The last snow....
Winter photo ops are fleeting. The iconic images of snow on pine trees with a carpet of snow sans foot prints requires a fair amount of luck in our neighborhood. This past winter we have had one or two snows. So last week when we had a late March snow storm that continued into the morning I was torn. Go to work, or play hooky and go to the park to make photographs. I managed to do the right thing, I went to work. However, I could not pass on the last photo op of the year. So when I got to work, I could not get out of the car without taking a few snaps. Since I was a little bit early, I did an impromptu photo walk around the parking lot. After going into the hospital, I could not resist the call of the scenery and went back out of the exits and captured some closeup shots of the early buds that were covered with snow.
Well here we go
I have been merrily photographing for many years now. It seems that my skills have progressed to the point where I can be counted on to produce and share quality images from time to time. This usually requires that I print a stack of 4x6's and try to remember to pass them out to the appropriate folks (usually parents). This is a rather dated way of sharing my work. Of course there have been the photographs that I have submitted to contest or magazines, that have been published. But this is a limited distribution of my work. So, I have been toying with the idea that I could create a website. And that website could be a place where people could go and see my work for themselves. If they really like what they see, they can put it on their Facebook pages or Twitter or Google plus... That seems to be what most young people want these days anyway.
If I had a web site, I could have more people see and enjoy what I have seen and enjoyed. So, this is the beginning of my journey down the rabbit hole of the world wide web. I have looked at all sort and manner of photo sharing web sites. I have tried Flickr but, have you ever gone to look at somebodies photos on Flickr? I arrest my case. I had a Facebook account, but I happily transferred ownership of that to my wife, as Facebook is not my cup of tea. Not to mention that it is not exactly the best place for me to showcase my work. I looked at Smugmug and Zenfolio. I was swayed by the many testimonials to Zenfolio. So, I had a large sip of their Cool-Aid and jumped in. I must say that the site creation tools are beginning to make more sense. My photographs now have a nice home to live online. And now, I can spend more time shooting and uploading so that I can share my work virtually. And if someone wants a 4x6 print, Zenfolio can make that happen. So, rather than my deciding what images someone might want, they can actually pick out images that they actually want and Zenfolio can deliver the prints right to their door. So, I see great potential for more people to see my work. And after all, isn't that one of the reasons that photographers photograph.