Web Profiles

A few months ago I made some suggestions for improving your website. One of these was to avoid using Adobe’s Flash mainly because it blocks the millions of potential visitors to your site who are using Apple iDevices.

This month marks the anniversary of a column that began in Shutterbug magazine in 1999 as Website of the Month and along the way evolved into Web Profiles. We’ve now moved the column exclusively online and I continue to seek out seek out new websites, to boldly go…sorry, I got carried away.

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday when friends come together and share a meal and their feelings for one another. The World Wide Web is another way we can share images with others, no matter where they may be located on this vast planet. Over the years I have made some really great friends who I would never have met except for the Internet, which is its real power. Here are a few photographer friends I’ve met online through their excellent websites.

This month’s column marks a special anniversary since this column, originally called Website of the Month, was originally launched in July 1999. In a much more recent column, I mentioned not hearing from Shutterbug readers about their own websites and since then the dam burst and I’ve been flooded by e-mail. Thanks to all of you who took the time to write. Working through all those e-mail messages takes time but for this month I’ve selected four reader sites that are “submitted for your approval,” as the late Rod Serling often said. Look for more readers’ sites to appear on a regular basis as well as a photographer’s blog of the month, which started unofficially last month.

If you want the world to see your images, one of the easiest ways is with a free photoblog from Tumblr (www.tumblr.com). Free or low-cost templates give your blog the look you want. As a fan of Micro Four Thirds system cameras, I started a new blog (http://mirrorlessmusings.tumblr.com) to pick up where last year’s Picture-a-Day blog left off with a spin aimed at mirrorless photography. Using a free template, I had the blog up and running in 15 minutes, and you can, too. Tumblr is interactive so you can have a two-way conversation with admirers of your work. Don’t, as the parable goes, “hide your light under a bushel basket.” Sharing images is what makes photography the universal language and Tumblr makes it easy.

"Living is having ups and downs and sharing them with friends."--Trey Parker and Matt Stone

In September 2007, Yahoo! Photos shut down, disproving the old adage that sometimes the best things in life are not free. Regular readers know I keep lots of my personal photographs on SmugMug (www.smugmug.com) but it's not free. A Standard account costs...

"Fun for all that children call their favorite time of the year."--Bill Melendez

During the holidays many people dust off their cameras and take lots of pictures. Besides cute kids opening their presents many shutterbugs' favorite photo subject is a house decorated with seasonal lights. If you've ever wondered how this custom was started, this...