As photographers, our quest for photographic knowledge is never ending and now, with digital, it’s a whole new ballgame of evolution, changes and new solutions.

With that in mind, here’s a few (of about a zillion or more…) sites worth checking out…

The first one on today’s list is a new one from John “Think twice, shoot once”Harrington called ” Assignment Construct“.

John’s a longtime Washington D.C. (as well as global) photographer as well as the author of the great photo-business book “Best Business Practices for Photographers“.

His “Assignment Construct” site goes into the details of some of his photoshoots including the negotiations, and the “before and after” of the shoot.

Articles like “A Magazine assignment that was 3-minutes long…” includes tidbits like working with a Congressman’s Creative Director (CD):

“She proposed Thursday the 25th, and I agreed. Then she called back to say he would be out of town. No problem. How about the 24th. No, that wouldn’t work, because it was the day after the State of the Union address, and he would be tired. No problem, how about the 26th. No, he would still be out of town. Then, she proposes 4pm on the 24th, and I am agreeable, and slot it into my schedule. About 30 minutes later, the phone rings, and it’s the CD again. She indicates that he’s getting on a flight at 4:59, so the 4pm slot won’t work after all….”

This really gets you down in the nitty-gritty of what it took, along with the actual photo set-up used.

For anyone who’s ever wondered about what it takes to hang with the big-dogs, this is a very interesting read (click here).

The next one on the list is John’s other site: “Photo Business News Forum” (click here) it’s on my daily RSS newsfeed and is another great way to learn about the business end of photography.

For those of you using on-camera strobes and looking for longer battery life (John?), or alternative power sources, check out Al Jacob’s site “Al Jacobs Photography” and his “Black box batteries” (click here).

Al has a great sense of humor and also is very informative about accessory battery packs and a lot of other photo-related gear.

Nuggets such as: “I hate AA cells, small chargers, and changing AA batteries. I don’t hide it, please respect me for my opinion and I’ll respect yours. If you are a devotee of AA cells, and think the MAHA 204 or the Ray-O-Death or Neveready Charger and AA cells are Ok for a Wedding, this place isn’t for you. To me a guy lugging twenty AA batteries going for a shoot makes no sense. If you do use AA cells in NiMH , here are some good tips….”

…This gives you an idea of where he’s coming from. Even if you’re not interested in a battery-pack (his prices are great!), just reading his missives will get you some very useable info. Al knows what’s-up.

Lastly is the continuing Kingston’s Icons of Photography which is a very entertaining Q&A with some of the best photographers around.

This time it’s with Colin Finley, this from his bio:… “Colin Finlay is one of the foremost documentary photographers in the world and a five-time Picture of the Year Award winner. His new book, Testify, was recently named “Best Photography Book of the Year for 2006” by the prestigious Pictures of the Year awards …”

A very interesting “20 questions” about life, photography, and life as a photographer.

Check it out here .

An aside here is a cool new feature on the newly introduced Nikon D3, it has a electronic-level on it’s 3″ screen to help you get the camera and thus, the horizon, level in your shots!  This could (possibly) take the place of those little (but expensive) bubble-levels you stick on your hot-shoe (at least for the horizontal-axis ).  What took them so long?

How cool is that?

I want one, I want one, I want one…

Well, that’s about it for now. Check these guys out and fill your head up, then come back here for dessert!