Jul 14

Written by:
2010/07/14 08:02 AM 

This is a blog post by Patty Reiser

When you stop and think for a moment some of the basic elements of a photograph can be applied to your blog.

How are they the same?

Composition. In photography, composition is referring to the subject and the surrounding objects in the photograph. In blogging, think of this as your blogs theme. How are the elements of your blog arranged? Do they draw your reader in to your featured content or do their eyes wonder because they are too many focus points? There needs to be a nice flow from your navigation to the main content and even to the sidebar columns.

Exposure. In photography, when I speak about exposure, I am referring to whether a photograph is exposed properly. Not too light. Not too dark. I have visited some blogs that have too many ads in their sidebar columns (over exposed) and not enough content (under exposed). Remember that reader come to your blog for the valuable content you provide. Not all the ads you have displayed.

Color. One of the basic concepts all photographers have to learn is Color Theory. Knowing which colors complement one another on the color wheel can bring harmony to a picture when composing the photograph. Applying a little Color Theory to your blog is equally important. It's best to select 2-3 colors that compliment one another. For example, on my blog I am using two basic colors: blue and white. They compliment my very colorful logo. And here on Integral Web Solutions, Robert is using orange, black and white as his basic color scheme. One thing to avoid is the rainbow effect. Too many colors on your blog can be very distracting and can turn readers away in a heartbeat.

Focus. In photography, your subject generally needs to be crisp and clear so that others viewing the photograph knows exactly what your subject is. The same goes for blogging. If the subject of your blog (your niche) is not clear to the reader, they will have a hard time focusing on your blog. You want to be as specific as possible about your blog's niche.

How are they different?

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. On a blog, a 1000 words of content is more valuable than a picture. Especially when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. Web spiders can not scan a photo to find out what the story is. It utilizes the keywords you attach to the photos to tell what it's about. My guideline is to write posts between 500-1000 words that is accompanied with a few good photos that grab the reader’s attention and entice them to stay a while and read. 

Theme.  In photography, new and upcoming photographers try to copy the style of other photographers they admire.  Many will go out and spend money on “Photoshop Actions” so they can easily make their photos look like the pros.  In the blogosphere, bloggers will go out of their way to purchase custom themes to set themselves a part from every other blog on the Internet. 

Can you think of any other ways that blogging and photography are the same or are different from each other?

Celebrate Life and Capture It!

Patty Reiser

Patty Reiser is a Photographer, Personal Publishing Consultant and Blogger who works out of her home in California.  When she’s not behind the camera photographing or chained to the computer blogging, you can find her gardening in the desert or discovering new trails in Joshua Tree National Park.

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