Below are some of the best photography links from other sites that I came across this week.  Enjoy!

How I Escaped My Newspaper Job to Start My Own Business — and How You Can, Too – Heather Hughes over at Black Star Rising tells her inspiring story of moving from photojournalism to wedding photographer full time.  Heather’s story incorporates a lot of great advice to amateur and pro photographers that are considering a career change as well.

Smithsonian Magazine Announces Finalists for Fifth Annual Photo Contest – This photo contest was open to amateur photographers ages 18 and over who had captured a stunning image within the past three years. Ten finalists were chosen from each of the five contest categories drawn from those subjects of special interest to the magazine.

SportsShooter February Winners -  The SportsShooter.com clip contest is open to all members. And the members are the judges too. Enter each month, vote each month and you just may be crowned “SportsShooter.com Photographer of the Year” at the end of the year.

World’s ‘oldest photo’ could rewrite history books – Amateur Photographer reports that a photogenic drawing of a leaf that is currently attributed to British photography pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839 may instead have been produced more than 30 years earlier by Thomas Wedgwood, according to photo historian Dr Larry J Schaaf.

HDR/Photomatix Tutorial -  Abduzeedo gives nice tutorial on how to make a HDR photo using just a point and shoot camera and Photomatix software.  Lots of pretty photos and screen shots to guide you through.

Another Fresh Example of Why You Shouldn’t Check Your Camera Gear – Scott Kelby passes along a story of a Canon 5D, Nikon D3 and D300 at a street price of $50 each . . . seriously.

Bonus

If you didn’t catch any of the April Fool’s Day shenanigans from your favorite photography sites, consider perusing some of these links as well:

Overclock Your Speedlight for More Power – Strobist

My Project: Flash Photos, An interview with photographer Richard Baresall – PopPhoto

Canon 4D Official Leak – The Online Photographer

Canon and Nikon Combine Forces on Open Format DSLRs – Photography Bay