www.photographymonthly.com62 PHOTOGRAPHY MONTHLY
[Feature]
At the heart of every communitysite is the
abilityfor membersto upload their photographs,
which can then be organisedinto albums or
foldersand shared with other users.The main
reason for wantingto do this is to get feedback
from others on your images and therebyimprove
your technique� and that isn't as frighteningas it
sounds.The conceptof `netiquette'means that
other users will always be polite and constructive.
Open yourselfup to some criticismand you could
see a real improvementin your photography.
Communitysites often also featureforums,
which you can both contributeto and interrogate
for answersto thorny questions.
For instance,I rememberonce being asked to
take a group shot of about 20 people in an office,
and I had absolutelyno idea of how to pose them.
I searcheda couple of communityforums and
came up with some good advice from people
who'dbeen in similarpredicamentsbefore,and I
also posted a questionof my own, and got good
advice back.
One new communitysite we're very excited
about is www.photographymonthly.com.Yes,in
case you haven'tseen it yet, your favourite
monthlyphotographymagazinehas had an online
makeoverrecently,and the new site has a
distinctlyupbeat communityfeel.Create an
Back in 2004 keepinga blog made you
somethingof an oddball,but now it
seems that everyonehas got one,from
Barack Obama to StephenFry.There's
no reason why you shouldn'thave one,
too.As a photographerwhat you
actuallywant is a `photoblog'.
The world-widecommunity of
photobloggersis massive:one global
directory (www.photoblogs.org)
contained 34,340 members (at the
time of writing).Prestigious
competitionstake place every year to
determine the world'sbest photoblog,
and regional groups of photobloggers
often arrange meets to go shoot
pictures together.
There are many ways of settingup a
blog.For the frugal,a free servicefrom
the likes of Blogger.comis a good
option,with templatesto choose from.
All you need is Google registration.
Wordpressis anothergood bet, with
loads of differentthemes available,and
photoblog.comis growingin popularity.
Alternatively,you can buy a blogsite
that gives you more flexibility.My blog
costs $2 a month from Expressions
(www.my-expressions.com),which
ensuresI can design my own template
and have a site free from any adverts.
Mac users could do a lot worse than
checkingout MobileMe(�60 per year),
which they can use with the bundled
iWeb softwareto design blog sites.
Traditionally,photoblogsare
organisedwith the most currententry
listed first,and visitorscan leave
comments.You might also be able to
create a page featuringlinks to other
bloggersor photographersyou admire:
this sort of recommendationis often
reciprocated,which can drive new
visitorsto your site.
Photoblogscan be a great source of
PR and many professionalsuse them
to generateprint sales.Photographer
Ross Halfin runs a very popular
photoblog(www.rosshalfin.com)� a
perfectexampleof how a photoblog
can be a great marketingtool.
Photoblogging
KNOW-HOW
"Open
yourself to
criticism and
improve your
photography
"
BELOW Create your own free Flickr
account as a photography showcase
to invite feedback. Pay a small
premium for Pro membership and
they'll take off the adverts.

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 15Page 16Page 17Page 18Page 19Page 20Page 21Page 22Page 23Page 24Page 25Page 26Page 27Page 28Page 29Page 30Page 31Page 32Page 33Page 34Page 35Page 36Page 37Page 38Page 39Page 40Page 41Page 42Page 43Page 44Page 45Page 46Page 47Page 48Page 49Page 50Page 51Page 52Page 53Page 54Page 55Page 56Page 57Page 58Page 59Page 60Page 61Page 62Page 63Page 64Page 65Page 66Page 67Page 68Page 69Page 70Page 71Page 72Page 73Page 74Page 75Page 76Page 77Page 78Page 79Page 80Page 81Page 82Page 83Page 84Page 85Page 86Page 87Page 88Page 89Page 90Page 91Page 92Page 93Page 94Page 95Page 96Page 97Page 98Page 99Page 100Page 101Page 102Page 103Page 104Page 105Page 106Page 107Page 108Page 109Page 110Page 111Page 112Page 113Page 114Page 115Page 116Page 117Page 118Page 119Page 120Page 121Page 122Page 123Page 124Page 125Page 126Page 127Page 128Page 129Page 130Page 131Page 132Page 133Page 134Page 135Page 136Page 137Page 138Page 139Page 140Page 141Page 142Page 143Page 144Page 145Page 146Page 147Page 148 Produced by PageSuite