Category — How To Blog

This post last updated: August 3, 2008.

Back in the middle of photography’s dark ages, during the formative years of my youth (circa 1968), listening to shortwave radio was a keen fascination. When I visited my cousin’s house, at night, we would tune in to stations from around the world on his shortwave set. We laughed as the path opened for us to discover exotic languages and music. Other than scrounging up an old receiver and some wire for an antenna, there was no cost to riding the airwaves.

Today, I think the blogosphere is at a similar state of evolution. For only the cost of access to the Internet, I can tune in to the thoughts of photographers (and other colorful thinkers) far and wide. Likewise, the cost of starting and running a blog can be minimal. Consider that WordPress, the most widely-used blog software, is a free download and that thousands of blogs, including some of the most highly-visited sites (like Strobist), are hosted for free on Blogger. [Read more →]

The third generation of Firefox was released on June 17th with more than 8 million downloads during the first 24 hours [a world-record according to Mozilla, the non-profit that orchestrates the worldwide development of this popular web browser]. As of this writing, less than a week after the launch, the download count has exceeded 17 million.

What’s so cool about Firefox as a web browser? First, it’s a global, cooperative effort (available in 45 languages). Second, it’s open source (meaning that anyone can create widgets and plug-ins to add special functionality). Some of my favorite plug-ins for photographers are listed below. Third, it’s free (but donations at Mozilla and plug-in developer sites are always welcome).

As a modern photographer, chances are that you’re using Firefox right now. According to the digital bean counters at PixSylated, of 15,000 people who have visited this site during past two months: 46% use Firefox, 28% use Internet Explorer and 23% use Safari. So, if you’re not using Firefox (yet), your neighbor probably is.

[Read more →]

A tiny hiccup was heard in the blogosphere a few weeks ago when I launched PasoRoblesPhotographer.com. Another burp will pass quickly when I push the “publish” button for this, the first official post on Pixsylated.com.

Why Would A Commercial Photographer Blog?

As a professional shooter, why would I want to spend more hours in front of my computer? As if my twin mistresses Photoshop and Lightroom haven’t tried to monopolize all of my time. I have a couple of motives for my blogs.

Reason #1 - Paying It Forward. I had the good fortune to meet Bruce Fraser in San Francisco about six months before he passed on. Just as Bruce managed to touch the lives of virtually every digital photographer through his research, writings and workshops, in a mere 90 seconds together, he branded my soul with the thought of a world in which people freely share information for the betterment of all. [more below]

I had the honor of creating the image that was used on the Bruce Fraser Tribute DVD. Many thanks to Larry Baca, leader of the tribute committee, for giving me the shot (glasses).

While I’m not ready to work for free, Bruce’s wisdom on the value of sharing one’s knowledge continues to inspire. Further, my work in photography over the past 20 years has repeatedly been pushed forward through the insights and suggestions shared by colleagues and mentors. Pixsylated is my first public venue towards paying forward the help that my career has received from others.

Reason #2 - Marketing. My first blog, Paso Robles Photographer, is a marketing tool I created to communicate with my local clientèle. I live in Paso Robles, a small town about half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Our claim to fame is that we are the hub of California’s central coast wine district with nearly 200 wineries in the neighborhood. For more than a year, it drove me crazy that my commercial site would not show up when someone Googled “Paso Robles Photographer”. So I grabbed the URL for “Paso Robles Photographer” and created a blog that Google has recently discovered. I’ve added several resource pages that local clients find helpful. I post links to web galleries for nearly every local shoot. Google is paying attention and so are business owners in my hometown.