Monitor Calibration:

Discussions related to monitor calibration and the implications it has on your photography. Examples: how you calibrate your monitor, calibration devices, problems you may have calibrating your monitor, etc.

If you take your photo viewing and editing even moderately seriously you need to calibrate your monitor. This may be the first and most important step if you plan to color manage your photos. I avoided this initially, but after some printing and viewing my photos on other peoples monitors I soon realized it's importance. If you're going to edit your photos for color correction don't even bother if you haven't calibrated because corrections you make most likely will only look good, as far as color goes, on "your" monitor.

Monitors:

Discussions related to monitors used for photo editing. Examples: personal experiences with given monitors and their relativity to photo editing, issues you may have with your current monitor, suggestions for purchasing a monitor, monitor technology, etc.

One of the components that plays a role in color management is your monitor. Some people still claim the old CRT monitors, were, and maybe still are to some one of the best options for photo editing because of viewing angle, color purity and contrast but quality lcd monitors are match. So for the sake of this post I'll be talking about lcd monitors.

Color Management:

Discussions related to the use of color management as a means of achieving your final goals for your photos. Examples: Workflow, working in different colors spaces, ICC profiles, problems with print colors or online posted photos vs. what you see on your screen, proofing photos etc. 

I started out taking photos happy with what I saw on my screen and liked some of them enough to go out and buy some photo paper and print some of my favorites. I was really excited with my results. Just that the fact that they looked pretty close to what I saw on my screen was enough to drive me on. After continuing for some time (at the expense of a lot of ink, that's another story) I soon realized that some came out better than others. The outcome a result of playing with printer settings and some basic editing. Throwing "bad" copies in the trash was just the price of printing yourself and hoping the next one would be better.