In this course we will be posting work on blogs to turn in and share our best images, creating a gallery of work to reflect upon. At the end of the course you may decide to keep or delete your site.
Turning in work:
A blog is a regularly updated website or web page (like the one you’re reading now!), typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style. In this class you will be keeping a blog throughout the year. Your blog will showcase your finished photos/videos and will be a record for how you created them.
Most often boggers write from a personal perspective that allows them to connect directly with their readers. In addition, most blogs also have a “comments” section where readers can correspond with the blogger. Interacting with your readers in the comments section helps to further the connection between the blogger and the reader. After you create your first post, I will upload a page on the course website where you can find links to your classmates blogs.
From time to time we will visit each others blogs and comment on each other’s work. Please use the comment section to complement your classmates on their work, ask questions about their process or give constructive feedback on how you tackled a similar challenge that would be useful to both the blogger and the readers. Comments should never be meanspirited, sarcastic or a forum for you to talk about unrelated matters.
Here are a few examples of photography/video blogs. Take a look at each one. Take in the content of course, but also the structure.
PetaPixel is a great blog for those new to photography, with all of their tutorials, as well as product reviews, you cannot go wrong. While this format is widely used among photography blogs, I find PetaPixel a good read because of its ‘down to earth’ writing, which does not baby the reader.
Another blog that displays the latest news, gear, events and reviews in the photography world, The PhoBlographer has an easy to use interface filled with fantastic writing by a diverse staff. While it does not do anything new for the photography blog format, its in depth coverage certainly warrants your time.
Chase Jarvis, an award-winning photographer, hosts live conversations with other professionals through his blog and YouTube channel.
Rachel Branke runs a fantastic blog called The Law Tog, a site that takes an unglamorous look at the world of photography. Again, as previously talked about, most sites show tutorials, reviews and gear; The Law Tog separates itself by its variety of information, like photography law tutorials and consultant services.
Skip Cohen University is chalked full of education, interviews and solid business advice from a man that has been in the industry for longer than some of have been alive. Skip Cohen uses his industry influence and long time relationships to curate content that can only be described as a must read for any photographer looking to grow their business and improve their work.
Now let’s think about your blog. Getting started you’ll need to:
- You are expected to communicate with your instructor when work is posted and ready for final review.
- You are expected to ask for feedback before posting to ensure your work is the best it can be.
- After your preliminary photography is complete, spend time editing and enhancing your work, add your watermark (we will create one in class) and ask for feedback.
- Post your work to your blog and ensure the appearance is pleasing and the images are formatted correctly. Provide a descriptive post title and any other relevant information.
- When the post is complete EMAIL your instructor stating the work is ready for final review.
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| Screencap from photo student Yesim Yilmaz's blog. |
Get started with blogging:
A blog is a regularly updated website or web page (like the one you’re reading now!), typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style. In this class you will be keeping a blog throughout the year. Your blog will showcase your finished photos/videos and will be a record for how you created them.
Most often boggers write from a personal perspective that allows them to connect directly with their readers. In addition, most blogs also have a “comments” section where readers can correspond with the blogger. Interacting with your readers in the comments section helps to further the connection between the blogger and the reader. After you create your first post, I will upload a page on the course website where you can find links to your classmates blogs.
From time to time we will visit each others blogs and comment on each other’s work. Please use the comment section to complement your classmates on their work, ask questions about their process or give constructive feedback on how you tackled a similar challenge that would be useful to both the blogger and the readers. Comments should never be meanspirited, sarcastic or a forum for you to talk about unrelated matters.
Here are a few examples of photography/video blogs. Take a look at each one. Take in the content of course, but also the structure.
PetaPixel is a great blog for those new to photography, with all of their tutorials, as well as product reviews, you cannot go wrong. While this format is widely used among photography blogs, I find PetaPixel a good read because of its ‘down to earth’ writing, which does not baby the reader.
Another blog that displays the latest news, gear, events and reviews in the photography world, The PhoBlographer has an easy to use interface filled with fantastic writing by a diverse staff. While it does not do anything new for the photography blog format, its in depth coverage certainly warrants your time.
Chase Jarvis, an award-winning photographer, hosts live conversations with other professionals through his blog and YouTube channel.
Rachel Branke runs a fantastic blog called The Law Tog, a site that takes an unglamorous look at the world of photography. Again, as previously talked about, most sites show tutorials, reviews and gear; The Law Tog separates itself by its variety of information, like photography law tutorials and consultant services.
Skip Cohen University is chalked full of education, interviews and solid business advice from a man that has been in the industry for longer than some of have been alive. Skip Cohen uses his industry influence and long time relationships to curate content that can only be described as a must read for any photographer looking to grow their business and improve their work.
Now let’s think about your blog. Getting started you’ll need to:
- Choose a Blog Host (wix.com, wordpress.com and weebly.com all over free hosting and templates for you to choose from. I dislike ads and messy blog interfaces, strive for a clean presentation of your work. Alternate platforms are acceptable with permission such as flickr.
- Create an account. Write down ALL your info (User Name, PW and URL). You’ll need all of this each time you create a new post. WordPress.com, wix.com, weebly.com all offer free hosting with templates and a little bit of customizability.
- Create your first post. Write a short bio about yourself and what your goals are this year in photography.
- Introduce yourself… My name is ____. Welcome to my photo/video blog…
- Discuss your background in photography/video
- Talk about your short term and long term goals in this class. What do you hope to get out of it?
- Here is a sample: https://larkinwilson.wixsite.com/mysite
A Rough Guide to Setting Up a Blogger Blog:
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| This is a snapshot of one of my class blogs, I started with a basic template and customized the colors and banner art to suit my style. I have 5 different blogs for the classes I teach and one to show my professional work... a little customization will go along way in making your blog standout. |
The setup is easy, read each screen and explore the options. The guide below is a rough outline to setup of your blog, it may not be 100% accurate.
- Blogger now is part of Google, so if you have a Google account (which allows for things like gmail) you should use that to set up your new blogger account. If you don't have a Google account, now is a pretty good chance to set one up. Otherwise, it is just a matter of following the instructions on this page. Sign In or Sign Up and create your blog
- Be sure to check the "terms of service" box; of course, you might actually want to read through it a bit first, though the rules are pretty standard for these sorts of services.
- Save your username and password some place. In fact, I would encourage you to write it down some place. Don't lose this!
- The "Blog Title" will be what appears in the title portion of your blog site itself.
- For the address of your blog don't have any spaces, it can be different than your "Blog Title".
- The "word verification" section is a security set-up the blogger folks have; simply type in the word you see in the funky font into the provided box. Click "continue" when you're done.
- You can choose any template you want for your blog, and you can also change the template later if you would like. Click continue when you're done.
- After waiting a few moments, you should get a screen that says your blog has been created. Good for you! Click on the "start posting" arrow and get to work!
Step 2: Get posting!
- The posting screen for blogger is pretty straight-forward. Give your entries a title, type in the appropriate window, and use the editing tools for your blog entry as you want. We'll talk about more advanced options for your posting later, but if you know any basic html, you can incorporate most of that code into your blog posts.
- To post or "publish" your post, click the button at the bottom of the screen "Publish Post." If you start writing something but you don't want to post it until later, click where it says "Save as Draft."
- When you publish your post, blogger will process the information and then, if everything worked (and it usually does), it will give you the option to "view blog." Take a look at it; you should notice a couple of things:
- The address for your blog-- something like http://stevendkrause.blogspot.com-- is the address for your blog. Send this URI (web address) to me! I will link to your blog from the class web site.
- Readers should be able to post a comment to your post by clicking on the "comments" link.
Step 3: Do some adjustments to your account
There are a number of different things you might want to do to make your blog a bit more useful. But here are a couple of things you really should do no matter what.
Blocking blog spam. I know, hard to believe, but yes, the world of spamming extends to blogs too. Fortunately, Blogger has a pretty decent security feature that will eliminate almost all spam posts from your blog. Here's what to do:
- If you aren't already logged in, log in to your Blogger account. You did remember your username and password, right?
- From the "Dashboard" screen, click on the name of your blog.
- Click on the tab "Settings."
- Click on the link near the top of that page under the tabs labeled "Comments."
- Set "Who Can Comment?" to "Only Registered Users." It isn't essential that you do this, but I'd recommend it.
- A bit further down, set "Show word verification for comments?" to "Yes." This is a security feature that requires the comment poster to type a specific word that shows up as slightly distorted text in a window.
- Select "Save Settings" at the bottom of the page.
Time zone. It'd be nice if the time was right on your blog, right? Here's how to do that:
- If you aren't already logged in, log in to your Blogger account. You did remember your username and password, right?
- From the "Dashboard" screen, click on the name of your blog.
- Click on the tab "Settings."
- Click on the link near the top of that page under the tabs labeled "Formatting."
- Under "Time Zone," select the right time zone (and if you're reading this as part of one of my classes, that'd be "Detroit." Duh.)
- Select "Save Settings" at the bottom of the page.
Doing things to customize your blogger blog. There's lots of stuff you can do customize your blog. At a minimum, I'd recommend including some links to your classmates' blogs or other blogs you like to read, but there are a lot of other things you can do, too-- include pictures, lists of stuff you like, etc., etc.
- If you aren't already logged in, log in to your Blogger account. You did remember your username and password, right?
- From the "Dashboard" screen, click on the name of your blog.
- Click on the tab "Template."
- Make sure the "Page Elements" tab under this is selected, and click on "Add a Page Element." From here, simply follow the instructions. Be sure to save you page element additions and double-check that it worked.
Trouble-shooting:
"Hey, what should I do if it didn't work?!" Well, blogger really is pretty easy to use, try asking the person to your left or right and I bet you can figure out the issue. It's important to collaborate and share information.
Have fun!
- Mr.Wv
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