1. GoogleMaps: As soon as I put in Seattle Wedding Photographers, I got a map of countless photographers on the Seattle area map. Each had their own image displayed, ratings, and contact info – VERY smart.

2. YouTube videos: This was a video I came across through the Google search engine. It’s a short slideshow of a company’s senior pictures (without music). Way to use YouTube for free advertising!

3. Craigslist:  Reading Kaarin’s Craigslist.com article, I remembered how a fellow wedding photographer started booking clients through short Craigslist ads. It’s probably not too professional if you’re getting big in the industry, but if you’re somewhat new and have great prices to offer, why not?

So far, I have only used Facebook Fan page and of course my photography blog, so I’ll definitely have to put my company on the map, make a local listing and try out some YouTube movie making!

The bundle concept of “fixed and mobile telephony, broadband internet access and television” is also something that those selling the new product have to factor into the equation of buyer mentality. Everyone likes the one-stop-shop provider that gives them all that they need in terms of technology services. They also rely on the discounts of purchasing the bundle package. So the difficulty of breaking into the current monopoly (of providers) is to battle this issue. Since my company can only provide mobile internet and mobile voice service (home and cell in one), I was wondering how the lack of television service can be addressed. But then I concluded that since online TV is so popular these days (and will only be getting more popular with the coming years), would cable TV even be a demand? We have on demand Hulu and Netflix to take place of the endless amounts of channels we probably rarely watch.

The final thought is that convergence equals convenience and convergence is definitely here.

Questions:

1. What bothers you about the convergence taking place in the technology world?

2. In what ways has convergence of technology made your life easier or more convenient?

I grew up around a film photographer dad and later a professional photographer cousin. My dad didn’t really have the option of “film or digital?” when he was taking pictures in the 90′s. My cousin Dan on the other hand, got to experience the world of both; He got into photography at the very moment when having a digital camera became a common ‘luxury.’ He told me that he loved shooting in film, because of the vibrant and soft colors that film-processing produced (I couldn’t notice the difference until I went through at least three of his photography albums). As he began to shoot weddings for a career, he realized that film wouldn’t suffice, even though it produced great colors and beautiful images. Only with digital could he view his images instantly for focus and shoot as many pictures as his memory cards could fit (not to mention the peace that came with knowing that the images were turning out well at an event that couldn’t be “redone.”

Being a photographer, I have researched many talented photographers; I only know one who chooses to shoot his weddings in film. You can see the amazing images that he takes here, but I can only imagine the talent and skill that keeps him confident to know that his images are turning out great technically and aesthetically.I wanted to see what the online community thought about this debate. An interesting article came up, discussing that advantages and disadvantages of both, praising the quality of film over digital a good way through and then making the point that “The most important variable here is what the digital photographer does with the digital files after the shoot.” Yes, film can create colors and highlights that just cannot be substituted by digital photography, but it is the accommodating digital processing like Photoshop, that allows digital photography to have an equal race against film. Film can also be edited on the computer, but the process is much more difficult and can take up a lot of time.

My concluding point is that although digital photography is convenient in immeasurable ways, film produces a quality that can never be replicated and that with enough patience a photographer can outdo the the glory of the digital photographic world (the film photographer I mentioned is a great example of that.)

Although Kathy already sent out a 20 plugins for WordPress blogs, I found this one on Delicious that gave me more options steered for business blogs as opposed to general blogs. I particularly enjoyed the “contact form 7″ plugin which will allow my visitors to contact me for inquiries if they’re interested in highering me. Also “All in One SEO Pack” which will allow me to go higher in search engine ranks – always good news for business blogs:)

http://www.webdesignbooth.com/10-essential-wordpress-plugins-for-new-wordpress-installation/

It was more difficult to get a Wikipedia article that would relate to my topic: photography blogs. All my options were wikipedia articles on different photographers and photoshops, so the only valuable one I got was wikipedia article on WordPress:) I was able to get some information on supported themes (important since I am installing my own themes for my project). And also, multi-blogging, since that is something I might look into if my business gets bigger and I may want to capture more of an audience that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordpress

Looking at News Mixer (haven’t heard of it before), I was genuinely impressed with ways in which it vamped up the ‘news site’ experience. It is true: people aren’t too prompted with an open-ended comment box. But with News Mixer’s categories (Q&A, Quips, and Letters to the Editor), visitors are given options (who doesn’t like options?) and are given ideas in the ways which they can respond, which allows for a likely environment that visitors will find one of the 3 ways, a desired choice of communication with the news sites. Most importantly, people can still be connecting their News Mixer experience with their familliar Facebook use, using ‘Facebook Connect’ and cross-posting. Overall, a smart idea, as sites that incorporate active visitors are the ones that will survive this hyped up social media era.

Questions:

How do you feel about News Mixer? Are their capabilities something that would intrigue you and make you want to take up your time? Why or why not?

What do you think about Facebook ID? Are you in favor of the idea? Why or why not?

Reading through the article, I came across a lot of review from what we heard from Kathy’s Flickr lecture last Wednesday, such as having the helpful “tags” features and being able to share photos. But what stood out to me and actually went hand in hand with this week’s subject matter post, was the Geotagging feature that the article talked about. Just like the Geotagging feature allows for placing photos on a map, so the Flickr user of my subject matter post did so. But instead of using Mappr or what I assume Flickr would want its users to utilize (Yahoo’s Mapquest), this user chose to work with GoogleMaps. Perhaps because GoogleMaps seems to be more popular and this user could generate more hits by working with GoogleMaps as opposed to its competitors, but none the less, great presentation.

Other than finishing it off with the 101 on premium users versus standard users, I was able to take away  some helpful info/tools for my new company’s photography blog. I am referring to the Flickr badge which allows you to show lots of photos in HTML, but also have a cooler option of Adobe Flash Player. This, I figured might be a nice way to present my photos sometimes on sites like Facebook or just embedding into my blogs for presentation in a new way, once in a while. So basically, not only will I be able to present my images with an interactive tool, but I will also be able to benefit from its marketing possibilities, as my work wouldn’t only be on my blog and website, but also on Flickr for all the faithful Yahoo! users to see.

Questions:

1. What intrigues you the most out of all of the Flickr options and features and why?

2. In what ways does Flickr help you as an internet user? (And if you don’t use Flickr, which image hosting site helps you?)

Not everyone may get me, but this is gold in a photographer’s world. This Flickr user basically took Googlemaps and marked out the Seattle area with the best locations to shoot pictures. With each mark on the Googlemaps, is a photograph from that user of that specific location. There are about 40 location marks, 28,000 page views and A LOT of happy raters and commenters:)

This is PERFECT for every photographer out there that may run out of ideas for where to shoot pictures for their clients. But here, you not only have a visual of how the place looks, but you even get the convenient directions to get there:)

I definitely know this will be bookmarked  on my browser for those many days when I draw a blank for where to shoot the session (or need to change up the scene from my usual favorites).

The pictures on the Googlemaps from the Flickr user are great quality too, so you should take a look at them!

Apart from wierd of course, it’s also something that I would assume to be successsful, because after all, multimedia is winning out. It’s just so wierd, I think, to go through all the work of compiling a video (adding to the writing, sound, detail, style, pictures) to produce a final product of just writing (and maybe some pictures). It’s clear that they understand that today’s audience (unless its their faithful Sunday readers) is into multimedia work; it’s what they are used to and it’s the next level of shock and awe for them. So to tease a 19th century product, with a 21st century medium is a little backwards for me.

Of course, I am used to media convergence by now and it’s happening around me all the time — music on YouTube, Videos on my cellphone — but I don’t know how I feel about videos with my newspaper… and that is if I actually read the newspaper:)

Regardless, it’s a catchy idea because even I would be more likely to read the newspaper article after hearing about the story, looking at the images of the victims and suspects and investing into the matter emotionally after the viewing. But it does make me wonder if newspapers will survive the media competition being as ‘ancient’ as they are. Yes, the stories will be read by more people now that there are newspaper trailers. But eventually, it seems like people will just give up on newspapers, and replace what they miss out on by going to documentaries for that and to YouTube and blogs for their information needs (because they are such easily accessible sources, and their audience an internet population).

Questions that I would want to ask after reading something like this is:

1. If newspapers continue to converge, like they display in this situation, how else are they going to try to win the attention of a younger, internet savvy population?

2. Newspapers, Radio and TV are all the more traditional media outlets. Do they have a chance to survive the internet wave (that can provide all of this for us)? And if so, how do you see them doing that?

1. Kids with colorful props.
2. Kids with colorful outfits and accessories.
3. Up close images of a head shot.

Paul Doumit mostly utilizes the colorful props and settings approach. He either has a bright background with calm outfit colors, or bright outfit colors with a calm background. Somehow, a child’s bright face + colors (and of course, good lighting) = a great photograph.

Andrea, on the other hand, uses natural light and backgrounds (outdoor areas and grassy fields). To brighten up her pictures, she has the kids use a colorful prop. The photographs that I came across had a 3-year-old child walking in a field in his denim overalls, holding a huge swirly lollipop. The image totally worked, because with the awesome and natural background, was again a child’s bright face and a colorful something.

And lastly, I observed the Stairstep Kids Photography by Alexandra. Alexandra used an interesting technique of limiting herself to natural light, natural element, and a zoomed-in view. If you look through her work, you will notice that, compared to the other photographers, her photos have a much more close up image of the childs face; this makes it unnecessary to use props or backgrounds, because the colorful parts of the image become the big blue eyes, blond curly hair, and bright pink smile.

I have always casually studied wedding photography more, because I’ve been in that industry, so researching Kids photography styles has been an interesting experience; never before have I stopped to wonder what goes into making that type of photography successful — I just thought that kids are adorable and that’s what makes Kids images look so great, so simply. And that is true. But what can always help are good props, colorful backgrounds, and if all else fails, a close up shot of a bright smile will always do the trick!