http://www.popphoto.com/ has a monthly contest.
I do a lot of working with other photographers and models to figure stuff out. Learned some neat stuff (especilly about lighting). useually have to offer up a trade. there are lots of sites to find models willing to do tfp or tfcd. if you want any info on that I can post it.
deviantart.com has people who post tutorials, I like the pscs stuff. neat things in there. lot of kids though.