Best iPhone photo app ever? CameraBag. Hands down, no question, I can't get enough of it. Seriously, it might even start causing problems in my relationship because of my new obsession with the camera in my iPhone.
Let's face it, the iPhone camera itself isn't very impressive. It shoots the kind of pictures you'd expect for something that has a lens the size of the head of a pin, and fits in your pocket.
CameraBag, an app that cost me a whole $2.99, changes all that. It's a super handy set of software "filters" that makes the image take on the effect of some other camera, or some other time.
Helga, Mono, Fisheye, Lolo, 1974, 1962, Instant, Infrared, and Cinema are the currently available choices, and each places a distinctly different look on a picture - breathing new life into the capabilities of the iPhone camera.
Once I got my hands on this sweet app, I started running around looking at everything in a different way - because now everything is a potential photograph, and I always have a camera in my pocket, waiting.
Then, to make a good thing even better, I installed another app, "TiltShift", that allows you to, well, make it look like it was shot by Vince Laforet. OK, not exactly, but it allows you to selectively blur portions of the image, which gives you the ability to add some depth and perspective to the image.
The iPhone camera is designed to be simple, so everything is always in focus. TiltShift lets me make a background go completely out of focus, similar to what you would normally do with the lens on a 35mm camera.
So, my iPhone "workflow" is as follows:
1) See something that needs to be shot.
2) Stop dead in your tracks and pull out the iPhone and get into shooting position. (It's like seeing a parking spot in the city - all traffic laws are temporarily suspended while you rush to claim the much-coveted space. Want to do an illegal u-turn in the middle of a crowded crosswalk? Don't worry. If you're racing to claim that parking spot, everyone will understand.)
3) Shoot your picture with the iPhone camera. Chimp. Shoot again, if needed. Chimp again. Repeat as needed. Don't worry, everyone will understand.
4) If you feel this particular image could benefit from TiltShift, open it up and get through their annoying interface. (They force you to have to look at their sample images every time you load one of your own images. Annoying, but oh well.) Select the image you just shot from your Camera Roll library and do the whole selective focus thing. Then save the image. (It saves a new copy to your Camera Roll library.)
5) Then open up CameraBag and prepare yourself to be overly excited. Choose the effect you want (I always use "Lolo") and if you like how the preview looks, save it - a new version will be added to your Camera Roll library.
6) Go to step 1.
I find that the limitations of the iPhone camera actually add to the creative process because I don't have to obsess about every little detail in the image like I would with my high-end DSLR. I can't take this too seriously, so it's always fun, and I think the fun shows through.
Feels like creative freedom, and it's addictive.
See all of them in my iPhone Images Gallery
April 2009 Archives
Continue reading Can You Believe These Are iPhone Images?.
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We're really pumped up about getting out of the office for a few in-person events starting this week. Come on out and see us if you'll be in NYC.
This Wednesday - April 28 - the American Society of Picture Professionals, New York Chapter, is hosting "What's New in Workflow". Because we tend to geek out over different photographers' workflow technique (and we know you do too) - we decided to sponsor this event. Should be a great night, with a few great speakers discussing their workflow, networking, and some tasty wine too. Maybe you'll pick up some new tips for your photography workflow?
This Thursday - April 29 - Adorama Camera is hosting us for a photography websites workshop. This event is booked solid and the wait-list is a mile long, so we're talking with Adorama about booking another date too. We'll be sharing website design tips, all about creating a website that commercial and editorial photo buyers will love. Some of this presentation will draw on the results of our recent photo buyer survey.
Next month, we'll be back at Adorama, talking tactics for beating the recession. Warning, this is not a support group and won't be a bunch of sob stories on how business is so hard and the economy is so bad. Instead, we're going to talk about smart photography business and marketing tactics you can use right now to grow revenue despite the economy.
Many more plans in the works for public appearances this summer - lots of dates to discuss SEO for photography websites. And, we're booking up our calendar, so if you're looking for a speaker please contact us now. Stay tuned!
This Wednesday - April 28 - the American Society of Picture Professionals, New York Chapter, is hosting "What's New in Workflow". Because we tend to geek out over different photographers' workflow technique (and we know you do too) - we decided to sponsor this event. Should be a great night, with a few great speakers discussing their workflow, networking, and some tasty wine too. Maybe you'll pick up some new tips for your photography workflow?
This Thursday - April 29 - Adorama Camera is hosting us for a photography websites workshop. This event is booked solid and the wait-list is a mile long, so we're talking with Adorama about booking another date too. We'll be sharing website design tips, all about creating a website that commercial and editorial photo buyers will love. Some of this presentation will draw on the results of our recent photo buyer survey.
Next month, we'll be back at Adorama, talking tactics for beating the recession. Warning, this is not a support group and won't be a bunch of sob stories on how business is so hard and the economy is so bad. Instead, we're going to talk about smart photography business and marketing tactics you can use right now to grow revenue despite the economy.
Many more plans in the works for public appearances this summer - lots of dates to discuss SEO for photography websites. And, we're booking up our calendar, so if you're looking for a speaker please contact us now. Stay tuned!
We've been talking a lot about SEO recently and how simple changes can impact your visibility to the search engines to generate you more website traffic. Last week, I talked about the importance of page titles, and today I want to talk about URLs.
If you've been to Amazon.com, you might have noticed that every product has a URL with the product name in it:
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-12-1MP-Digital-Camera-Body/dp/B000VRV6LY
The URLs didn't used to look like this, but they made a big point of creating human-readable URLs because of its impact on SEO.
Most photo websites have crappy URLs. Here's one (I've mercifully cut out the domain):
http://XX.com/p172556686/h3E22E45#h1373e0c2
Photo websites have a perennial problem in that Google can't "see" your photos. There's no image recognition software that can scan a photo and determine what's going on. Therefore, more than other websites, photography websites need lots of supporting meta data so that the major search engines have a chance of indexing the content.
URLs, like page titles, are very helpful in that regard. Here's a PhotoShelter URL. Take a guess what the gallery contains without clicking on it:
http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/landonnordeman/gallery/Westminster-Dog-Show/G0000eiuN9gb6P8A/
PhotoShelter automatically takes the name of the gallery and makes it a part of the URL. Like most blogging software, we use a dash "-" character to replace spaces because according to most SEO experts, this is the preferred format. So it saves you time while giving you an SEO boost.
Many Flash-based websites have self-contained Flash "movies" that don't change the URL at all. Not only is this problematic from an SEO point of view, it also makes it impossible for a user to say "I like this photo, here's the URL."
I've said it before, but I'll say it again:
Your website design isn't just for people who visit it. The fundamental construction of the website can help attract visitors even if they don't know who you are.
So when you're evaluating options for constructing your website, make sure that you look beyond the exterior, and dig into the things that will actually drive more eyeballs to your work.
Do you know what a page title is?
It's that little sliver of text that appears at the top of your browser.
It's also the text that appears on a search engine results page (SERP).
Page title happens to be an HTML attribute that you can define -- that is, if the website software you're using supports it. And it also happens to be the most important on-page factor for search engine optimization (SEO).
When you think about it, it makes sense. Imagine if you walked into a bookstore and all books had blank covers. How would you know what the book was about without having to spend a lot of time opening the book and looking around? In New York, we have a lot of "cool" restaurants and bars who think it's great not to have a sign on the establishment. I happen to find that annoying. So does Google.
Google thinks pages without titles affect the user experience, and therefore, they will rank your web pages lower than sites with a page title.
This is what a site looks like when no page title is defined.
It's that little sliver of text that appears at the top of your browser.
It's also the text that appears on a search engine results page (SERP).
Page title happens to be an HTML attribute that you can define -- that is, if the website software you're using supports it. And it also happens to be the most important on-page factor for search engine optimization (SEO).
When you think about it, it makes sense. Imagine if you walked into a bookstore and all books had blank covers. How would you know what the book was about without having to spend a lot of time opening the book and looking around? In New York, we have a lot of "cool" restaurants and bars who think it's great not to have a sign on the establishment. I happen to find that annoying. So does Google.
Google thinks pages without titles affect the user experience, and therefore, they will rank your web pages lower than sites with a page title.
This is what a site looks like when no page title is defined.
Continue reading The Importance of Page Titles on your Photography Website.
Setting up a CNAME with your domain registar allows you to mask the photoshelter.com domain from your customized website. Depending on your registrar, the process of creating a CNAME can range from simple to excruciating.
PhotoShelter user Bruno Vincent struggled with creating a CNAME through his UK-based provider 1and1, but finally got it all working. He wrote a fantastic tutorial, which is bound to save 1and1 users a lot of time and angst.
- Bruno Vincent is a London-based press photographer.
- Check out his tutorial on how to set up a CNAME with 1and1.
Back in the 90s, when website design was still a novelty, we used to hire designers based on who could make our websites the prettiest. There were so few websites and digital photography didn't exist yet, so getting a photography website together always created a lot of buzz. But times have changed, and grabbing someone's attention to view your photos is much harder. The Internet has evolved significantly, and websites need to reflect that changing reality.
It's still commonplace to see threads on various photography websites asking "who should I use to design my website?" And unfortunately, it's still common for photographers to spend $10,000 or more to get a "unique" design, or on the flipside, to go totally budget with a $50 solution thinking that all solutions are the same.
Julian Wainwright's PhotoShelter-powered photography website
We've often found that there is a major disconnect between a designer's vision, and the realities of what the audience wants.
But let's step back for a moment and discuss the goal of a photography website.
A photography website used to be a digital brochure. It used to be the digital version of the portfolio books that we lugged around. But that time has passed. The rise of Google (and the other search engines) combined with the rapidity of information exchange through mechanisms like blogs and other social media sites, means that your website represents much more than just a place to electronically store your photos. So what's the goal of a photography website? I assure you that it's not just to show people images.
Your website design isn't just for people who visit it. The fundamental construction of the website can help attract visitors even if they don't know who you are.
You're probably asking what this has to do with the taupe color and typeface that your designer picked out for you. A website designer who only concerns him/herself with the appearance of the website is like hiring a house painter to design and build your home in a hurricane zone. Can they do it? Sure, they can build you something, but it wont' be fundamentally sound, and it won't help you accomplish your goals.
You might be satisfied to drive traffic to your website through traditional marketing techniques alone (e.g. post cards), but you would be missing out on the free lead generation that the Internet can help provide. The goal of your website shouldn't be limited to display of your images. This, of course, is important. But a website can do so much more by attracting people that don't even know you exist.
The fact of the matter is that many photography websites, whether they are aware of it or not, get 30-50% of their traffic from search engines. You might think that your website visitors know your URL and are typing it in to their browser, but this flies in the face of evidence.
I still don't follow you. My name comes up first in Google.
If you search for your name in Google, and your website comes up first, you're missing the point. If someone already knows your name, then they probably know how to find you. But the well-designed website can attract people who don't even know you.
Let's say you're a wedding and events photographer in New York. Tons of photographers fall into that category, but only 10 show up on the first google search results page for "wedding photographer New York." When people want to find something that they may not know much about, they go to Google. So you need to be optimized for the terms that they are going to search for. Get it?
It's still commonplace to see threads on various photography websites asking "who should I use to design my website?" And unfortunately, it's still common for photographers to spend $10,000 or more to get a "unique" design, or on the flipside, to go totally budget with a $50 solution thinking that all solutions are the same.
Julian Wainwright's PhotoShelter-powered photography website
We've often found that there is a major disconnect between a designer's vision, and the realities of what the audience wants.
But let's step back for a moment and discuss the goal of a photography website.
A photography website used to be a digital brochure. It used to be the digital version of the portfolio books that we lugged around. But that time has passed. The rise of Google (and the other search engines) combined with the rapidity of information exchange through mechanisms like blogs and other social media sites, means that your website represents much more than just a place to electronically store your photos. So what's the goal of a photography website? I assure you that it's not just to show people images.
Your website design isn't just for people who visit it. The fundamental construction of the website can help attract visitors even if they don't know who you are.
You're probably asking what this has to do with the taupe color and typeface that your designer picked out for you. A website designer who only concerns him/herself with the appearance of the website is like hiring a house painter to design and build your home in a hurricane zone. Can they do it? Sure, they can build you something, but it wont' be fundamentally sound, and it won't help you accomplish your goals.
You might be satisfied to drive traffic to your website through traditional marketing techniques alone (e.g. post cards), but you would be missing out on the free lead generation that the Internet can help provide. The goal of your website shouldn't be limited to display of your images. This, of course, is important. But a website can do so much more by attracting people that don't even know you exist.
The fact of the matter is that many photography websites, whether they are aware of it or not, get 30-50% of their traffic from search engines. You might think that your website visitors know your URL and are typing it in to their browser, but this flies in the face of evidence.
I still don't follow you. My name comes up first in Google.
If you search for your name in Google, and your website comes up first, you're missing the point. If someone already knows your name, then they probably know how to find you. But the well-designed website can attract people who don't even know you.
Let's say you're a wedding and events photographer in New York. Tons of photographers fall into that category, but only 10 show up on the first google search results page for "wedding photographer New York." When people want to find something that they may not know much about, they go to Google. So you need to be optimized for the terms that they are going to search for. Get it?
Continue reading Is Your Web Designer Full of Crap?.
Is it 99 like Mike Cavaroc and John Lander?
Maybe 92 like Richard Baker?
Our brand new SEO Grader measures over 30 on-page factors on your PhotoShelter website to determine your visibility to search engines. And of course by now, you understand about SEO and Why It Matters to photographers and their photography websites, right?
Marketing isn't something that necessarily comes naturally to photographers. We don't like to think about the business of photography, and yet, to be successful we need to be good marketers. After all, a mediocre photographer with superior marketing sells more than a great photographer with no marketing.
The SEO Grader is simple to use. Just upload a few images, and click "Run." After answering 5 questions, it will automatically scan your account, and provide you with a score and a report broken down by section.
In addition to a score, the SEO Grader provides you with step-by-step instructions on how to improve specific areas.
Best of all, any PhotoShelter account from free to Pro can use the SEO Grader. And when you combine it with our SEO Toolkit, you have one powerful and easy way to improve the visibility of your photography website to Google and the other major search engines.
SEO can really help attract unsolicited visitors to your website for free, so it's an incredibly powerful tool that you should have in your marketing arsenal. And when you use a tool like PhotoShelter, you get the benefit of building out your search engine optimization even when you're not logging in every day.
So show us your score!
Maybe 92 like Richard Baker?
Our brand new SEO Grader measures over 30 on-page factors on your PhotoShelter website to determine your visibility to search engines. And of course by now, you understand about SEO and Why It Matters to photographers and their photography websites, right?
Marketing isn't something that necessarily comes naturally to photographers. We don't like to think about the business of photography, and yet, to be successful we need to be good marketers. After all, a mediocre photographer with superior marketing sells more than a great photographer with no marketing.
The SEO Grader is simple to use. Just upload a few images, and click "Run." After answering 5 questions, it will automatically scan your account, and provide you with a score and a report broken down by section.
In addition to a score, the SEO Grader provides you with step-by-step instructions on how to improve specific areas.
Best of all, any PhotoShelter account from free to Pro can use the SEO Grader. And when you combine it with our SEO Toolkit, you have one powerful and easy way to improve the visibility of your photography website to Google and the other major search engines.
SEO can really help attract unsolicited visitors to your website for free, so it's an incredibly powerful tool that you should have in your marketing arsenal. And when you use a tool like PhotoShelter, you get the benefit of building out your search engine optimization even when you're not logging in every day.
So show us your score!
In February, we announced a new way to get exposure for your photographs and photography website, and we are happy to announce the second round of PhotoShelter featured photographers. We had a wonderful collection of images submitted from around the world, and we were thrilled to see the diversity of vision.
These images are in our homepage slideshow when you click the "images tab.
You can embed this month's images in your own website by clicking the "up arrow" in the lower right of the widget above. These photographers are also features on our photography website examples page, which means they get all the great SEO link love.
Got some stunning images? You can submit your images to us. Remember, you need to submit your images by the 20th of the month, and we'll put the winning images up on the first Tuesday of the month.
In the online marketing world, Google stands alone as the most powerful tool for driving new visitors to your website. So photographers who are serious about growing their businesses online should learn how to use Google to market their photography websites using search engine optimization (SEO). We've done quite a bit of looking around, and the photo industry is missing two things: 1) comprehensive guidance on SEO tailored specifically for photographers, and 2) easy tools to help photographers tap into the power of SEO.
Today, PhotoShelter is filling that void with new research that can be downloaded for free, and new features that give PhotoShelter photographers full control of 30+ critical factors that can help get their photography business found online. Plus, we've built an exclusive SEO Grader that can analyze PhotoShelter accounts for SEO compatibility and make recommendations for improvement.
Whether you're selling stock photos or prints online, looking to generate more assignment work, growing a wedding photography business, and all things in between - SEO can dramatically change the way new customers find your website. You'll want to review the guidance, and consider including SEO tactics in your photography workflow. We're tremendously excited to put these tools in your hands.
PhotoShelter's Free SEO Toolkit
Designed specifically for photographers, our latest research report, Photography Websites: SEO Cookbook, guides you through the most effective SEO tactics for your website. We cover every tactic, on and off the web page, that you can use to help the search engines find you and your photos. Use this report to understand, plan, and carry out your own SEO effort. This critical internet marketing guidance can benefit all photographers, regardless of who you use for photo hosting, or who has designed your photography website.
The 30-page e-book includes:
• Creating an SEO strategy
• How search engines determine your ranking
- On page factors• Things to avoid
- Off page factors
• Benchmarking and analytics
• Suggested resources
Plus, the SEO Toolkit includes bonus extras, like videos, worksheets, and more!
Get your Free SEO Toolkit now.
Special thanks to our friends at Adorama who sponsored the SEO Cookbook.
Introducing PhotoShelter's SEO Grader
Also released today, PhotoShelter's new SEO Grader can analyze your account and recommend specific steps to ensure the search engines find you and your photos. This tool is designed to help our photographers rate their progress on creating SEO-friendly websites and online photo galleries. In addition to the SEO Grader, PhotoShelter now gives photographers control of 30+ website factors that contribute to strong search engine rankings, plus a little coding "secret sauce" that uses photos' metadata to populate key website variables that help improve Google results. And no tech expertise is required! (Members: just look for the little green SEO icons throughout your account!)
The SEO Grader is an exclusive benefit for PhotoShelter members at any account level. Of course, PhotoShelter Standard & Pro Account holders using website templates or seamless customization of PhotoShelter into their own websites can take advantage of more advanced SEO functionality. Learn more with this video, about using PhotoShelter to improve SEO for photography websites.
Not a member? Enjoy $30 annual savings when you sign up for an Annual Standard Account before April 30.
Current members upgrade here.
Keep Learning: Webinars and More...
SEO will continue to evolve because the search engines are getting smarter every day. To help you along, please join us for a free PhotoShelter webinar to discuss the latest techniques for SEO for photographers, or how you can use PhotoShelter to achieve your desired search rankings. Plus, we'll be providing more articles throughout the month on special SEO topics, so stay tuned!
Doug, a baseball umpire whose travels give him endless stories to photograph, uses our Crisp theme to display and sell his work as prints, personal use downloads, and stock photography.
Julian shoots news, editorial features and commercial photography in Hanoi, Vietnam. He displays and sells his work using our Mars Theme.
Theo's work combines adventure, nature, culture and science. His work is displayed and sold via a seamless customization that integrates PhotoShelter with his personal website.
Stephen, an Ontario based event and commercial photographer, sells personal use licenses and rights managed stock photography from his PhotoShelter website, using our Chill theme.
In Spring 2009, Redux is releasing American Youth a 240 page photography book that peers into the lives of American 18 to 24 year-olds. They've manually customized a PhotoShelter website to display photos from the book and promote its launch.
Specializing in travel, landscape and nature photography, Tim has integrated his personal website with his PhotoShelter Crisp theme, where he sells stock photos, personal use downloads, and prints.
Todd displays his photojournalism using our Mars theme, and sells his work as prints, products, and Rights Managed downloads.
Andrew's keen eye for storytelling is apparent throughout his archive of commercial and editorial photography, displayed in our Crisp theme and available as prints and rights managed downloads.
Jorge embeds PhotoShelter's flash slideshows in his personal website to feature his captivating nature, people, and travel imagery -- and sells prints, products, and downloads from his basic PhotoShelter galleries.
Edgardo, based in Mexico City and specializing in commercial studio work, nudes, and travel photography, displays his work with a PhotoShelter Crisp theme. He sells prints, products, and rights managed licenses.
An accomplished photojournalist, Pete displays his archive using our Chill theme, linked directly from his personal website.
A specialist in photographing dance, theatre and music performance, Patrick sells rights managed stock, personal use downloads, and prints using our Crisp theme, and linked to his personal website.
Photojournalist Fredrik Naumann operates Oslo-based Felix Features. He uses PhotoShelter's Caboose theme to display and sell rights managed licenses and prints, including the work of other Felix Features photographers.
Brian's portraits of iconic corporate leaders are displayed and sold as stock using our Chill theme.
Jake, a specialist in creating custom corporate image libraries and Annual Reports, hosts his archive with PhotoShelter and displays his galleries using our Chill theme.
A documentary filmmaker and photographer based in India, Ryan archives and displays his work using his basic PhotoShelter galleries.
Justin's archive of adventure, lifestyle and environmental photography is displayed using our Caboose theme, and linked directly from his personal website.
Specializing in editorial photojournalism, portraits and weddings, David displays his archive using his basic PhotoShelter galleries, where his work can be purchased as prints or rights managed stock photography.
Carl displays and sells his stock photos directly from his basic PhotoShelter galleries.
Freelance photographer Mark Menditto archives his collection of fine art prints, royalty free and rights managed stock photography with PhotoShelter. He displays and sells his work with our Crisp theme.
Katherine specializes in corporate assignment work and stock photography. She displays her work with our Chill theme, uses password-protected galleries for her corporate clients, and sells rights managed stock photo licenses.
An award winning commercial and editorial photographer, Tom displays his archive using our Farah theme, where he sells prints, commercial and personal use downloads.
Darrell uses his PhotoShelter Caboose theme to display a collection of prints for sale to benefit Project Hibakusha, his personal effort to document Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb.
Miguel, a Spanish pro focusing on social stories, editorial portrait, fashion and glamour displays his work with our Caboose theme.
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