post #46: getting bigger and better

Bigger

It’s been a great week here, lots of new visitors and over 10,000 hits in one day for one of the DIY lighting videos. I’m just amazed at all the cool information that can be shared on the internet and how quickly new friends can be made (hello to the folks coming over from DIYPhotography.net, another great site). Imagine if the whole world worked the way the photo blogosphere does: sharing information freely and helping one another for the benefit of all. Seems simple, doesn’t it?

Better

I’m excited about some changes about to be made to the prophotolife format. I’ve been blogging away the last couple months, just having fun, trying to figure out what shape and form would work best. There are so many things worth writing (and making videos) about. The business, art and technical aspects of photography are all interesting and worthy subjects and there are a ton of great websites and photographers out there that I’d like to feature.

Since I’d like to explore so many things and there are only so many hours in the day, it made sense to come up with some sort of structure. Certain readers may prefer business talk, some may prefer technical talk, a lot of viewers really like the videos. Now there’s a five day a week ‘programming guide’ for prophotolife so you don’t miss your favored subjects:

Monday: Video - every Monday there will be either a new prophotolife original video or pointers to other great photography-related video on the web.

Tuesday: Tech Talk - the hardware, software and techniques of photography will be discussed on Tuesday. This kicks off tomorrow with a piece I had a lot of fun putting together: the battle of the bulbs shootout (see image below). Readers had asked about comparing various bulbs for the inexpensive clamp lights used in the videos, so here it is (and it’s illuminating).

Wednesday: Business - The business of photography is changing rapidly and it’s a fascinating study. I hope to bring in more guest bloggers, like the piece Lee Torrens did on microstock.

Thursday: Reviews - When I find quality products and companies I like to tell people. Things like Blinkbid software for estimating and billing!

Friday: Around the ‘Net - This will be the week in recap, links to great sites, talk with other blogs and whatever else comes out.

Saturday and Sunday are when I’ll be putting all of this stuff together or getting out on my mountain bike to leave the cares behind.

Over the next couple weeks I’ll be incorporating the new format into the site design so it’s easy to navigate in order to find just what you’re looking for. Your feedback on the new posting schedule will be appreciated. As the old saying goes, “if you don’t like it I hope you’ll let me know and if you do like it I hope you’ll let someone else know”. - Jim T.

Tomorrow: the battle of the bulbs…