While doing online research for a technical essay recently I found myself tumbling through one of those rabbit holes in Google. (You know, how one thing leads to another and then another and then I end up with six additional tabs open in my browser and four new bookmarks.)

But this isn't about rabbit holes. It's about cross-pollination, part of that 'virtuous circle' the Net completes countless times each and every day. This time it provided me with a pair of spectacular sites to share, both with relevance to Lightroom and Photoshop users.

The first is PresetPond. Check out Thomas Fals' story about setting up his Lightroom/Aperture/Photoshop Presets and (PS) Actions sharing site HERE.

The second gem I found was the result of my poking around on presetpond. Actually I've known about DeviantArt for some time now. (And not to worry, it's not a site for deviants of any stripe.) A great place to start is on the 'Daily Deviations' page.

What's cool about this page is that it provides one access to all the photography, digital manipulations, 'traditional' art mediums, graphic design projects, etc. uploaded for each and every day of the year. And once you are on the 'DD' page you can simply use the 'Prev Day' graphic-link at the top-left of the gallery page to go back a day quite easily and see what was going on then. You are able to see something of interest enlarged on another page and utilize a text-link to the artist's account page gallery as well, to explore additional examples of their work or perhaps jump to their personal website. (See what I mean about 'rabbit holes'?)

This site is almost addictive (as is presetpond). If you register as a member you won't have to endure a full-page popup-ad every fourth or fifth click-through. LOTS of inspiration here, cross pollination. Don't copy, just use this online content as inspiration to make something remarkable of your own!

Next time: New Year's Resolution: Clean Up That Catalog!