Beyond the Lens: Best Photography Resource for Professionals

Armed with a camera in hand, you can make any statement you want to; you can capture the world as you see it through your own eyes. Photography today is not just a hobby – it is a serious art form. With the breathtaking range of cameras, accessories, modern tools for photography and variety of lenses that are available, photography has become a truly dynamic art from, where you will always find something new to learn, even for professional photographers.

Digital cameras, easy access to the Internet and a host of editing software has made photography into a special form of art that can combine the grace of tradition, as well as the starkness of the modern form, representing change and dynamism. Here you will find an array of information and links on the subject that will pique your interest and creativity, irrespective of whether you are just starting off in photography, or you are a professional in the field.

History of Photography

Man’s fascination with capturing a moment in a picture started centuries ago, but with Nicéphore Niépce’s first permanent photograph in the 1920, the modern photography as we know it, came into being. He used a portable camera obscura to expose a pewter plate coated with bitumen to light. Thereafter a number of people improved the technique through the century, including Henry Fox Talbot, Frederick Scott Archer, James Clerk-Maxwell and so on.

George Eastman changed the basis of photography with the introduction of the Kodak camera roll, during the late 1880s. 1990 saw the introduction of Adobe Photoshop and the next year, the first SLR camera came into being. With that, the path was paved for the DSLR camera and improved sophistication of the modern photography.

• History of Photography: Contains information on history of photography covering all major people and processes from the earliest days up to the 1920s
• Tropinature: This website is a very brief summary of teaching material. It offers a relatively extended timeline (from the year 350 BC to the year 2004)
• Photography Timeline: History of Photography Timeline
• Questia: Journals and articles on History of Photography
• Art Support books on Photography: List of Books on the History of Photography
• Action Photography: Brief overview on history of photography

The Cutting Edge: The New Tools of the Trade

 In photography, your best friend is your camera and your senses, but to help you enhance your style, there are a number of new cutting edge tools and software that can transform your picture. The Virtual photography, for instance, is an interactive style of photography that gives the viewer a 360 degree image and gives a feel of almost being in the place that the picture represents.

Ramesh Raskar and colleagues at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Cambridge has come up with a unique system that will help you to get rid of the unwanted glare in photography. You can also use a one-pixel camera that produces surprisingly good results by Richard Baraniuk and Kevin Kelly at Rice University in Houston, who believe that all those megapixels can be quite wasteful. In contrast, you have Seitz 160 Megapixel Panoramic camera, which makes it possible to create a digital 6x17 image with impressive resolution in just one second.

• Virtual photography: A guide to virtual photography.
• Goodbye to glare: How to eradicate glare caused by bright light sources
• One pixel camera: A guide to this new technology
• 160 Megapixel Camera: The world's first and only digital 6x17 panorama camera

At the Margins: Documenting & Creating

Photography is not just a means of capturing a moment for eternity, it is a means of recording, documenting and chronicling the history of mankind. While on one hand, photography can be intensely subjective – like a lyric that a poet pens down, at other times, it can be intensely and starkly objective – like an impartial historian noting down of an era in human life.

Photography can make a corroding social comment. It can bring forth the dirty hidden face of the society in all its ugliness or it can give out the message of peace and love. It can document wars, cultures and even poverty or it can simply be a work of art in its pure aesthetic beauty.

• Photography and Society: A guide to Photography and Society in the 20th Century
• Photographic documentation of Child Labor: Photographs from The National Archives - Documentation of Child Labor
• Historic Photographs: An extensive collection of photographs
• Images of War: Documentations and images of World war I and II
• Magnum Archive: Images from the Magnum Archive

Craft and Industry Resources

With an interest in the art of photography, you can choose from a number of fields. A successful self-employing photographer must however, not only look into the photographic side of the business, but also into the business, marketing and equipment management side of the business.

Specialized knowledge in editing and computers are always a bonus for any photographer. One can work in a fine arts gallery or in commercial news and magazines or even work as a scientific photographer. Some of the area of specialization includes Editorial Photography, Advertising Photography, Fashion Photography, Documentary Style Photography, Photo Technician and so on.

• Digital Photography Jobs: A guide for those who wants to start their career in taking and editing digital pictures. Source for photo editing tutorials.
• The Future of Photography: Technology is still moving at an alarming rate and new features and inventions will happen with photography.
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition
• Photography Freelance Fees Guide: Advices on rates and rights, copyright, contacts and paperwork
• Freelance Photography Guide: A guide to understand the market area, how you can market your skills and earn money as a freelancer.
• Photographer Job description: Definition and Nature of the Work, Education and Training Requirements, Getting the Job

Museums and Professional Organizations

• Victoria and Albert Museum of Photography, London: A leading museum of photography with a fabulous collection of 500,000 images from 1852 onwards. It also holds temporary exhibitions of leading photographers in its galleries. 
• International Center of Photography, New York City: One of the top photographic museums of the world boasting a collection of more than 100,000 original prints. It also offers full-time master's photography courses.
• The Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at Los Angeles County Museum of Art: Founded in 1984, the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department boasts a collection of nearly 6,000 photographs from 1940 onwards.
• Leica Gallery in Frankfurt: Opened in November 2004, the Leica Gallery in Frankfurt hosts exhibitions of the works of photographers using Leica equipments
• Gallery 44, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto: With regular exhibitions, weekend workshops, resource centre and production facilities this gallery contributes a lot to the world of photography.
• George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester: The collection includes more than 400,000 photographs of 14,000 photographers.
• National Army Museum, London: Nearly 500,000 photographs of pioneering photographers dating from the 1840s to the present day.
• Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo: Organizes regular Photography Workshops and temporary exhibitions in its galleries and Halls.
• The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins – Colorado: Organizes regular juried fine art photography exhibitions, educational programming, meetings and workshops.
• Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki: A permanent collection of 3.7 million photographs and regular exhibitions of Finnish and foreign contemporary photographers.
• Foam, Amsterdam: Foam exhibits works of world famous photographers and works of upcoming artists in its galleries.
• Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth – Texas: A collection of over 30,000 photographic prints spanning from daguerreotypes to inkjet prints.
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco: A collection of more than 14,000 photographs documenting the development from the 1830s to the present day
• Museum of Contemporary Photography, Michigan: Located in the campus of Columbia College Chicago hosts exhibitions involving photographers, institutions and communities from across the world.
• Griffin Museum of Photography, Boston: Organizes lectures, programs and exhibitions of well-known photographers as well as upcoming photographers.

The numerous organizations for photography and the cutting edge innovations in the field of photography themselves stand testimonial to the popularity of the art form. If you just want to make photography your hobby, your profession, or simply your pastime, you are sure to get hooked to this medium of endless possibilities.

This article was written by Mike Haldas, co-founder and managing partner of CCTV Camera Pros. If you found it useful, please share it.