When it comes to learning more about photography there are many resources available.  One of the best resources I've found was joining a photography club like NVPS.  There also are lots of resources on the web that have been valuable in my growth as a photographer.  I thought it could be helpful to share some of my favorite web sites that some people may not have found yet.

• Strobist.com - A site dedicated to off camera flash photography by professional photographer for the Baltimore Sun, David Hobby.  David has an immense amount of instructional information online, including some of his real world assignments from the Sun and how he did them all with inexpensive small flashes.  He also has developed a rich community on the photo sharing site Flickr where he and readers of his site share photos and discuss lighting topics.  A great resource if you want to get into more advanced lighting on a very small budget.  Be sure to check out Archives, Lighting 101 and the On Assignment sections
  
  
• Luminous Landscape - Luminous Landscape's site is chock full of  information.  It has tutorials and techniques sections.  Essays about photography and the photography business.  Real world practical reviews of equipment like "How this tripod worked on a 4 week assignment".
  
  
• Digital Outback Photo Techniques Section - Maker of many books in PDF format, their website also has a lot of information on photographic technique.  definitely worth checking out.
  
  
• American Photo Journalist Analyzed -  Learn how the photographer shot selected images. They back engineer it for you in their "Analyzed" section
  
  
• Photo Business News & Forum
• Black Star Rising Blog   - Both of these websites provide insights into the business aspect of being a photographer that I have not found anywhere else.
  
  
• Radiant Vista - This website offers a single daily critique of an image and both audio and video podcasts related to photography and Photoshop.

Critiques and Online Competitions

• photo.net - This website is one of my favorite places for looking at high quality images online. Just check out the top rated photos section and see for yourself. Photo.net is a place to share your photos, discuss photography, and have your images critiqued.  There are critique forums where you can submit your photos and other users of the website can comment on your image.  Just like most communities, you get back what you put in.  If you don't offer feedback on other people's work, you aren't likely to get much feedback on your images.
  
  
• photosig.com - Photosig is a site very similar to photo.net but there seems to be more emphasis on the critique aspect. 
  
  
• dpchallenge.com - If you need encouragement to get out and shoot dpchallenge.com may be what you need.  This site has weekly competitions that are themed and timed.  Your photo must be taken during the period of the challenge and then is voted on the week following the challenge period.  All images must be taken digitally and there are rules on how much post processing maybe done on the image.  Be sure to read the challenge rules carefully.  It can be a fun website to participate on and the themes encourage you to get pretty creative.
  
  
• FredMiranda.com - This site a nice Discussion Forum area with sections for a critiques, and both weekly and monthly photo assignments challenges. 
  

Phillip Moore ihas been a member of the Northern Virginia Photographic Society since 2005 and now maintains the NVPS website.  His website is available at http://pdmphotography.com/.