Blog instead of a website, what do you think?

[itf]

I was struggling to decide on a way of setting up a site, but finally decided a blog would be fine in the meantime until I decide on something. However, thinking about it now, it seems a blog might be the may to go anyway. It means I can keep a constant flow of work coming, put some thoughts with it, and maybe keep some interest.

What do you think of the idea?

Please check out the site if you like, the link is in my sig. Not much up yet, and the layout isn't very creative but it can be worked on.

cheers,
rich

[EcoLeica]

Good start on you blog! (good photos too!) the only problem i have with blogs is that can get very addictive. Now it seems my daily happiness is based upon how many people visit my blog hahaha. I am in your same boat at the moment, Im hopefully having someone designing my future site soon.
If you have time have a look at my blog steveting.wordpress.com

[itf]

Good start on you blog! (good photos too!) the only problem i have with blogs is that can get very addictive. Now it seems my daily happiness is based upon how many people visit my blog hahaha. I am in your same boat at the moment, Im hopefully having someone designing my future site soon.
If you have time have a look at my blog steveting.wordpress.com

Well, its only been up a matter of hours, so I'd be worried if I was addicted already. The complexity of getting a site up makes my head spin, so this is enough for now. It would be good to hear about your experience with getting a site up though.

I'm about to have a look at your blog.

I'm keen to figure out how to make this blog fit how I want it to look...

rich

[ClaremontPhoto]

A good start Richard, a good way to showcase your photos and simple to use.

However I'd suggest Expressions (http://my-expressions.com/) as it's a great system and I work for them!

We're a small company with a really friendly community; and you can have access to your html and make your space your own.

Try looking at a few sample photoblogs and see although they are powered by Expressions (http://my-expressions.com/) they mostly have a look and feel of their own. For example ClaremontPhoto (http://www.claremontphoto.eu) appears to be my website, but it's my personalized photoblog.

The first month with us is free.

[itf]

Cheers Jon, will def have a look, it sounds like it might be useful.

Steve, I had a look at yours and its good, I like the way you have a few extra photos displayed down the side from a flickr account.

[itf]

Jon, I just had a look at your blog and I like the look of it. I like the way the photos you post in the blog are sorted into galleries. That's one of the things I thought I'd like to do. Will look into it further. It's hard to get an idea of what's out there.

rich

[Doug]

I would read a website but not a blog. I'm sure to be 'way old-fashioned but I don't read peoples' diaries, and that's how I think of web logs. Geez, to be consistent does that mean I shouldn't read Weston's Daybooks? :eek:

Maybe it's just a convenient way of reducing the amount of online material I don't have time to read anyway... but I don't read blogs. :o

[TimM]

Hi!
Ever heared of http://www.airtightinteractive.com/simpleviewer/ ?
Very easy to use (if you have Photoshop ready) and creates beautiful galleries!
( here a demo: http://www.airtightinteractive.com/photos/ )

Best!
Tim

[itf]

I would read a website but not a blog. I'm sure to be 'way old-fashioned but I don't read peoples' diaries, and that's how I think of web logs. Geez, to be consistent does that mean I shouldn't read Weston's Daybooks? :eek:

Maybe it's just a convenient way of reducing the amount of online material I don't have time to read anyway... but I don't read blogs. :o

I can understand that, though the sites that I visit more than once or even regularly are usually added to quite often and therefore give me a reason to visit again. Examples are rff, a variety of agency sites, magazine sites, etc.

Maybe a flaw with blogs is their naming as such, ie. a journal, and I have to admit that at the moment the layout is not exactly what I want, but apart from that I'm starting to think that one set up well with a few changes could be great.

The sort of site I'm after is not so far off what a blog is. Ideally I'm after a front page with new work, features, stuff like that, and then a set of galleries you can go into from there. The expressions sites mentioned by Jon look like they come close to this.

rich

[itf]

Hi!
Ever heared of http://www.airtightinteractive.com/simpleviewer/ ?
Very easy to use (if you have Photoshop ready) and creates beautiful galleries!
( here a demo: http://www.airtightinteractive.com/photos/ )

Best!
Tim

Thanks Tim, also interested in that.

[cmogi10]

Hey Jon, I'm trying to give it a shot now, but I think you've got yourself a new customer.

[cmogi10]

http://cmophoto.my-expressions.com/

A quick spin heh

[ClaremontPhoto]

cmogi10:


What a great start, with interesting photos in a well-chosen template.

With those 'simple' templates you can alter lots of parameters and create something unique.

Then perhaps convert to 'advanced' one day if you know some html and css.

You have a month now to try it out then it's just $3 a month after that.

We have a Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/my-expressions?lnk=iggc which tends to be 'How Do I?' type stuff.

[infrequent]

i really like the format matt uses over at 1pt4photography.com -- lot better than just a portfolio side.

[ClaremontPhoto]

1pt4photography.com

I'd like to see that site, but can't find it.

[dmr]

Straya? :)

It looks like you made your decision to do a blog instead of a web site.

I started doing a photo blog back in 2006. I do have a number of photos on a sort-of web site, the space being bummed off of a friend who has a bunch of commercial hosting servers. I don't really maintain this, and the blog does more or less what I want and is somewhat easy to set up.

I am, however, doing a contingency thing in case I lose the gallery space here. He just found me a somewhat work-alike of the Photopost software that's used here and I am testing it. If I have to go this way, I'll have to register my own domain and become a customer and not a leech, I guess. :)

I've resisted doing the Flickr thing mainly because I find that site to be bloated and awkward.

A photo blog can be kind of a dynamic gallery, and it can be your latest work show-off place or else a place to post stuff you've done in the past. I see a gallery-site to be more of a semipermanent thing.

[Todd.Hanz]

Been on Expression for a few years now, easy to use...a no branier for me http://apeture.my-expressions.com/

which led to another...http://apeture.my-expressions.com/Htown.html

and a third that changes every now and then, you can have three.

Hey John, whatever happened to the new plans for Expressions? There was some talk about it a year or so ago but it kinda died out.

Todd

[pfoto]

Maybe it's just a convenient way of reducing the amount of online material I don't have time to read anyway... but I don't read blogs. :oMe neither. Blogs are like those irritating conversations on the subway that make you pull out your iPod. So I avoid them as well and that's the nice thing about blogs, just don't click on the link! :) Anyway aren't blogs antithetical to photography? Surely a photographer would want a web site and just let the pictures tell the story?

[ClaremontPhoto]

Todd.Hanz:

We're very pleased to have you as a member. I had not realized that you are 'apeture' over there.

Thank you for reminding people that in the basic $3 a month you can have three separate photoblogs.

The new system, 'Vividry', is still in the pipeline and coming along bit by bit.

At Vividry there will be three levels of membership. Lorissa (who looks after this side of things as well as much more) wrote:

We haven't decided on pricing yet, but we are thinking something
along these lines:
Level 1:
$4.00 per month
1 Blog
1 User
150MB of space
Level 2:
$7.50 per month
3 Blogs
Unlimited Users
300MB of space
Level 3:
$15.00 per month
Unlimited Blogs
Unlimited Users
800MB of space
Now, Expressions users currently have something similar to Level 2, so
all Expressions members who move to Vividry will get an account on
Level 2 but will only pay what they are paying now.

So if somebody joins now for $3, they automatically transfer to the new Level 2 $7.50 but still pay just $3 for it.

[ClaremontPhoto]

Surely a photographer would want a web site and just let the pictures tell the story?

The vast majority of members at Expressions (http://my-expressions.com/) use their space for photos only - no words beyond a caption. They see it as their 'Gallery' or their own site.

A few of us write a backstory under each photo, but I can't think of anybody who is writing a blog or journal of any sort, although they could.

[kxl]

Why does it have to be and "either / or" decision between a website or blog? Why not integrate a blog into a website? You can check out mine, although the blog admittedly does not have much (just too busy these days), and the integration is nothing more than popping up a window to get to the blog. I'm sure those with more technical savvy can build tighter integration.

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Why does it have to be and "either / or" decision between a website or blog? Why not integrate a blog into a website? You can check out mine, although the blog admittedly does not have much (just too busy these days), and the integration is nothing more than popping up a window to get to the blog. I'm sure those with more technical savvy can build tighter integration.

I agree. I have a blog as part of my site because i currently have nearly 1000 photos on my fine art photo website, and so the blog functions as a "What's New" page that people can go to for my latest work without having to wade through all the old stuff trying to figure out what I've added today.

[nikonhswebmaster]

I agree. I have a blog as part of my site because i currently have nearly 1000 photos on my fine art photo website, and so the blog functions as a "What's New" page that people can go to for my latest work without having to wade through all the old stuff trying to figure out what I've added today.

I think yours is a pretty typical mix, although 1000 photos online in your case probably represents much of what you have in stock sales?

It is a mix I recommend to others who are selling themselves, because it is so easy to keep up and implement.

I do not see myself having a traditional web site too much longer.

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I think yours is a pretty typical mix, although 1000 photos online in your case probably represents much of what you have in stock sales?

It is a mix I recommend to others who are selling themselves, because it is so easy to keep up and implement.

I do not see myself having a traditional web site too much longer.

Yeah, most of the photos on my site are for sale as stock or fine-art prints. I'd probably pare it down to a smaller portfolio if I didn't want to sell work online. I see a lot of fine art photographers with small portfolios, 2-50 photos, online. I wonder though, why would a professional artist want a website if he wasn't going to sell from it? I guess a lot of people in places like New York make a lot of income from galleries and art dealers selling for them, but I never had much success with that since I've spent most of my life in a place where nobody buys art, ever. Galleries here open and close quickly because none of them can sell enough art to stay open, let alone support the artists they represent :( The website lets me reach people anywhere who do buy and will buy.

[dazedgonebye]

I've been trying out expressions as a replacement for my out of date and never updated web site.
http://stevemphoto.my-expressions.com/index.html
http://www.stevemphoto.com
The blog format at expressions is much less of a hassle than a web site. On the other hand, I'm not sure you can get as polished a result from a blog as a web site.

I like Chris Crawford's idea of using both. I guess what I really need is some decent design and web work at my site and a blog to supliment that.

There's a suggestion for Expressions...how about a complete package?

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I've been trying out expressions as a replacement for my out of date and never updated web site.
http://stevemphoto.my-expressions.com/index.html
http://www.stevemphoto.com
The blog format at expressions is much less of a hassle than a web site. On the other hand, I'm not sure you can get as polished a result from a blog as a web site.

I like Chris Crawford's idea of using both. I guess what I really need is some decent design and web work at my site and a blog to supliment that.

There's a suggestion for Expressions...how about a complete package?

I designed my site in Dreamweaver using my own design rather than a template. I have wordpress installed on my server for blogging. That's probably a lot of trouble for someone who doesn't do web design and doesn't have time to learn by practicing, as I did. If you do have some free time and desire to do it, I'd still recommend getting a good book on web design and a copy of dreamweaver and doing your own. It isn't hard, just kinda tedious and really time-consuming. I don't like packaged solutions and templates because I want my site to be unique, but I know most people don't have the time to study and play with software to do all that.

[ClaremontPhoto]

dazedgoneby:

Good point.

We really appreciate our members; that's why there are so many templates which are easily configurable. Choose the closest one to what you need and play around with it. Your own looks pretty good already.

Some are good for choosing for 'photoblogs' such as my own at ClaremontPhoto (http://www.claremontphoto.eu/), while others are good to choose for 'galleries' such the ones nativexpat (http://nativexpat.blogphotography.com/index.html) or enigma janitor (http://enigmajanitor.my-expressions.com/index.html) have.

Some people such as Flak (http://flak-photo.my-expressions.com/) seem to be using web designers even! That site looks totally professional and I would never ever dream they were running it on Expressions (http://my-expressions.com/) for just $3 a month. Take a look.

Almost anything can be configured from the templates: disable comments, disable the date posted, change colors, change font and so on.

When I get stuck with mine I go to our Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/my-expressions) and search there. If nobody has asked that question before I'll ask it now and likely get a wonderfully helpful response after a few hours.

So, to sum up: we are really helpful people, but we don't do design for members - we show members how to do design for themselves.

Do get in touch with any specific questions and we'll show you the way.

[dazedgonebye]

I actually did web design going back about 12 years now. It's been a while since I kept up with the tools though. I think I've got a copy of dreamweaver around somewhere.
It's more the time to do the work and keep it up that's a problem...that and I might like fancier functionality than I could easily manage with my out of date skills.
I looked at pro services like foliolink http://www.foliolink.com/accounttypes.asp but $250 to set up and $350 a year is steep for me...of course, if it helped me sell a few things, it'd be worth it.

[dazedgonebye]

dazedgoneby:

Good point.

We really appreciate our members; that's why there are so many templates which are easily configurable. Choose the closest one to what you need and play around with it. Your own looks pretty good already.

Some are good for choosing for 'photoblogs' such as my own at ClaremontPhoto (http://www.claremontphoto.eu/), while others are good to choose for 'galleries' such the ones nativexpat (http://nativexpat.blogphotography.com/index.html) or enigma janitor (http://enigmajanitor.my-expressions.com/index.html) have.

Some people such as Flak (http://flak-photo.my-expressions.com/) seem to be using web designers even! That site looks totally professional and I would never ever dream they were running it on Expressions (http://my-expressions.com/) for just $3 a month. Take a look.

Almost anything can be configured from the templates: disable comments, disable the date posted, change colors, change font and so on.

When I get stuck with mine I go to our Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/my-expressions) and search there. If nobody has asked that question before I'll ask it now and likely get a wonderfully helpful response after a few hours.

So, to sum up: we are really helpful people, but we don't do design for members - we show members how to do design for themselves.

Do get in touch with any specific questions and we'll show you the way.


I could not find a template that gave both gallery listings and recently posted image thumbnails, so I modified one of the existing templates.
That level of putzing is easy.

[ClaremontPhoto]

I could not find a template that gave both gallery listings and recently posted image thumbnails, so I modified one of the existing templates.
That level of putzing is easy.

So, are you fixed now?

We can help and advise through the Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/my-expressions?lnk=iggc).

[OurManInTangier]

I have to give my thumbs up to Expressions too.

I have my commercial website which acts as a contact and portfolio conduit for clients. On the links page I have a link to my blog, which consists of images, the year the picture was taken and the country in which it was taken.

I want the site for clients and therefore it must have images worthy of their interest without being diluted by those images that ebb and flow from me as time passes - which is where the blog comes in.

Not so much a diary/journal as a place to upload and display snaps of things that make me glad I have a camera, certainly not necessarily things I want to 'showcase' to new clients immediately....though if they wish to view my blog they can via the website.

Works brilliantly....though I doubt many people actually view my blog, but that doesn't really matter :)

[ClaremontPhoto]

Simon:

Thank you for the endorsement.

I look at your blog, and I know that Luc Rabaey does too - and he's a photographer well-worth having looking over your work. And I'm certain many other people enjoy your photos there too.

It takes a little bit of thought to get your Expressions photoblog configured just right; it did with me, and then it runs like a dream.

[dingadingdang]

Hmm, I just used Wordpress for my photoblog (http://www.gallery.dinglespeaks.com) with the YADB plugin, does what I need it to, I'm not sure why but the Expressions sites seem to be slow to load for me, might be my location though (China).



www.gallery.dinglespeaks.com