Here are a few of my favorite photographic sites.
The art of photography
Lenswork. Unlike me, Brooks Jensen eschews a technical approach to photography, and concentrates on what is most important: the things going on in the photographer’s head.
Charles Cramer. Charlie is a master color landscape photographer and printer. Honing his printing chops on the difficult, beautiful Dye Transfer Process, Charlie now applies his consummate skills to color inkjet printing. If you want to improve your printing skills, I recommend one of Charlie’s workshops.
John Sexton. One of Ansel Adams’ assistants (and he was very picky; others include Pirkle Jones, Don Worth, Ted Orland, and Alan Ross), John photographs some of the same subjects as his former mentor, but with a very different style. Maybe the best silver printer around, John teaches workshops, and I recommend them.
Huntington Witherill. With a portfolio that includes B&W landscapes, B&W dried-floral still lifes, Las Vegas strangeness, oddities in the rural west, classic car abstracts, and highly manipulated color flower images, Huntington is an incredibly versatile photographer, a technical boundary-seeker, a master printer and editor, and a good friend. He teaches infrequent workshops. If you get the chance, go to one.
Kim Weston. The closest thing to photographic royalty on the US West Coast is the Weston family. Kim is the son of Cole, and the grandson of Edward. Not content to plow the same fields as his elders, Kim mostly does nudes. Sometimes, he paints on the work, with spectacular effect. Kim works out of the same Wildcat Hill darkroom that Edward used, and teaches workshops in nude photography there and in the field.
If you want to learn about image editing from someone with a clear artistic vision, in addition to the sites above, I can recommend John Paul Caponigro, Jason Bradley, and Stephen Johnson.
The science of photography
Jack Hogan. A fellow traveler on the road to understanding the technology of digital photography. Jack has an ability to explain technical matters simply and accurately.
Bruce Lindbloom. Bruce is a color scientist, and has many useful tables, test images, and explanations on his web site.
Image Sensors World. This may be a bit too much “inside baseball” for some people, but if you want to stay current on sensor technology, this is the place.
Douglas Kerr is a fine source of background white papers. Much of his material is specific to a particular camera or camera system, but much is general.
Emil Martinec wrote a great set of pages about sensor noise in 2008. It has not been updated to conform to modern camera characteristics, but the principles still apply.
Here’s a very nice non-mathematical explanation of the basics of lens design. It’s about Leica lenses, and favorable, even occasionally fawning, towards them. But it’s go information that’s useful to anyone trying to understand some of the trade-offs involved in ens design.
Organizations
Center for Photographic Art. This is a great organization with deep roots in West Coast Photography, as practiced by Adams, Weston, and Bullock. Its executive director, Brian Taylor, taught photography at San Jose State for years, and served as head of both the Photography and Art departments. Full disclosure: I have been a member of the CPA since its inception. I was a member of the Friends of Photography, whose former Carmel headquarters the CPA occupies. I served on the CPA board for many years, three as its President.
The Weston Collective. Kim and Gina Weston have created a non-profit that supports young people’s entry into the world of photographic art, with emphasis on traditional chemical techniques.
The Texas Photographic Society. You don’t have to be a Texan to join.
PhotoAlliance. Created by Linda Connor and her friends after the Friends of Photography met its untimely death, PhotoAlliance puts on workshops and lectures, and has a great print review program.
Santa Fe Workshops. Looking to do a workshop with someone not mentioned here? Have a look at their offerings.