Just a little heads up as we head into OMG BUY ALL THE THINGS week:
Photography Concentrate [one of my absolute favorite photography resources] is already running their Mega Black Friday sale - you can take 50% off every single one of their fabulous tutorials. I'm working really hard on spending my limited money on presents for others this year instead of for myself, but I still couldn't resist picking up that lighting tutorial I've had my eye on since they released it last year [it's currently only $17, so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself]. AND I'm actually going to have time to work through it over Thanksgiving, because our endo/repro module ends tomorrow! I'm actually going have a break over Thanksgiving this year! Three cheers for med school.
This is actually a really handy gift idea to keep in mind this time of year, as new cameras seem to make pretty popular presents. If you or a loved one is new to the fancy camera business, Extremely Essential Camera Skills would be a great accessory gift - it's all about how to work your camera and helps you dip your toe into the deep end of manual mode. Super Photo Editing Skills is fantastic for teaching you how to use Lightroom - as Lightroom can be some extremely confusing software, this makes a great gift if you or someone you know is receiving a copy of Lightroom/a Creative Cloud subscription. And of course, for slightly more experienced photographers who are interested in diving a bit deeper, tutorials like Incredibly Important Composition Skills and Fantastic Fundamental Light Skills are great for taking your photographic thinking to the next level. [I sent my brother a copy of the Extremely Essential Camera Skills tutorial after he received a DSLR for Christmas last year, and as far as I know he found it useful]
Additionally, Photography Concentrate is holding a giveaway for a $500 Amazon gift card! I actually won their Black Friday giveaway two years ago, which is how I managed to afford to upgrade my camera. Which is all to say - crazy cool giveaways can be won! It is all within your reach! So go enter. And maybe buy a tutorial or two. And maybe do so by using one of my referral links - that way I get a tiny bit of spare cash to help my poor broke med student self, and you get a truly fantastic and useful way of learning more about photography.
Also also, Rob and Lauren are currently running a free course called How to Photograph Life [complete with its own $50 Amazon giveaway]. If you sign up for their Explorers Club emails, you'll get the lessons delivered right to your mailbox; otherwise, you can follow along on their site.