One way to learn more about photography is by studying the work of other photographers. Every few days, I enjoy viewing the photographs that appear in the popular category of the 500px website. Photos reach popular status on the site when enough viewers vote for an image (by clicking on "Like" or "Favorite") within a limited period of time. Points are deducted as time passes so that the popular category is always changing. New photos rise to the top each day.

My approach is to identify a photo of interest and then ask myself what appeals to me about that image. If I can understand what makes the photograph interesting to me (e.g., color scheme, selective focus, etc.), I am more likely to be able to incorporate those techniques into my own photography.

I also observe post processing techniques that are incorporated into some of the photographs. I am able to replicate some of the techniques using my existing post processing skills. But, viewing many of the photographs motivates me to improve my Photoshop skills so that one day I might be able to create stronger photographs.

EXIF information is provided for most photographs. I find it interesting that many of the most popular images are captured using relatively inexpensive gear. Once again it goes to show that the most important aspect of photography is the vision of the photographer--and not necessarily the gear.

Another fun aspect of the website is that I will post photographs to see which ones attract enough votes to reach the popular status. I currently have 244 images on the site. One of the images reached the #1 spot on the site, while another reached #2 for a time. Several have reached the popular category. If you are interested in sharing some of your own images on the site, it's easy to get started and free of cost.