around the net 21, on holiday till September 15
This past week off from the studio has been great. On Monday I’ll be heading back with some new ideas and perspectives aided by the time away. “Sharpening the saw”, we call it, and it really works.
Just as this week has helped to prepare new ideas for the studio, next week I’ll be taking time off from prophotolife to do the same for this blog. So after this edition of around the net I’ll be taking a week off and will return with a new video post on Monday, September 15 (something different, a little monitor calibration tutorial, I think). More on my blogging holiday later in the post. First let’s look at what’s happening around the ‘net:
There are pretty pictures…and then there’s portrait art. Yes, it’s all subjective but I definitely call this portfolio of redheads by Hanna van der Woude “art“. If you’re looking for contemporary photographic art, Lens Culture has more of what you’re looking for.
Words almost evade me for the work of this next photographer, let’s just say that photographic inspiration can be found in a number of places. Have you ever wanted to become an underwater cheesecake fashion photographer? Let me know if anyone sinks a barbecue grill in their community pool this weekend to emulate the 1938 underwater photography of Bruce Mozertom. I’m holding back on a wealth of puns right now.
On the camera front, I can’t ever remember so much anticipation for the release of so many new models. Photokina this month is shaping up to be “the mother of all photo expositions”. There’s more talk of full-frame SLRs and something groundbreaking (built in HDR?). With so much information flying in so many different directions, 1001 Noisy Cameras has emerged as my number one stop for info. They’re like the around the clock CNN of photo news gathering (or FOX News, depending on your particular leanings). BTW, 1001 is also implementing a site design, which has inspired me to…well, more on that in just a bit.
So what’s my plan for the week away? There are a few things I‘d like to pursue. What the heck, I usually fill you in on what’s happening, so here’s what’s been on my mind:
1. David Ziser (Digital Pro Talk) and I were talking recently (documentary photo proof here) about all of the resources we’ve created on our respective blogs. So much so that it’s hard to call them blogs, they’ve become more like resource / training centers (funny what you can accumulate when you just keep posting). I’d like to take a step back to think about better ways to organize all of the information on prophotolife and how to make it more accessible. Maybe it would work better outside of the blog format…maybe not. If you know of any really killer sites that do a great job of organizing information please feel free to share.
2. I am often asked about publishing a DVD of the existing prophotolife instructional videos. Well, it’s time to make it happen! This week I’ll take the time usually spent blogging to clean up audio and get at least the ground work done for pressing some DVDs for sale. I appreciate anyone that has suggested doing this, my goal is to have it on the way soon.
3. Something very important to me is catching up on all of the other great photo blogs that there’s not always time to sit down and enjoy. Yes, my week away from blogging will be spent surfing, in part.
4. And I’ll be taking another run at the film vs. digital quality debate, throwing an APS-C DSLR and at least one high quality pro color neg and pro color slide film into the comparison, also. I’ll do the best I can but admit that time and budget restrict me from taking things too far. The goal is to get a good, accurate, fair comparison that shows what a couple of elite films are capable of against the Canon 5D. I’m already looking forward to seeing the results.
Okay, now the thoughts and ideas are really coming…how about we continue this on my return and I‘ll let you know what I‘ve come up with? I’ll post a little automated reminder on Monday that prophotolife is on blogging holiday till September 15. Have a great weekend, I’ll be “sharpening my saw” next week and will see you on Monday (after next)!
- Jim T.
P.S. Are you ready for some football?!
To put on my ex-knowlege management guy hat, the challenge is to make a series of timed blog posts into something with more top-down organization.
Some combination of tags and categories are probably a good start (ie. be able to see everything tagged video and portrait). WordPress will also let you build static pages that could link to individual posts fitting a certain theme, and you could list them in a logical series.
Strobist has similar needs, and solved it by having each post in a series link to the previous and next posts. Each series also appears on the sidebar as a dropdown, allowing you to start at the first post or anywhere in the series.
Enjoy the “vacation”; I’m sure it’ll turn up some great new stuff!
Jim,
A DVD would be a very natural evolution to the site, and would be a great initiative.
The Strobist pull down menus are simple and effective, thanks for pointing them out, Matthew. Your suggestions combined with a few additional Wordpress plug-ins should help almost immediately. I may have to “get under the hood” and revise some categories and tags…but hopefully I can use what’s already there.
We’ll see how many prophotolife videos can fit on a single DVD, Udi.
Another thing worth think about is Wiki format. I’m not sure what you’re using for hosting, but I’ve found that many of the VPS type hosting services provide things like Wiki software, blogs and content management. With a Wiki, you could continue to use your blog for presenting information, but organize it in a TOC using Wiki pages.
Whatever you decide, though, I hope you’ll stick with some sort of blog format for presenting your new information. I enjoy getting your posts in my Google Reader daily! Keep up the great work and enjoy your vacation from blogging.
Oh yeah! And, if speculation about HDR in camera is correct and it turns out to be in the next 5d, I may just have to upgrade my camera sooner than later! I’m already regretting that my XTi doesn’t have spot metering and more flexible timer functions. The XSi has those.
Enjoy your week Jim! Vacations from routines always help bring new perspectives!
Jim:
This is off topic, but my next visit to the Nati will prolly be in October. I want to hook up so I can buy and take home one of your fabulous prints that you displayed not too long ago at that Northern Kentucky gallery. A picture with water in it – since we don’t have any here in California, where Western water law allows all (100 percent) moisture of some rivers to be “diverted.”
And keep up your good work on the blog. The long hours produce enviable results.
Late,
Will miss the blog for the week. Can’t wait for what you come up with. Now go sharpen that saw. Most importantly have fun.
And thanks.
Have fun on your “blog break”, Jim. The site has come a long way already.
Just recently discovered your site, thanks to Scott Kelby. Great Stuff! Oodles and oodles of good information here. Keep up the good work. You definately have a good business sense because you’re exactly right about your site. It’s still easy to manage but just approaching the cusp of being unorganized. Perfect timing on your part. I love the videos. My only complaint is that they stop short of containing even more great information. LOL! I guess we can’t have it all for free can we. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey all, I truly thank you for the input and support! I’ve been playing with a new design for the site this weekend that I’m reeeeally happy with. Just gotta get the bugs out and it will debut next Monday.
Chip, let me know when you’re in town, we’ll get that print to you. Boy, the Bengals took a dive today. Congrats to the Panthers and my Steelers, they’re looking good.
Jim,
I’m too catching up on some of the blog reading. I think David S. hit the nail right in the head. I think that for a DVD to be a must buy you will need to provide a lot more info than the free videos in the blog. Maybe something like what Strobist did or the OneLight Workshop series does. I hope you enjoyed your vacation. Keep it up!
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