I love stats. Some people call you a stat whore or call stats evil, but there is a reason you can get a degree in statistics in college. Stats are used everywhere.
Sports, financial, technology, everywhere data is kept and you can gain so much information by examining statistics beyond surface level. It can show you where you need to improve, what works, what doesn’t, and how to reach more people.
There are many reasons to have a blog, but is one of them to reach more people? If so, you should know something about how to reach those people your blog is targeting. Statistics is one way to evaluate how to do that. If you don’t care about reaching new readers than I guess none of that matters, but many bloggers want to reach out.
A quick few tips for reaching new readers in 2009 on your blog would be something you can gain from your statistics. Your stats just tell you how you have done, not what to do. So, my few tips for what they are worth would be:
1. Keywords – be descriptive in your posts and your titles, the Internet runs off keywords. If you had to pick one or the other, blog titles would come first. Google keys off title tags so choose a title that is descriptive (like a newspaper headline) that accurately describes your post.
Keywords are not bad, they are just describing your post more accurately for the search engines to find the post. For example, instead of saying we are going to be watching new year’s eve shows tonight, say we will be watching Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2009.
2. Content – the phrase content is king is still true. Want people to be interested in reading your blog, write original and thoughtful content. Don’t repeat material found on other blogs and don’t re-post content from other places but instead, write about your thoughts on that topic and link to the original content.
3. Show Some Link Love – one of the best things you can do for a fellow blogger is link to the direct post. Linking to their blog is great, linking directly to a post they have written is even better. The reason behind this is by doing so, you give their specific post more relevance when being looked at by google and it creates a pingback to their blog. Google operates their search algorithms by deciding what is more relevant that something else, and one of the ways it does this is by the buzz around a post or article, and lets face it, the higher you are on Google’s list, the more visitors you will have to your blog or website.
4. Consistency – post with some consistency. You don’t have to post every day, but posting once, then a month later doing another post, then a week later doesn’t always work well with search engines. The code on your blog should be consistent as well. This pretty much taken care of by WordPress or Typepad but the more frequently you change the focus on your blog or theme or coding the less relevant Google sees your blog.
5. Focus (remember your readers) – know your readers and pick a few key subjects and focus your blog on those topics. For my personal blog, I focus on faith, photography, and personal topics and I try not to stray to far away from those topics (which are broad anyway). Remember your readers. You may think you are writing your blog for yourself, but you are really writing for your readers. If you are writing for yourself and no one else, then there are several journal programs that will accomplish that purpose, but supposedly a blog is a “web log” about life, sharing ideas, information, and most of all communicating with others (i.e. your readers).
Bonus. Read other blogs and comment – ok, so there were actually 6 points, but I left the best for last. To me, one of the most important things to do as a blogger is read other people’s blogs, and leave thought driven comments. Blogging is a two way communication, not one way. You should be ready to interact with your readers, and interact with other bloggers. Blogs that only go one way become stale and cold. Bloggers love comments. If you want comments on your own blog, leave comments on other people’s blogs yourself. Don’t spam your fellow bloggers. Read, and if it was a thought provoking post, leave them a comment with your thoughts.
You can have the best content, the highest ranking, the best graphical design, and if you don’t allow comments, and never interact or comment yourself, your blog will be cold and corporate. When I come across blogs that don’t allow comments that are in my feed reader, I title them in my reader with the extension “(blog title) – [no comments]” and they are usually the last blog I read, if at all.
The best example of how not to do it I have is from Desiring God. John Piper has one of the very best blogs, period. The content is incredible, the design is great, he has a ton of readers, and he doesn’t allow comments on his blog and (as far as I can tell) does not interact with his readers or responds to his email (at least not mine). His blog also does one big no no on rss feeds and that is provide a partial post that requires the reader to actually go to the site to read the article. And because of this, I rarely read his blog, but it is one of the best on the Internet.
UPDATE 01/11/09: I have to say after a bit of reflection, I am not sure the above criticism of John Piper’s website is all that warranted, strictly because of the value of the content that actually is posted. I guess my point was that in the blogging community, comments make the blogs go round, and I still think it is very important, but I guess purely great content can totally overcome this point, and the Desiring God blog is one example of having such outstanding content that it may not make any difference, but I think that is an exception.
What are your plans for your blog for 2009?
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I love expanding my photographic abilities and learning new ways to be creative, it just isn’t as easy as it sounds some time. Light painting photography seems to be all the rage now but it is something I tried when I shot my first photos of fireworks back in 1997. It just looked so neat that I had to try it again and again before I finally figured out what was going on photographically.
What is really interesting is if you look at the definition of photography, it needs no other word (like “light”) in front of it to give it meaning.
pho·tog·ra·phy [fuh-tog-ruh-fee] noun
the process or art of producing images of objects on sensitized surfaces by the chemical action of light or of other forms of radiant energy, as x-rays, gamma rays, or cosmic rays.
In other words, photography is “painting with light”. Without light in pure darkness photography actually isn’t possible, but add any light to anything, and you can record what that light does on a specific medium or surface.
Light Painting Photography
Light paint photography (more accurately called low light photography), or just “light painting” to use the trendy phase at the moment, uses just about the same techniques as lightning photography, or fireworks photography (see a few examples at How to Successfully Photograph Lightning // Equipment and Techniques, Auburn 4th of July Fireworks Celebration // Photos, or Do it Yourself Low Light Fireworks Photography). Coming up I might write a how-to do light painting photography just for the few differences it has over the above posts, so stay tuned.
A recent photo shoot with b/ turned out to produce a whole lot of duds for the intended purpose, but it was loads of fun trying. Below are two of my favorites from that particular night. I have several other “favorites” but will save them for later. This is really one of the easiest forms of photography, for me, since you can control most all the variables and bring the technique down to just holding a button down for the “painting”.
One thing I mentioned above is to try something new and get creative. I don’t know about other “creative” types (and I don’t really consider myself all that creative) but I need to have the right atmosphere and surroundings to get my brain thinking outside the box. This was something we tried that didn’t work all that well for what we were doing, but taking the time to try keeps you thinking.
Catalyst08 – The Catalyst Conference in Atlanta
One other way to get creative, go to where the creative people go and learn from them. In this case, this week, that will be the Catalyst Conference (see their really cool blog here) in Atlanta for me (and gotroot). Catalyst is a leadership conference for what is the Church of tomorrow (see about), something I have been looking forward to for quite a while.
Tomorrow I will update this information in more detail and how to follow along. I will be spending a good bit of my time photographing the event as well (sorry in advance to those going with me) and will post event photos here on Thrusday and Friday as soon as I can get them uploaded. In the mean time, I leave you with some light painting.
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Last night I took some photos at Cornerstone’s quarterly meeting at called VIP night. It started off with the Cornerstone Band, which I have shot many times before (see music). I wasn’t really expecting them to play last night, but I wanted to get something different.
Once you have photographed one subject or area over and over, you really have to look around for a new and fresh way to show the subject matter. This is a good thing, it forces you to find other angles, other views, different backgrounds, and some cool lighting.
After taking the normal shots I was looking for, I started to look around for a new perspective. The image above was new, for me, because I realized after taking a few images, that I had never really been able to include any of the people in the seats, only the band.
Here I was able to get out in front of the chairs, use a wide angle lens, sit on the floor, capture the people standing and worshiping with the band, and then I was able to get something I hadn’t before. I have been following a lot of the photography coming out of the Olympics, and that is a good example. You have 300-400 photographers all sitting in the same seat, with the same lens, pretty much getting the same image.
The really great images coming out of Beijing came from photographers really looking hard to find something new. It isn’t easy. It takes creativity, something I have to really force myself to use in photography, some experimentation, and some luck. Tonight, something new that I am really looking forward to, photographing Encounter in Auburn (see As Encounter Approaches). It was kind of a last minute thing, but I can’t wait to see the results.
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I am often asked about what equipment would be best to use, a digital SLR or a huge mega pixel point and shoot, and how can I make better photos with the equipment I have. So today, I am going to start a new series on this blog called photo 101 (see the first entry How to Successfully Photograph Lightning // Equipment and Techniques), intended to answer some of those questions. You can see all the entries by looking at the tag on this blog called photo 101.
Many times I go back to the basics and re-read and re-learn what it is that makes a good photograph. I would say that almost everyone can improve on how they shoot. Even the professionals will grow as a photographer as they shoot and refine their subjects and techniques.
I am going to start off with a quick 14 point guide that helped me when I first started shooting. If you are interested in more you can visit the two categories called pic tips, and photo 101. I had a great photographer-mentor at UAB and these are some of the basics he passed along to me.
Composition can give a photo character or power, it can change the mood the image displays, or even the intent of the image. The image of my wife above was taken very quickly as we were leaving the marina after a nice weekend. It works well because the composition is not “bulls-eye” in the frame. It visualizes her reluctance to leaving and perhaps a little disdain for the camera in her face.
A Guide to Composing Your Photographs
1. Ask a simple question – Why am l taking this shot. lf there is no clear and simple answer to this question, you are not prepared to take a good photograph. You must be able to explain what you are trying to accomplish in a sentence or less. Start with the basics: What made you stop and look?
2. What Is the subject? Every photo must have one and only one subject. Now is the time to clarify and amplify the subject of the picture. If you have multiple subjects in the frame, recompose. Many times the entire frame will be the subject, but split subjects in one frame don’t often work well.
3. Now place your subject In the frame. Avoid the “bull’s eye” syndrome; Don’t routinely place your subject dead center in the frame. Use the “points of power” described where the lines of a “tic-tac-toe” grid (also called the rule of thirds) imposed in the viewfinder intersect for subject placement. Generally, subjects should look into rather than out of the frame. And use the f/stop which will provide the desired degree of depth-of-field.
4. Get Close. Now get closer. Most shots’ great flaw is that the photographer was too far away from the subject. The only shot that can’t be improved by getting closer is the Grand Canyon. But please do let the subject “breathe.” If you don’t have a long enough lens, try to move close to your subject.
5. Simplify. Remember that you must have a subject, but only one subject. Look around the frame: any item that doesn’t help tell the story, hurts it. Edit ruthlessly. Look especially for unwanted and distracting elements such as “hot spots”, trash, body parts, or bright lines diverting attention away from the subject. Pay particular attention to edges and comers of the frame.
6. Determine your point of view. Should this be a vertical or a horizontal composition? What’s the best perspective? How can you deliver this shot in a manner that makes it fresh, different from the obvious, different from your typical approach? Look around, find those places and angles that were not the most obvious when you walked up to the scene.
7. Try and try again. Take more than one shot; get the safe shot first, then go for the gold. Take lots of pictures; that’s how we get better. And be adventurous: once you’ve taken the “safe”, “sure” shot, experiment. Take chances. This too is how we improve.
With digital DLR cameras that are most commonly used now, we have a luxury that film shooters did not have. We don’t have to pay to process film. If you think a $50 CF card is expensive, try developing 50 rolls of film. Load up on high volume CF or SD cards and shoot away. The idea is not to shoot as many as possible in hopes of getting one good image, but you can shoot without worry and cost of film.
8. Which focal length is right? Don’t fall in love with your equipment; that favorite lens of yours is exactly right for some things, but not all things. If you don’t try new things, you become brittle… predictable. Try different lenses/focal lengths to achieve different results.
An example of this is the airport in 50mm shoot I did recently (see Atlanta Airport and a 50mm Lens // Part 1 and also part 2 and part 3). I tried using something other than the normal lens I would use, and I achieved some results I wouldn’t have otherwise.
An old film trick, use an empty slide mount as a composing tool. The distance of the slide mount from your eye is the focal length: rotate to simulate vertical or horizontal formats.
9. Watch your horizons. If there is a visible horizon in your shot, it must be level. lf there is no horizon, you may turn the camera in almost any direction. But remember to give the viewer a cue as to which way is up…
Don’t just think I can fix the horizon in Photoshop later. If the horizon is off on the original image by 5%, when you go to “correct” the slanted horizon in Photoshop, you are going to essentially crop 5% off of your entire image all the way around. That may be ok, but if you composed the image full frame, you may be loosing something you don’t intent to crop out.
10. Evaluate the lighting. What is the direction of the light? (Backlight, sidelight, frontlight) What is the intensity of the light? (Full sun, haze, open shade, deep shade) What is the color/temperature of the light (Pink, amber, blue, grey) Now, how can you incorporate the lighting factors into your shot to make it better?
11. Deal with your foregrounds and backgrounds. And deal with them constructively. In a landscape, the foreground serves to anchor the viewer; other times, such as wildlife photography, a blurred foreground provides a sense of closeness to the subject. Same with sports photography, much like wildlife, you want your subject to pop off the screen, not blend into the background.
And again, a soft wash of unfocused color in the foreground can be used to fill an otherwise too-empty frame with useful soft color. And how much background sharpness is called for. The background should compliment – never compete – with the subject.
Use complimentary and supplementary colors in the background and foreground to highlight your subject. This is not always possible in sports photography, but look for it, it may be there and you just didn’t look for it. The image of my friend Heath below is a good example. The orange of his shirt and the green of the grass are very complimentary and make for a great background/foreground combination.
12. Filters? Flash? Special effects? Yes, but if and only if you can explain in one sentence why it is needed and what it will do to make the shot better. This isn’t as needed with digital as it was with film, but it should still be part of the consideration.
13. What have you missed? How about your exposure? Are you sure about it? Have you considered all the rules of photography, such as the rule of thirds? Looking through the viewfinder, do you still love what you see? Would you change anything? How about your technique? Is the camera steady on a tripod, with the head locked?
14. Now it’s time to make magic. Though it sounds painstaking, this checklist becomes second nature; the point of the exercise is to make taking pictures more successful and therefore more fun.
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This is an extension (or part 2) of my previous post, Nikon Picture Control Modes, NX2 // Part 1, and shows an example of why RAW NEF files are so good to have. I have been adjusting my post processing methods to include the Nikon ViewNX and Capture NX2 and have found some amazing uses for both.
Update Your Old RAW Files with New Nikon Picture Controls
One good thing about shooting in RAW file formats (NEF for Nikon) is that you can adjust or edit files in the future for advances that haven’t even come out yet. As I was working through all the different Nikon Picture Control modes I realized that I could take an old photo, shot in RAW NEF, and apply the new Picture Controls that are now commonly used in the Nikon D3 and D300.
Many people don’t like shooing in a RAW format. It takes up to much space, to long to process, the images don’t look good right out of the camera, and so on, but they are the only file format type that you can use for post editing effectively. When you take a photo in a jpg format, the edit process is complete when you pull the trigger.
Examples in D2X-RAW, Standard, and Vivid
These three images below were taken in 2005, well before the Nikon D3 or D300 and before the Nikon Picture Controls that are used today were ever released. The first image is the raw file as shot in the camera, at the time using the D2XModeII picture control. The second one is with today’s Standard picture control applied, and the third one is with the Vivid picture control applied.
As shot in my Nikon D2X, RAW NEF, Mode-II
Processed using the Nikon Picture Control Standard Mode
Processed using the Nikon Vivid mode from D3/D300
The Vivid Picture Control here probably needs to be toned down just a little in the saturation but I like heavy saturation. The whole reason I used Adobe software to process my images years ago is because the first RAW image above is what came out of my camera.
The software roles have shifted a little now where Nikon’s Capture NX2 and ViewNX (although still not friendly to use or graphically pleasing, to me) has made it easy to get the results you were looking for when you shot the image. Adobe still will not process the Nikon Picture Controls properly and just strips the data away, making for a bland image without a lot of work.
That is why many people dislike RAW (NEF) files, but in this case it shows me exactly why I shot RAW NEF files in the first place. Now, years later I can still open and adjust exposure, saturation, and of course the new Picture Controls.
Update May 2010
While the information in this post is still accurate and shows the process, I am in the process of creating a new guide to post-processing and my digital workflow, mostly based on John Shaw’s book on post processing that I refer to in How to Convert a PDF to ePub that will including information about the Nikon Picture Controls.
At this present date of May 29 2010, the Nikon Picture Controls are now part of ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), current version is 5.7 for CS4 and ACR 6.0 for CS5 and Lightroom 2. John Shaw’s book called Digital Processing, My personal Workflow Using Lightroom 2 and Photoshop is an eBook covers how he uses Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 to process his digital files. While CS5 is now released, this book still has a great explanation of how to do everything that deals with digital post-processing.
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As indicated in the title, if you are not a photo geek looking for some geeky information them perhaps you might want to just over to my gallery and just look at some photos and come back next time, but, if you are a DSLR user, this is for you. [I also have a post (part 2) that includes some photo examples called Update Old Photos with New Picture Controls if you would like to see the Nikon picture controls in action.]
Brief Background
A brief background to my work flow. I have been shooting digital since I bought my first Nikon D100 in 2002. Prior to that I was shooting all slide film like Velvia and Kodak 100s.
I had used a similar work flow process when I was shooting with my Nikon D2X up until 2006 when I switched to some very casual shooting back to my Nikon D100 and did not mess with much of a workflow process. Now that I am once again shooting with the Nikon D300 (and soon to be D700, possibly the D3X), I have gone back to learning the process I did back then.
Digital Postprocessing Workflow
In the world of digital photography, the dark room has been replaced by the editing process after you finish shooting. Same as with film, except there seem to be more and more steps involved in the process now to get the image you want, the one you took in the camera.
Some people look at the images directly from a digital camera and think they look terrible when shot in RAW. That is because most of the time, they do, unless you have a specific workflow process for the image. If you are using the standard jpg file, then that is different. The jpg’s are pretty much done when you press the trigger. You can’t effectively adjust for anything in post processing with a jpg file.
Since I shoot Nikon, this is based on a Nikon workflow, but Canon shooters do the same sort of thing. I usually take my RAW files, same them to my HDD, then convert them to a DNG (Adobe’s digital negative format), then view them in Adobe Bridge, opening the file in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), make some minor adjustments, then the file opens in CS3 (Adobe Photoshop 3) to do my final touches and output a PSD file copy and a jpg for web use.
This was all fine but not giving me the results I wanted until I remembered how Adobe handles Nikon’s Picture Control Modes… they don’t.
Nikon Picture Control Modes Default to Download
Nikon Picture Controls are basically preset points for saturation and contrast. A very good explanation can be found on Ken Rockwell’s website (review here). You can also read where some believe these picture controls will fade away, read The Slow Passing Away of Nikon Color Modes, although I am not so sure as popular as they seem to be, and another good place is the Nikonians Forum or dPreview Forum (see this post).
These picture modes for the Nikon D300 are called Standard, Neutral, and Vivid. You can manually adjust each one and they give you the same sort of effect that different films would. If you wanted to shoot something in nature with saturated colors like reds and greens, you would use the Fuji Velvia 50 film. Today, you would choose Vivid picture control mode on the menu.
If you were use to the picture controls from the Nikon D2X, you can still download these and use them on your D300 or the newest D700. These are called D2XMode I, II, and IIIa from the D2X or today on the screen they are D2XI, D2XII, or D2XIII. These are the same picture controls used on the D2X, and are totally different from the D300 options.
Nikon also just released two new picture controls called Landscape and Portrait. All of these can be downloaded from Nikon’s website (download Nikon Picture Controls here). I am going to post some examples in the upcoming parts but you can see some good ones from the Ken Rockwell website.
Photoshop CS3 and Nikon Capture NX2
So, I setup, take the shots, then proceed into my post processing workflow. One thing I had totally forgotten is that Adobe will not read Nikon Picture Control modes. There are many aspects that determine how a final image will look besides how you took the image. Color space, picture controls, and of course the software you use to edit the images.
Since I just purchased the $200 upgrade to CS3 I wasn’t real happy to find out (or remember) that it doesn’t matter what picture control mode I use, it isn’t going to even show in any Adobe workflow process. If you want to ditch the color modes, then process away. Bridge will start out by removing your color mode that will show in the preview, leaving an image (to me) less than what was shot.
The solution is to use a large combination of software and workflow processes to get what you want, unfortunately. As I said before, if you are just using the jpg files, no need to bother. If you aren’t using a picture control mode, no need to bother.
But, if you shoot in RAW format, using a specific saturation you want, you will need to use Nikon’s Capture NX2 software to utilize the color modes. Of course that’s another $200 to Nikon I didn’t want to spend, but who’s counting at this point.
Workflow Process AND Using Nikon Picture Control Modes
If you followed me this far, you might wonder how anyone ever gets a final image they want, or why anyone would bother with all this, don’t we just pull the trigger and email the photo to someone? Well, all the more serious photographers I know are pretty particular about their images, so they (we, I, us) tend to go to these lengths in the post editing phase, although, many don’t care for the editing process.
I never learned how to use a dark room and develop film. I don’t know the first thing about it. But this is the dark room of our current time, and to be a well rounded photographer it is important to know how our dark room functions and how to properly use the tools we have.
It looks like if I want to use the picture controls I have a few options. I can:
- Download my NEF files, convert all to DNG for archiving
- Use Nikon ViewNX to view my NEF RAW files and output to jpg or tiff immediately
- Use Nikon ViewNX for initial edit, then move to Nikon Capture NX2 to adjustments
- Output the needed file from NX2 in jpg (using color space ProPhoto RGB)
- Open in Bridge, convert the jpg to a non 16-bit sRGB file for uploading
- Save my edited NEF file to preserve the original
or if I want to use Photoshop CS3 that I just paid for I can:
- Download my NEF files, convert all to DNG for archiving
- Use Nikon ViewNX or CaptureNX2 to convert all NEF files to TIFF for opening in CS3
- I can now open all files with the Picture Control Modes saved in the tiff… but… I loose all ability to adjust anything in ACR as ACR will not open a tiff file.
You can download Nikon Capture NX2 for free for a 60 day trial. Might not be long enough to learn the software, it is not the easiest piece of software I have ever used, but the more I use it the easier it gets. It does have some good innovations as well, but I am so use to, and like, CS3, Bridge, and ACR that using a combination of all these will take some adjustments.
If you are just interested in reading more about the digital workflow process, John Shaw has a great digital workflow process outline on his website.
What is your work flow process? Do you use the Nikon Picture Controls or does it even matter? Stay tuned for part 2.
Update:
Part 2 is located in post Update Old Photos with New Picture Controls, I have also started to review a few other alternatives to Nikon CaptureNX2 like Adobe’s Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture. After using Adobe Lightroom for a while I have to say it isn’t really my favorite. I can use Adobe bridge and CS3 with better results and it seems to be a little complicated to use. I am waiting to buy my MacBook Pro in a few weeks and I will get Apple’s Aperture and put it through its paces. I have read great things about Aperture, can’t wait to use it.
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I came across this post today, called Kevin Fox of Gmail & FriendFeed on User Experience Design
and, although it was a lot of really good information, along with the title, it was A LOT of information. There are so many blogs out there with good info that I have probably 400 feeds in my rss reader.
I don’t read all on a daily basis, but this one is one of the blogs I try to skim over.
This particular post could be the longer post ever made on a blog as a single post. I punched it into Word and I got a total of 23 pages, with 8,151 words, and a whopping 45,878 characters.
Wow, I am long winded myself. Anyone that has ever received an email from me knows this, but I don’t think I can top this one. It was good information but wow. As far as a general rule of thumb about blogging is you try to keep it to a few small paragraphs, a page or two, anything more won’t hold the readers attention.
Of course this is a blog by Googleites, so they probably have the leaway of doing whatever they feel like doing and it probably won’t matter. Good post guys, lots of good info, but then it would have to be at 23 pages.
Other Tips of Note
I looked at a few other blog feeds in this category I normally read and I have listed them below just as general information if you are interested. Most of these are blogging blogs on how to blog. So, what is the longest blog post you have ever written?
Leave a comment with the link below so we can all take a look (can’t say I will read it though).
Some things I keep in mind when doing a blog post.
- Break up paragraphs into one or two sentences
- Try to keep the post under 5 minutes reading time
- Use headings (h2 or h3 tags) for bullet points
- Include links to other blogs if mentioned
- Go read and comment on someone else’s blog instead of writing
How Long is Your Last Post
So, how long was your longest post. Did it bring in a lot of traffic to your blog or did you think about if someone was actually going to read something that long or not? I forget all the time. Even this post should have been shorter but I never know when to stop.
