I've posted a gaggle of links to tools, tutorials, and videos this week.

I don't have a backlog of TLR-branded resources to share. When I get busy in my professional or personal life, new releases of resources that I author slow down. I try to compensate by posting more links to resources around the Web.

My work at the University of South Florida has left me very little free time this week. I'm a faculty member and administrator at a Florida university, and I have a number of people who depend upon my contracts with the State of Florida for program evaluations to pay their salaries and benefits. Economic conditions are dire, and I believe I've been able to protect our team. But that's literally by the plaque on my teeth and the stress this week has been excruciating. There have been a few hours available, but then I've lacked the mental energy to compose new material.

I do expect to cut some videos tomorrow evening. I'd also like to finish my comprehensive review of Neat Image this coming week.

Posting links to four or five resources around the Web takes about the same time as a brief Web page tutorial. It takes a couple of hours to find the resources, do the screen captures, fill in the details (like URLs, tags, etc.), and write brief blurbs.

There are lots of free tools, tutorials, and videos to showcase. There are a couple of hundred links already. How do I go about choosing them? It's probably easier to describe what rules out a resource.

Light on content, heavy on advertising. You might have noticed that there are some free resources out there that are so light in content that it's obvious the real motivation is to draw people to the site for advertising views. I avoid 99% of that. I have made a few borderline calls where a site is littered with advertising but where I judged the topic or the presentation was worth minor annoyance.

For example, it bugs me when Web page tutorials have only a few paragraphs to a page, usually with ads between the paragraphs and along the columns. Then you have to click through several pages to see the entire tutorial. Oh, I'm sure the site owner will claim to be doing me a favor. There's less scrolling. Yeah, it was my user experience that drives all that! Sure. Just as telemarketers tell me they're not calling to sell me something. It's a courtesy call. I'm not four years-old, and I know whose interests are being served. ;)

Videos without audio. Call me unreasonable. I don't view videos without audio. This is a recent trend, and the typos on the slides make it very clear that these silent movies come from authors with poor English-speaking abilities.

Even back in the days of silent movies, there was an organist and sound effects to build interest and excitement.

Registration required. Sites will tell you that registration has user benefits. Sometimes that's true. But the biig benefit is usually for the site owner. Most want to be able to tell potential advertisers that their site has "x" number of registered users.

I'll admit, I'd like to have everyone register when they visit this site. I do intend newsletters, announcements, etc. But registration is optional. It's only required to post comments, and there the requirement is motivated 100% at eliminating spammer activity.

When sites require registration to download resources, stream video, etc. then I'm going to be very reluctant to showcase that content. I try to use my judgment. I've already made a few exceptions, where the content is especially worthy and the registration process is quick and painless.

Where the content comes from. I have RSS subscriptions to about three dozen sites. I also do frequent Google searches to find content to showcase. If I'm rushed and not feeling inspired for Google searches, I'll make a run at sites like Adobe Exchange. Lots of things could grab my attention. That's why I called the collection of links this week a gaggle. There is no unifying theme. It's a stream-of-consciousness agglomeration from my clicking around the Web.

I try to find interesting stuff. Videos, tutorials, tools, and even the occasional essay or blog entry. We have a diverse community. So I look for useful material for beginners as well as for more experienced digital photographers.

This week, I was going to showcase stuff for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Photoshop Elements. I intended to get to something for Photoshop Elements today. (I try to limit new items to ten each day, that gives them at least two days on the front page, unless I have a few sticky items hanging around for recent TLR resources). Well, just as I was getting around to search for a PSE resource to showcase, I ran across a video essay from Michael Reichmann on the photographic vision that goes into taking a photo from reality to iconic. Typical of Michael Reichmann's work, it's really impressive. So, maybe I'll get a couple of PSE resources online tomorrow. ;)

If you find a resource that will interest visitors to Tle Light's Right, please do pass along the URL. It will save me time searching the Web and ensure I don't miss a great resource. ;) And if anyone wants to help out with these reviews, please don't be shy about offering. Every hour I spend on these links is one less hour for new TLR resources. ;)

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