Photo Diary

[MartinL]

For years I’ve been meaning to develop a single format for online photo display that would be efficient and intuitive for sharing with friends, and include annotations that would record some of my technology and philosophy for taking and editing photos as I do. The following is taken from the first, “Start Here” gallery on my Pbase Photo Gallery site. Consider this a Beta version. I’d appreciate comments on the format. Thanks.

A diary is "a daily written record, esp. of the writer's own experiences, thoughts, etc." That's what I've got here, except with pictures- - - and it's not daily.

There's a presumption that diaries are written, first, for the author's own purposes--to remember and to learn. But they are also useful for sharing. I have all three purposes in mind.

This diary combines my discoveries as a new arrival to NYC, family snapshots, an occasional photo brought forward from pre-New York days, and musings about my photo decision making (why I take and keep some and not others.) I've also challenged myself to comment on why these are favorites.
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The site (password is "open"):
http://www.pbase.com/mnl/photo_diary

 

[Al Kaplan]

You've got some nice images there but I didn't come across much in the way commentary. It's really more of a photo blog than a diary. If you want to develop a following you have to post on a regular basis, daily if possible, and I've found that it's best to keep 'em guessing. They never know from one day to the next what they're going to find. B&W or color. A forty year old shot of a rock group or a thirty year old shot of the kids down the street riding their bikes or a picture taken at a campaign kick-off party held earlier this week. Just make sure that every time they click on your site they find something new. http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com (no password required)

Make the site "Google friendly", choosing the right "key words" to use in your titles and your text so that Google can find your photos.

 

[MartinL]

Thanks for the response

You've got some nice images there but I didn't come across much in the way commentary.

Correct. The earlier galleries are mostly descriptive. Where and when the pics were taken. What I was doing. Only in the later ones have I said a little about the photo process. Over time I'll work in more comments, but I don't want to overwhelm the photos (or have too many) to start.

It's really more of a photo blog than a diary. If you want to develop a following you have to post on a regular basis, daily if possible

This confuses me. First, I'm not interested in "developing a following" in the sense of bloggers who appreciate increasing their hits and audience. My interest is primarily in sharing with family and friends. Their interest is a combination of (pardon the self-focus) liking me and seeing what my photos have to offer. Most of these people probably wouldn't "check in" regularly, and I don't want to feel pressure because people expect photos with great regularity; instead, I'll send out an email mailing every couple of months saying that I've got some new galleries and include the url. Not expecting anything viral out of this.

(no password required)

I'm including kids, names, maybe some moderately personal stuff. As long as I'm in contact with my viewers, I can remind them of a simple password or change to a new one.

So it still seems that this is more diary-like, and less like a blog, but I'm open to further thought and to seeing examples of how others accomplish similar purposes.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I can understand your privacy concerns but I've found that my openess, my availability so to speak, has resulted in renewing friendships with people I haven't seen in forty plus years, meeting new people who share similar interests or might have known people that I used to know. Everybody has to create a site that feels comfortable for their needs. Over the four or so years that I've been publishing my blog the main focus has shifted several times. You're off to a good start though. Keep it up!

 

[antiquark]

I'd say it's not linear enough to be a diary. The most recent day should be the default one that appears, and clicking that will take you to the previous entry. (i.e., reverse chronological order.)

Lots of photoblogs are designed like that, take a look at http://www.photoblogs.org/ to see many examples.

Also, I notice you don't have an RSS feed, which will eliminate the need to manually check your page every day.

 

[antiquark]

For a techno-ignorant, what's an RSS feed?
I've heard it a lot but don't know what it is.

RSS is an short summary of your page in a certain format. People can install RSS readers to keep track of your page, and will be automatically notified whenever it's updated. It's really useful for pages that are rarely updated, because you don't have to remember to look occasionally to see if anything changed.

Two popular RSS readers are bloglines and google reader:
http://www.bloglines.com/
http://www.google.com/help/reader/tour.html

RSS stands for "really simple syndication", which doesn't really make sense... but that's what everyone calls it...

 

[MartinL]

The suggestions here are good ones. However, I'm not after something more blog-like. But could be that I simply haven't seen any format that suits my purposes.

I've experimented with some "trial versions" of blog software, and of course, I've seen many blogs. Can you point me to a blog that provides an excellent presentation of photos. Nearly fills the screen on, say, a 20" desktop?

Also, an advantage of working with Pbase is that I can use just one photo-sharing program and allow certain audiences to access just the galleries intended for them. This is not so much a security issue as one of distracting, for example, work-related viewers with photos intended for family and friends or even fellow photographers on a photo site.

 

[antiquark]

If you got a flickr account, you can display your pictures as a slideshow that fills the screen. Here's an example from a photographer in Thailand:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12392252@N03/show/

With flickr you can also control privacy settings, so only your family and friends can see your pictures.

 

[MartinL]

If you got a flickr account, you can display your pictures as a slideshow that fills the screen. Here's an example from a photographer in Thailand:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12392252@N03/show/

With flickr you can also control privacy settings, so only your family and friends can see your pictures.

I'm not a fan of Flickr. Maybe too feature rich, too much extraneous material. The link you suggested shows photos well, but I couldn't find a start/stop to control my speed through the slideshow.

I spent some time on your pixelpost site. Nice photos, and the structure seems close to what I'm after using Pbase, but without my own website/server.

The main difference is in our mode of presentation. I'm going for periodic and irregular updates via "galleries" with roughly 5 to 10 shots. You prefer a shot or two every day or two (correct?) So it may depend on how we want to engage our "audience" and how often.

Googled a bit to read about blogs, "online diaries," and other spin-offs. Nothing quite fit. What they have in common is a big ego factor. My thoughts, my photos, my travels, etc. I'll have to get over that.

 

[MartinL]

Ok, it's me again. I'm still open to recommendations, but for now I'm satisfied with this work-in-progress. This thread has helped me to think through what I'm after. Maybe I'll post a follow-up after a few months.

In the meantime, here's new text from my "Start Here" page:

"Photos are just another part of the 'look at me now' experience."
(New York Times, 4/20/2009)
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With that embarrassing caveat, here's your chance to "look at me." or, at least see what I'm looking at and thinking about it.
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These photos and comments are part blog, part photo log, part travelogue, part "online diary," and part Christmas letter. Whenever I prepare enough photos and have something to say about them, I'll email a reminder along with a new pass code if I have changed the old one.
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[Al Kaplan]

OK, you caught me! I have a big ego and I admit it. I've done quite a lot of things in my 66 years that I'm proud of having done, and not just in photography. It includes writing, teaching photography at college, smoking pot, being on government advisory boards about municipal planning, parks and recreation, and rewriting the city charter, and running succesful political campaigns. I have a boat captains' license and I've guided people to winning fishing tournaments. Not bad for a guy without a college degree. Having a daily top rated blog just seems to fit in to the overall scheme of things. And no pass code! My life is an open book. I have nothing I want to hide. It must be a Scorpio thing.

And OH YEAH! I go around town carrying a toy monkey, Monkette, and SHE gets invited to campaign parties too. It must be the company she keeps. Or maybe it's just that candidates and elected officials alike want to get their photos on my blog.

http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com

 

[antiquark]

I spent some time on your pixelpost site. Nice photos, and the structure seems close to what I'm after using Pbase, but without my own website/server.

Thank you. However I would not recommend pixelpost. It's self administered, and I found it to be full of bugs. Luckily, I'm into computer software, so I was able to debug it myself. But it was a big pain in the a$$ to get it operable. I don't know if there are any photoblogs similar to pixelpost, but not self-administered.

The main difference is in our mode of presentation. I'm going for periodic and irregular updates via "galleries" with roughly 5 to 10 shots. You prefer a shot or two every day or two (correct?) So it may depend on how we want to engage our "audience" and how often.

Yes, my original idea was one picture a day, but usually it's a few days between pictures.

I think a problem with having separate galleries will be a lack of "linearity", in that it will be hard to proceed through all your pictures, one click at a time.

 

[antiquark]

with that embarrassing caveat, here's your chance to "look at me." or, at least see what I'm looking at and thinking about it.

Don't be embarrassed by it, embrace it!

 

[MartinL]

Don't be embarrassed by it, embrace it!

It does take some getting used to--social networking in all its various forms and flaws. On the other hand, since I don't have the disposition or manners to use the old formats (never did) of sending birthday cards, thank you notes, friendly letters, holiday remembrances, etc., the photos/comments format seems like a nice way to keep in touch.