This page links to technical sites on how to improve amateur photos. There is a second page with links to virtual galleries. Although the emphasis on these sites lies on the technical subjects, some of them include remarkable pictures.

Except where stated otherwise, the sites are written in English.

Pequeno Manual Prático de Fotografia by Rui Grilo. This is a Portuguese guide to beginners. The concepts in the text are illustrated by fine pictures, which also embellish and add value to the guide. Clear, concise and easy to learn.
 

photo.net: a very rich site maintained by Philip Greenspun from the United States. It features tutorials from beginner to advanced amateur, comments on equipment, discussion forums, camera and lens compared analysis, etc.

It also includes photography galleries, especially on black and white.

An example of technical and artistic high quality. 

DP Review - Digital Photography Review: this site is devoted to the analysis of digital cameras and its accessories. It is updated daily with tips, news and lots of in-depth reviews. It includes the experience, rating and opinion of hundreds of users about their own cameras.

A "mandatory" visit before you by any type of digital gear. 

Imaging Resource: Similar to its friendly rival DP Review, it also features tips, photo lessons, and a very interesting "comparometer" where one can check similar photos taken by two different cameras.

Batteries are a critical element to achieve satisfaction on digital photography. One of the most valuable pages of this site is the AA battery test program.

Steve's Digicams: This site share the same approach of DP Review and Imaging Resource, with fewer analysis and less formal.

The author, Steve Sanders, approaches the subject with lots of common sense.

Digital Camera resource page: created and edited by Jeff-Keller, is similar to the three above.

When looking for a camera, I strongly suggest that you browse through the four previous sites. Their analysis is different, although opposite views are rare.

Digitalkamera.de: a site associated to a german magazine. It features technical, photography and hardware reviews. Written in german.

photodo: a very technical site maintained by current and past collaborators of Hasselblad. If features detailed analysis on the optical quality of the lenses for 35mm SLR. It also features analysis about other formats, albeit to a lesser extent.

It includes articles on the history of photography and other photo-related subjects.

The optical analysis are objective and numerical. It demands some learning effort, which is later rewarded by the wealth of the information available.

Wrotniak's Photo tidbits: Andrzej Wrotniak keeps a site with technical and practical tips on digital photography, infrared phtography and analog cameras. The most common cameras on his articles are Olympus and Russian Exakta cameras.

I find the technical articles quite good, proving that photography and maths are close subjects. Since I'm also interested in Olympus digital gear and Praktica cameras and plain web design, it is a site that mirrors my interests.

Digital Photography for What It's Worth: user-to-user help site created and maintained Jeremy McCreary with the assistance of contributors from rec.photo.digital.

The author focuses on Olympus digital cameras but most articles are worth reading by users of other cameras. The author covers extensively the accessories available for the Olympus digital rangefinders.

ShortCourses: this is a companion site of a book collection about digital photography. I don't know the books but the extracts of some courses are worth reading.
 

Subclub.org: a site for lovers of cameras in small formats (film format inferior to 135 (35mm)). It offers technical data, memories and histories about cameras, old photos and old photo methods.
 

Matt's Classic Cameras: This site by Matt Denton, California, USA, contains the descriptions and anedoctes experienced by this amateur photographer with old cameras (O.K., not so old, cameras with manual focus).

It includes some galleries of black and white photos.
 

Technical advice by AGFA, with photographs analysed to the detail, on-line courses aimed at different levels, film specifications and much more on a swift and simple site. It is worth mentioning the efficient navigation system.
 

A coloured site with questions and answers, by Eastman Kodak. Especially suited to beginners.
 

Advice on Holiday photos. It should be read before the departure...
 

TechPhoto - Photo News: an archive/forum of photo-related news sent by their users. The contributions have an irregular pace but the contents and some "unofficial" news are worth a sporadic visit..