Thursday, October 4, 2007

The Blogging Phenomenon

Among the thousands of blogs out there, one of them stands out prominently for photographers. It has started a mini revolution: finding cheap alternatives to the equipment frenzy most of us have been subject to :-) It's all about DIY. For example, how to substitute a stofen omnibounce (cost $20) with a piece of tupperware (cost $2).

This blog can be found here: www.strobist.com

It's also helped photographers the world over (1 million suscribers and counting) look at lighting in a completely different way. Location and studio photography will never be the same again. The motto: put aside the heavy power packs, the cumbersome softboxes... and use those little speedlight flashes OFF of your camera.

Have complete control over your lighting in all scenarios! Case in point, I backpacked around Europe for 6 weeks with my lighting gear this summer. No, I'm not crazy. I was carrying two Nikon Speedlights, one lightstand and various others things. I used them all the time, and it was such a treat!

Check out strobist if you haven't already. It started out a year ago and has grown to such an extend that it's writer, David, quit his photojournalist job at the Baltimore Sun to dedicate himself to it. He also does lighting workshops throughout the US and Europe. He has contributed SOOOO much to us photographers.

Make sure you scroll down to the Sept.28th entry on there. There is a link to a video presentation by Chase Jarvis, commercial photographer extraordinaire. He shares what it takes to become a highly successful photographer in this era. It's 55min long, and worth every second.

Melinda, thanks for you input on the press releases. That site is a great find! Do you know where the PR gets distributed? Can you keep us up to date on the responses you get from it?

10 comments:

Melinda said...

Nice site Kathryn. Did you do the site yourself or did you have some one do it for you. It is very easy to navigate and it shows your portraits nicely.
I am going to try another free press release site today and I will try to find all the locations they release to. I think they both do Google, yahoo but I will find out for certain.
Thanks Greg for the info on the other site I will check it out.

Kathryn LeBoye Photography said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kathryn LeBoye Photography said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kathryn LeBoye Photography said...

I discovered a company called Bludomain who designs web sites for photographers. They have ready made templates. Their prices are incredible starting at $200 to $800 range. I checked the company out with the Better Business Bureau and the only complaints from the consumers was about growing pains, the company was slow in responding to questions. I contacted some of their clients and they told me the same thing but said that after they got the questions answered, they were thrilled with their new site. So,I took the plunge and bought the Rita template which was $600. I did not have any problems with Bludomain during and after my set up. They must have hired enough staff to help with the workload.

It took me about two months to put in my photographs, text, music, etc. I love my site. I have Bludomain hosting my site for $100 a year.

Check out their site at http://www.bludomain.com/ You can look at clients launched, too!

I highly recommend Bludomain!!!

Melinda said...

prleap.com submits to the following:
Google
Yahoo
MSN
Ask.com
topix.com
technorati
more over

PRLog.com submits to the following:
Google news
numerous search engines (did not see a detailed lisiting)
javascript, html and RSS feeds
Customizable daily newsletters

They both review submissions before releasing them so it does take some time. PRLog looks like it has been around a bit longer but not sure.

Thanks Kathryn for the info. I will check them out.

Kathryn LeBoye Photography said...

I have a great source for 4x6 direct mail postcards. 500 postcard with color front and back @ $63.72 that includes sale tax and shipping. It is a company out of Burbank: http://gotprint.net/gotprint/welcome.do Their prices are fantastic and the quality is incredible. I will be glad to show anybody next week one of my direct mailers

Maria Piscopo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maria Piscopo said...

Speaking of blogs, check out my article for Communication Arts magazine on Blog as Marketing Tool, at commarts.com and click on the columns section, i wrote it for the Freelance Column - check it out!
BTW, student subscriptions are only $39.00, great price!

Anonymous said...

Bludomain now has a BBB rating of F, with 14 instances where they simply refused to even respond.

This is a company to avoid at all costs.

Anonymous said...

五金百貨大賣場 五金工具 電動工具 吸塵器 diy 營造公司 豪宅設計 別墅設計 建築設計 舊屋翻新 農舍 住宅設計 綠建築 蓋房子 自地自建 品牌行銷 CIS 設計公司 廣告設計 平面設計 桃園當鋪15 北區當鋪 新娘秘書 月子餐 滷味 月子餐外送 月子餐食譜 結婚金飾 鑽石婚戒 塑膠袋 塑膠袋批發 塑膠袋工廠 塑膠袋 塑膠袋批發 飛梭雷射 幼兒美語 兒童美語 桃園托兒所 桃園安親班 桃園幼稚園