Summer is almost over, and while a lot of people love this time of year, I’m not one of them. I like the next two seasons. So for this catching up post this week I thought it might be nice to see what I am looking forward to.
Winter
This is definitely something worth looking forward to here. Melbourne doesn’t get the really cold weather that many places in the northern hemisphere have. Unless it is raining, really pouring, you can always get out to take photos.
It is the best time to take photos. The sun isn’t as high in the sky and the shadows are fairly long. They are also very soft. The light in winter is stunning and would have to be my favourite time of the year to take photos for all those reasons. Plus the snakes aren’t around.
This winter I have plans for some new work I’m going to be doing. There are two separate projects I want to try, and when they are done I will work out which one has worked best. It is going to be an exciting year.
Blogging
I tried doing the editing group and seems no one was interested. It is disheartening to realise that people don’t want to learn from me, unless I want to give it away for free. Perhaps if it hadn’t cost me anything to learn how to do what I do, it wouldn’t be unreasonable. However, I have spent a great deal of money learning photoshop, so I guess I will have to keep it all to myself. I’m trying not to let it get me down. It is something I’m coming to expect, perhaps that is the problem.
This leads to another problem, which is how do I earn money. I could give up the blog and everything else, perhaps get a real job. I doubt that would make me any happier, sadly. Now I need to find another way. Part of that is looking at what I can do with this blog and how to make it more successful.
That all leads to this blog and where it will go from here. It is now my intention to start working on high quality articles. There will be reviews, articles on photography and a few other things. You will have noticed that a couple of the older type posts have been brought back.
Perhaps the biggest reason I went self hosted a couple of years ago was in the hope of capturing more advertising on the here. However, I never did anything and the blog did become quite lost.
There is going to be more videos as well. I am working on somethings now that are aimed at helping people learn.
Studying SEO
This is a big must right now. I have to understand it and learn how to implement it. At the moment the blog doesn’t have the stats that companies would like for me to be considered an influencer, so I need to pick it up here.
I am reading books and looking at websites to help work out how to use it. It is also important to understand exactly what this blog is about. Where do I want to go with it?
What can you do to help?
It is simple in many ways, liking, but especially commenting on posts shows engagement. If you like this blog and really want to help, that would be fantastic. Another way to help is by sharing the content. If you have social media sites, then sharing posts on it would be fantastic.
Finally
I would love to hear from you, especially if you have some ideas on posts you would like to see. It won’t always be possible to do them, but if it can be done, then it will be.
Sorry to hear about the editing classes Leanne .. I really enjoyed mine! I would love to have more, but I still find PS daunting. SEO is another beast .. but so worth investigating! I love your blog, always have. I have learnt so much from you, and am a huge fan! But you know that already 😀
thank you Julie, I shouldn’t be surprised, seems to be the story of my life. That is so nice of you to say Julie, so good to hear. Love ya. 😀
I haven’d delved into Photoshop yet otherwise I might be interested. You are to be commended for all of your effort you put into everything.
Thank you Nora, I suppose I keep trying, something has to work eventually, lol. The support is wonderful.
I look forward to seeing how your blog evolves. Although I am not a photographer – beyond what I do as an amatuer to document my family’s life – I always enjoy reading your blog to see the images and feel inspired by the creativity of others and the beauty of the landscapes and places captured.
Thank you Laura, That is so nice of you to say, I really appreciate that, I so love sharing my photos and sharing my city. We will see where it all goes from here. I am so glad you have stuck with me.
Leanne, your problem is—- You love Photography and handing on your considerable knowledge to us cretins..If you do not do this you will be sad and we will be as well so what if we had to pay a SMALL monthly sum via paypal or credit card. If all the member chipped in say 2 cups of coffee a month We would not lose each other and no one will be sad.
Thank you Geoff, that is really nice of you to say. It would be nice if everyone did that, but I have to be realistic, onwards and upwards, always other things to try.
Thanks, Leanne. I’m not your target audience (I’ve enjoyed your picture posts for many years but have never had any ambition of learning photography. I’m truly bad at it and prefer to write), but I have experienced similar issues regarding the blog. I also went self-hosted a few years back thinking about ways of monetizing it but things like affiliateships have not worked for me (perhaps because books are so cheap that you’d need to have a lot of traffic for it to make a dent. If you talk about expensive equipment and manage to get good traffic, it might be hepful). I’ve wondered about SEO too, and I’ve had to adapt some of the articles I’ve written for others for an agency) to include terms their experts had identified. It is a very counterintiuitive way to do things if you are creative, but I guess it’s what it is. Many people swear by e-mail lists and getting people to subscribe by giving them something (a white paper, a PDF…). I also see lots of author publishing or creating courses in their own or other platforms, and many people who cross-promote with others, providing discounts for other people’s courses… (But I’ve never done anything of the sort, other than just sharing content or running articles on other authors). I hope you find a way forward.
I’m sorry to hear how much trouble you have had Olga, that is disappointing. I know what you mean about SEO, it almost takes all the creativity out of the writing. I am not convinced about email lists, I think we get far too many these days and most of them just get deleted. I am looking into some places I can do that with, see if it works. I have been told of some sites.Thank you Olga, I guess in the end all we can do it keep trying.
Leanne I just wrote an epistle But it would not go. This is a test
I have got your comment Geoff.
Hi Leanne. Firstly I would like to say I am eager to learn from you and am sorry that your editing program didn’t get any responses. I am interested in it however as I had said earlier (I don’t expect you to remember by the way !) I am away for nearly 7 weeks as of tonight so was unable to start it at this time. If you are still offering in in mid April I will be a likely candidate. I use Lightroom all the time and have tried to teach myself Photoshop, through books and u-tube but I find they all talk too fast and complete actions so quickly I get lost and frustrated. This is my first comment on a blogg, bit out of my comfort zone, but if this helps I will keep commenting! Your images are really stunning.
Thank you Elizabeth. It was disappointing, but time to pick myself up and try the next thing. I found a lot of the videos on YouTube the same. I am looking into something else where I might be able to do a course, or run one, so keep an eye out. I love Photoshop and I do love teaching people about it. Have a great trip, I hope you get lots of photos. Thank you too for leaving a comment, I really appreciate that. It will be easier now that you have done one, I hope. Safe travels.
Leanne, your images are fantastic! Looking forward to seeing the direction of your blog in the future…
Thank you so much Stuart, interesting times ahead.
Hi Leanne, I too like the winter and autumn for photography because as you say the light is softer and the shadows longer. You also are not so limited to the “golden hour” but can find photos all day. Also I like the photos in this blog a couple I recognise and the others are good. TFS Ron.
They are really good times for photography here. Thank you Ron.
All pics are excellent and the long exposure of the street is the best one, seen many but this is superb.
Thank you so much Subhash, glad you liked them.
Welcome 🙂
😀
This is a great shot, thank you for posting.
You’re welcome, I’m glad to hear you like it, thank you Uwe.
I loved your post today. And I absolutely love the images that you have “posted” today. I want to learn to create the black and whites as you have done. The BW (toned?) is so rich–never thought I would use that word. I think most people, in the photography learning circle, will gladly pay for learning but do not want to be snookered. Giving away some of your special knowledge–the way you sometimes process your BW–might lead to people buying a course(s) from you. Just a thought.
Thank you Karen. I hadn’t though much about how I do black and white photography. I am finding the whole thing with teaching quite baffling, so perhaps it is time to stop trying. Time will tell with what happens, it is a bit exciting, we will see where it all goes.