Photo credit: Mylene Treyomet

500px is another well known community that enables photographers worldwide to gain exposure. The 500px community rewards serious photographers who are committed to their craft and passionate about building their creative reputation. As a bonus, if you carefully curate the images that you showcase on 500px, you can get featured on the 500px homepage which can lead to greater exposure.

Photo Credit: Benyamin Bohlouli

Indisputably, the social media giant, Instagram, is by far the most widely used and popular photo sharing platforms currently in use. Boasting more than a billion users, having an instagram account is almost a requirement for photographers these days and is a great place to have one’s work seen. Be sure to use hashtags to target people who are looking for specific content and get discovered by them. For tips on how to maximize instagram as a photographer, check out these instagram tips from Digital Camera World.

Photo credit: Benjamin Voros

While the photo sharing site, Flickr, has a wide range of work, including lots of low quality images, there are some great reasons to join nonetheless. Themes such as “black and white portraits,” “surreal photography”, “street photography”, “film photography”, “people photography” and “landscapes photography” bring together photographers passionate about their particular genres with some inspiring results.

Photo credit: Brooke Cagle

If you’re always looking to learn new skills and better understand your craft, Photo.net offers a deep well of informational material for the enthusiast, beginner as well as pro photographer. It also acts as a photo sharing site and place to connect with other photographers.

Photo credit: Aziz Acharki

As photographers we understand the importance of light. If you’re looking to improve your lighting skills, Strobist is a fantastic place to start as its sole focus is on using lights and off-camera flash. Start with their Lighting 101 course which teaches the basics of lighting and is a great resource to up your lighting game.

Photo credit: Brooke Cagle

Photography Course is a photo community that provides both inspiration and education for photographers worldwide. Top reasons to join are its easy to use forum style, bi-weekly photo contests, regular photography challenges, and motivational posts. The community caters to photographers of all levels and members can interact with one another and build a network of passionate photography peers.

Photo credit: Robin Worrall

While LightStalking is another site packed with information for photographers, its real draw is its hugely popular online forums which are active discussion boards featuring everything from general photography to photography challenges.

Photo credit: Jakob Owens

Fstoppers is a highly respected resource for photography lighting, gear reviews, business tips and industry news. If you’re a techie and must get the inside scoop on the latest camera equipment, this is definitely the site for you.

Photo credit: Jacob Owens

Last but not least, GuruShots is a great resource for those obsessed with photo contests. GuruShots allows members to enter contests and winners are chosen based on the number of votes their images get from their Gurushot peers. If you’re strong photographer and committed to your craft, this site could be a great place to get additional exposure for your work.