Do people have photoblogs anymore?

I have a blog in my website where I post images – mainly photos but also drawings, sketches, paintings. Local news and events too. Also links to music,and small fragments of text or poetry that called my attention. It’s an erratic mix of blog, journal notebook and graphic diary. Not a “photoblog” in the strict sense of the concept

João Avelar images
I really like your blog - both your photographs and writing, and the warm and sensitive way they work together.
 
Every day I check this one:


Andy is an old friend. When I worked as a newspaper photographer, Andy worked at the competing daily newspaper. That was ages ago. He left to go to work for the Atlanta GA paper and I left to...well, get the hell away from newspaper work before the industry completely imploded.

Andy's site is what he calls community journalism. He shoots scenics and wildlife and people and covers events in and around the small Texas town where he lives today. He is a talented photographer, always was one. His subjects are not always my cup of tea but he takes really good photos. Give hiim a look when you get a chance.




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Never have used a photoblog.

When I was in business, potential clients sometimes would ask if I did and when I said I didn’t there was usually a sigh of relief.

Most of my new business came from referrals. I was busy.
 
I have it, even though it's not very active. I must say that the oscial alternative doesn't attract much to me, I have been active in the past on various social networks but I abandoned them a few years ago and I don't miss them... but that's another story
 
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I'm now playing around with Substack. I love it as software, but it's really a writer's platform. I created a few posts to see if I can use it just to share work (photos and poems). Still deciding whether or not to go forward. Have a look here: Snapshot Poetics | John Wolf | Substack. Feedback welcome.
Substack? Thanks! Piqued my interest, signed up. tbc...
 
Substack? Thanks! Piqued my interest, signed up. tbc...
Let us know what you think. You have the option to just create and send posts, or you can create a site, like I've done. I like the photo display options and the gallery block with lightbox. The gallery block has a nine image limit, but you could add multiple galleries to a post.

The one unfortunate thing is that you cannot add your own CSS. But I understand their intention with that.

Still not sure if it's for me, but I'll give it a little time.
 
And again so many of THOSE web sites have small but important rules usually set in the smallest type fontt, that they are at liberty to make use of your photos after you post them, in any way they see fit. And nothing said about payment to the photographer for that.
I think that verbiage is often misunderstood. The website granting itself the ability to "keep, store, transmit, display, save, publish" etc. etc. is necessary to let it do its job being a website and putting your content where people can see it. Of course there have been exceptions where people's work gets used for profit making that has nothing to do with how it is supposed to be offered to viewers/readers, but that's pretty rare.
 
When I started my M2 one camera/one lens project in late 2023 I created a Wordpress blog: John Wolf – M2 Journal. I posted to running galleries by quarter. Then it morphed into this strange hybrid blog/website thing. Not sure what I'll do with it going forward.

I don't have any interest in writing about photography, which is what most blogs seem to be. Nor do I care about branding or audience-building. I like RFF, but friends and family will never visit here and they are my main audience interest.

I'm now playing around with Substack. I love it as software, but it's really a writer's platform. I created a few posts to see if I can use it just to share work (photos and poems). Still deciding whether or not to go forward. Have a look here: Snapshot Poetics | John Wolf | Substack. Feedback welcome.
One thing bugs me about Substack. If I go to the Substack app and put “Snapshot Poetics” in the search . . . nothing . . . it finds nothing. Your Substack is not the first time this happened with, either. I’ve got it in my browser now, but I’m trying to find it in the app. Still.
 
One thing bugs me about Substack. If I go to the Substack app and put “Snapshot Poetics” in the search . . . nothing . . . it finds nothing. Your Substack is not the first time this happened with, either. I’ve got it in my browser now, but I’m trying to find it in the app. Still.
Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of grumbling about the app. I get the same result, although a name search works, which is good.

Thanks for having a look at it.
 
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Photography blogs are a personal thing. Each blogger has their own way of weaving a story or report into their dream come true.

I like having my blog because it's an exercise in self discipline. As a retiree it's the last thing I have that I feel I need to do right. Each of my blog posts need to tie together a story using my pictures and words. If I haven't done a god job of crafting a photo essay my wife will tell me so (she's my best critic).

My blog is like work, and that's a good thing for me; I need it.

All the best,
Mike
 
This does make me wonder - why do people feel the need to make blogs / photo blogs / vlogs anyway? I can understand people with businesses using a blog to promote their work, or someone wanting to impart knowledge and create discussion around topics, but there are some blogs / photo blogs which seem kind of pointless. Random photos of nothing in particular. One such photo blog that I came across when looking for Voigtlander lens reviews is a bit like this. The photos were kind of sameish after a while.

I guess some bloggers just want to express themselves publicly? On the other hand, this is mostly my motivation for posting on flickr - a way to express myself through photography, and provide some information about places and events in Australia in a small way.
 
This does make me wonder - why do people feel the need to make blogs / photo blogs / vlogs anyway?
Good question.

When I started mine back in 2006, it was a way of keeping in touch with my friends back home when I moved abroad. There was no fb back then.

What I realised with time though was that it grew into becoming an online diary of my life, recording all major events : from day to day mundane things to births and passings. Now I have a diary that I can pass down to my children with a big chunk of my and their lives .
 
The internet moves fast and to paraphrase Frank Zappa, "blogs are not dead but they sure smell funny". Facebook hosts more dead than living people and was abandoned by younger generations long ago. I'll stick with Flickr, which is stable and continues as a photo-dedicated platform.
 
This does make me wonder - why do people feel the need to make blogs / photo blogs / vlogs anyway? I can understand people with businesses using a blog to promote their work, or someone wanting to impart knowledge and create discussion around topics, but there are some blogs / photo blogs which seem kind of pointless. Random photos of nothing in particular. One such photo blog that I came across when looking for Voigtlander lens reviews is a bit like this. The photos were kind of sameish after a while.

I guess some bloggers just want to express themselves publicly? On the other hand, this is mostly my motivation for posting on flickr - a way to express myself through photography, and provide some information about places and events in Australia in a small way.
Flickr, RFF and a few other photo sites apart, I reckon many blog to be noticed - and remembered.

In my long and varied career life I've worked with many who, after retiring, set to blogging on their own personal sites. Most did not have a great deal of any interest to say, and far too many got bogged down into political discourse, mostly uninformed, and got on their online soapboxes to yap about politics. Nobody much cares or likes personal opinions on such issues, so we mostly all drifted away and eventually they ceased blogging.

One blogger I worked with until he retired had a great passion for fancy food. His wife did all sorts of complicated cooking and he took entire series of photos of her dishes and posted them on his blog. Nobody commented on the images but it annoyed him no end that he had so many requests for the recipes. In time he too gave it up.

To sum this up, for the majority of us blogging is a labor of love, which all too often means a lot of work for too little return. When it's done as a personal project - posting photos for family and friends - it can be satisfying, but to do it in the hope of getting the attention of the world is, as so many have learned, too much time and effort.

This said, now for my disclaimer. I follow and enjoy several blogs with photos by posters here in RFF, and I'm happy to encourage all those who do it to go on with it. For our continued enjoyment.
 
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