I’m @ymerej on twitter) or follow the collective hashtag #togs.  
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Twitter also allows you to share when you come across articles/techniques or photographs that you think ought to be shared.  You can share your latest work and even invite critique and hopefully receive suggestions for improvement from more experienced photographers.

While reading and researching is an integral part of improving your output there is no substitute for practical experience, as you learn new techniques it is imperative to practice them so you can call on them without question when the time comes for them to be used.  Cataloging techniques that you wish to try and executing them is a good start but don’t just stop there utilize Internet sites such as Facebook to share your images and receive feedback.  In many locations you will have local or regional photography organizations such as the one I belong to, The Barbados Photographic Society,  that will allow you to exercise your skills but also in addition to virtual sharing allow for some valuable face time.  While the internet is an extremely valuable resource for the improvement of your photographic skill set, human interaction is what really makes photography tick.  Photography is more than a personal pleasure it is also about sharing your images for the appreciation of others both in person and virtually.

Happy Shooting!

Jeremy
Jeremy is a consultant, educator and photographer based in the Caribbean. He shoots an eclectic range of material, but his favorite subjects are urban and seascapes, people and aircraft. He mixes his love of technology and travel with photography. Following a brief post college hiatus he picked up a camera again in 2003 and has been shooting ever since. You may view his work on his website

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