Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHONIt might just be the fact that I am a career journalist, but I always encourage bloggers to post their photographic efforts on their sites. Why? Simple.
Because an image provides a visual point of reference. That's why you never see a newspaper page without a photograph on it. So get those cameras out. Post those images. Doesn't matter if it's your local fishing hole, or your corner store. Remember, ninety per cent of the people who read your blog are NOT from your city - so any image you post is going to have some appeal.
So it was great to hear from Who Dat Dare Pokah recently, saying he is going to buy a camera and wants some advice on photography. Another Aussie photographer-blogger, Dave, also got in touch and we nutted out how best to choose between a couple of cameras he was looking at. If ever you have a query, get in touch with me. No worries at all. I'm always there to help. And it was heartening to see Hammer saying he'll start using his camera again.
Over the past few months, I have encouraged some very good bloggers to put more emphasis on posting their shots. Among them are Bart, Dan, Bob T Bear, Deborah Gamble, Carol Cooper, Jenera Healy and Shashikiran. I'd like to think, in an avuncular sort of way, that it has added considerable value to their sites.
Of course, there are bloggers who make very good use of their own photography, like Abraham Lincoln, Photoxification, Helena, Cecilia, Mushy, Fat Hairy Bastard, GS, Ruth, Mrs Nesbitt, Ms Creek, Merisi, Dot and Country Girl City Living, as well as many others.
As you know, I always have a camera with me. If I didn't, I would never have got the shot The Star-Bangled Spanner, nor would I have got the impromptu photo sequence How Do You Hide A Skyscraper, showing how the Melbourne fog hid an entire high-rise office block.
Let me tell you, from the bottom of my heart, that the single most important add-on for a good blogger is photographs or graphics. And if you want to disengage the ``automatic'' button on that camera and start using manual commands, you can refer to my notes at the end of each post where I publish a photograph. I record all the technical information on each shot - to share my secrets with you.
13 comments:
If I can make some time tonight when I'm at home, I'm going to upload some of my photos I've taken to my blog. The blog in general does need work.. it'll come. Thanks for being so helpful.
Weep for me, my brother. I am stuck somewhere in the last century. I neither have a digital camera, cell phone, nor a laptop when it seems that the rest of civilization is up to speed with this stuff. Oh, and speaking of speed, we are still using dial-up at home.
But you are so right; a picture makes the world of a difference!
Awwwwwwwwww David!
Dxx
Oh by the way..................took my X photo at the weekend! LOL!
Dxx
Thank you, David.
(My blog is supposed to be "Postcards from Vienna", i.e. photos. I upload them to share my new home with friends from all over. I do not blog because I think I make great photos. There are so many gorgious photos of Vienna out there, I'd blush if anybody thinks I'd want to compete with them! I still use my little Sony, which I can carry with me anywhere I go.)
Oh bonny lad, it's so good to know that although I may be out of the blog for a short while, I'm not forgotten. Bless you, my friend, and thanks. It's true, without your prod, I would have been lazy -much as I may have cursed you a little for it at the time! (Sorry)
Hey, even THIS "green-horn blogger" will confirm what you say about the pictures in blogging! And lots of times, I find the blog SUBJECT has absolutely NOTHING to do with the pic---it just gives me a place, or reason, to start "de-composing"....!
Aah, I also take lots of pictures but they go mostly on my other blog.
Have some very interesting off topic pictures as well but since I don't write about that, they are still with me. Am seriously considering a photoblog to cater to those unusual ones.
@Craver: I liked it very much. Even I don't have cell phone with camera & more than digital, I like still photography. So, one can say not for this world here. ;)
I agree, photos do make an essential component of any website, especially so for the more "living" blogs. Of course, running a photoblog (or "phlog" as I call it!) means I am slightly biased, but I do recognize the importance of images in any kind of blog as a visual "reference".
Good post. Thanks for mentioning me too. ;) I hope lot's of bloggers take heed of this advice and begin to include photos in their blogs.
Thanks for the advice. I know you make good use of photos in your blog, let's hope others (including myself!) can do the same.
David
Oooo! I got a mench! I got a mench!
Actually I cheated today, as I didn't take the photo.
Blast.
Yes photos are great, though most of the time I use other peoples... oh well.
I definitely agree, David. And I love photography. I just got my first ever SLR this year and here's what I got when I started playing with manual settings:
Peace
And this is one I love even though it's far from perfect from the technical point of view... it's just like you said - readers may not be from your city. Look at my Ljubljana Beloved.
Bless you for encouraging others to pick up a camera. I have a degree in photography...still scratching my head why I spent all that money. Photography is one of the most welcoming forms of art.
Now, I just need to purchase a simple camera that fits in my purse or pocket!
Thanks for the mention, David. I'm still learning a lot about my camera, but I have a friend who knows it inside and out and he's given me a crash course on what it can do. I'll be posting a pic from some guy I saw hanging around at work yesterday and HAD to get a shot before he left. It'll be uup soon.
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