The five best sources of great photography on the internet

My previous post on the Flickr Hive Mind inspired me to share what I think are the best sources of amazing photography on the internet. I’m not going to go into a rehashed mess of the traditional sites, but on specific links to high-quality (skill and creativity, not resolution) photography.

so cool!

Hive Mind: Like I’ve mentioned before, a fantastic source. I am thoroughly confused how it does what it does, but the end result is a constant stream of wow!

The Big Picture: A sub-site of Boston.com, and naturally very journalistic in flavour, but excellent photos nevertheless.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: A very focused site in terms of subject matter, dealing almost exclusively with travel and nature. The photographs of course, are legendary, almost all of the class that graces the covers of National Geographic Magazine itself.

deviantArt: I am sure to get panned for this. But the fact remains that among the tides of pre-pubescent and post-adolescent ‘artists’ and unending manga-derived graphics are some true photographic gems. It takes some hunting, but it can be worth it.

WordPress Photography: I am not joking. There are some seriously superb photographers on WordPress, as I have discovered in the recent past and continue to do so in the present. This and this are just a couple I’ve come across recently.

There you have it. In addition to the ‘common’ photo databases like photobucket and flickr, these 5 sites have been the mainstay of my photography browsing recently. If anyone has similar places they count on their favourites folder, do share.

On a last note, I cannot stress this enough when I ask everyone to always respect the copyrights and wishes of the photographers, wherever you may find their work. A vast majority of photographers will not have any problem with your using their work in a non-profiteering context. Just ask before using. It’s polite.

We are many. We photograph?

I am not talking about the blog or even the demon. I’m talking specifically about this website I came across a few weeks ago and about photography in general.

I’ve always had a high appreciation for good photography, and surfing photos on the internet is like being a teenager in a porn library. (is there such a thing?). There are never-ending wonders to be discovered, endless wonders just around the corner. One gripe I’ve always had is an inability to find many superb photos in place. easily. There are enough and more photography hosting sites around, photobucket and flickr of course being notables. But attempting to, bluntly put, separate the wheat from the chaff and easily find lots of fantastic photos to go crazy over has always been a challenge.

Well, until now. Fiveprime is the home page of some guy called Nathan Siemers. A person of seemingly broad interests, my attention is focused on his Hive Mind engine. I came across Hive Mind during some random googling and it has turned out to be a veritable akshayapatra of amazing photography. I don’t claim to understand how it does what it does, but it does it very very well. It appears to be able to consistently dig up some absolutely incredible photographs.

Another cool feature is being able to view the photostream of a specific user in Hive Mind’s “skin”. My own flickr account becomes – http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/User/tenthousandsouls.

enough talk. go enjoy. I certainly am.

Stop trying to hit me and hit me

I am still a little suspicious of Plinky. It strikes me as a celebrity reporter blended with a talk show host with an agony aunt with an agenda of asking people to ‘tell me your feelings’. Considering that a significant portion of this suspicion is rooted in my distinctly introverted and indistinctly anti-social nature just being suspicious of questions in general, I’m willing (for now) to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Today Plinky (I have to find a better name for it) asks of me “What is the best advice you have ever received?”

thought provocation?

Football and Diving – A footballer’s perspective

I believe I can fly?

So the World Cup is going on now. The Big Names of Football (aka Brazil, Argentina, England and France. Nobody else. read on and you’ll understand why) have made waves for either flattering to deceive or deceiving to flatter. So of course, a significant proportion of water-cooler-conversation involves the WC. (pun intended, very much).