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 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 they mostly have a look and feel of their own. For example ClaremontPhoto 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? 😱

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. 😱

 

[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? 😱

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. 😱

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. 😱

Me 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 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.