The sheer number of blogs and online training has skyrocketed and those that want to learn can do so more quickly, effectively and inexpensively than ever before. I’ll dedicate a post next week about my favorite blogs, but I thought for today I’d share my top online training video resources. The videos are on application training and, in some cases, are videos of studio photography shoots, etc.

KelbyTraining.com

Launched recently, Kelby Training has quickly established a significant presence in online training for photographers.

Cost: $20/month or $200/year. Try the first 3 lessons of each course for free.

Reasons to Choose: Kelby Training provides one of the best collections of photography/Photoshop and Lightroom courses available. The top-of-the-line instructors allow you to learn from the best each and every time. I also like the nice mix of application training and photography training. With Kelby Training, you’ll be able to learn everything from Photoshop retouching to wildlife shooting with Moose Peterson.

Areas for Improvement: The content quality is great – one of the only rooms for improvement is to continue increasing the quantity.

Lynda.com

Lynda.com was one of the first big online training players on the market. As a result, they’ve done a great job providing a large number of courses to a large number of people.

Cost: $25/month, $250/year

Reasons to Choose: Lynda.com provides an amazing library of technical courses. Learn Microsoft Office, intense programming or graphic design software. All told, Lynda.com offers over 750 separate courses.

Areas for Improvement: I’d like to see additional courses on programming practices, graphic design practices, etc. to better complement their stellar selection on software training.

Free Online Training Resources

While Lynda.com and KelbyTraining.com have a lot of breadth and depth, you can find lots of great videos focused in particular areas all over the web.

Cost: $0

Reasons to Choose: It’s priced right!

Areas for Improvement: Most sites provide a specific slice of training – primarily Photoshop, primarily Lightroom, etc. The first vendor that can keep quality high and provide a variety to compete with Lynda.com will garner lots of traffic.

I frequently visit the following.

TV.Adobe.com

PhotoshopUserTv.com

LayersMagazine.com

Do you use other online training resources? If so, post them in the comments.

I don’t read a lot of comics, but I came across one recently that I can’t go a day without. What the Duck, provides great, daily humor on photography, business and more.  

I support the production of a comic strip in more current job (another much more talented person actually creates it) and I can testify that it’s much harder than it looks. It’s a lot like logo design and other similar visual communication effots. You have to communicate a lot with a little. And in this case it has to be funny. If it weren’t already difficult enough, comic creators often do it every single day. Honestly, it’s amazing.

Aaron Johnson is able to do all that. You can check out What the Duck, here. You won’t be sorry.

I’ve tried the Gorillapod, which is a tripod with flexible arms that can wrap around almost anything and really like it. Their DIY Photo Blocks, Magnetic Photo Ropes and Fotoclips, among others, also look like interesting gifts and ways to display your photos. I also keep a sharp eye out for good web design and this one qualifies. Their site is simple, clean and provides great descriptions of the various items they sell.

I’ll be trying several of the products out soon and will post a review.