However, I could not keep the promise (that I gave myself) to follow everyone that added me as a favorite back to their albums and check out their photos - I'm sorry. It kinda defeats the "social" aspect of the Picasa Web Albums, where you connect and interact, but I just cannot keep up with that pace! :)
Black Forest Sunset (NIKON D700, 1/200s @ ISO 200; f/11, 90 mm (in 35mm)
With the increasing number of fans that follow my photography, I feel responsible to treat my audience right. I try to not upload to many photos at once, I try to make a really tight selection, I try to take my time for processing the pictures, I try to take a break instead of rushing the uploads in the first excitement after importing the pictures... (and yes, I wrote about all of that before, more or less.)
And I want to ask anyone who's serious about her or his photography to do your audience the same favor: do not overwhelm people that like your work with too much of it. I can only speak for myself, but there's one thing that turns me off pretty quick, and that is too much activity. I mean... macros are nice, sunsets are nice, HDR photos are nice (if they're not overcooked:-), landscapes are nice, flowers are nice... but all in tiny doses, please.
With digital cameras, it's so easy to make 15 nice macro shots of colorful bugs per day - but is it really good to show all of them? And is it really helpful to show 10 flower shots - per day? No matter how good the photos may be - if you show too much in a too short period of time, it quickly becomes boring.
Even when preparing a "documentary" series of photos, maybe from a vacation, which might in the end sum up to 100 or more photos... release them in small doses. Give your audience a chance to catch up. Personally, I will like to spend a reasonable amount of time browsing through 10 new photos - but most likely, I will just quickly browse the thumbnails and then click here and there for a batch of 100 new photos.
Thanks to everyone who's visiting my albums. I hope I do it right and do not overwhelm you with my activity. I try to play it nice and slow. :-)
PS: about the photo - it was taken in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) region of Germany from the peak of the Kandel hill (something like 1400m high) above Waldkirch. I was visiting my mother there last weekend, and since the peak can be reached by car via a small road through the forest it didn't take much to get a nice sunset photo.
Hi Alex, I just read your article above and I can understand your point of vieuw. But trying to find the best photo to put on Picasa is not so easy ... yet for everybody. I agree with macro though. I am sorry if you might think I put too much of "Zuid-Hollandse Biesbosch" on my galery, this one was on purpose: it was a command from someone who asked me to photograph this landscapes and want to by photos for his hostel nearby. That 's also why the photos are numbered. Beeing able to select the best photo not to overwelmed the audience is something only good photographers (as you) can do. The rest of us still has to learn. But I will try to follow your advice. Thanks for your article and thanks for sharing your beautiful photos with us. Greetings, Domino.
ReplyDeleteHi Domino! Clarification: if you publish a lot of photos at once every once in a while, and for a specific reason, that's totally OK. But if you do it every day because you cannot decide, or because you decided that publishing everything is "your style" it is not friendly towards your audience. IMHO. :-)
ReplyDeleteI understand. Sometimes I see on Picasa galeries where a lot of photos look the same. But some like you ( or me, but maybe not so good yet) put photos on the web because of passion for photography, others take pictures and put them on Picasa for friends and family because it is easier to show that way than to send by email. But it is not an obligation to view all the photos from an album: you pick up the one which caught your eyes, and this can happen in an "not friendly" galery too. :-):-) But I don't think people are "unfriendly" on purpose. Selecting photographs is at first not so easy. Anyway you make very very beautiful landscape photographs. :-) GR. Domino
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