Ludington (1/100 at f/3.5, 28mm, ISO 100)

Hi, Kajsa here with the first Saturday post of what will hopefully become a long list of them. Thursday’s post was on the magic hour and I couldn’t agree more.  I’ve included my own magic hour photo just to give emphasis to John’s point.

But today I’ll be talking about blogs, and my experience with getting my own up and running.  I never had a blog before because I kept asking myself “Who am I talking to?”  Also, I’m a cradle perfectionist and have trouble being satisfied with something so open-ended.  A huge part of blogging as a photographer though is social networking and projecting yourself into the scene, so this is the next best step for me, an aspiring photographer.

What I thought would just be a simple site where I wrote some words and showed some pictures is turning out to consist of a lot more key elements if I want anybody to visit.  I’ll share with you the steps that I have taken to get my own blog to be visitor friendly and to be one that encourages repeat visits.   To get my feet wet, I first used Wordpress.com for 2 reasons: John recommended it, and it was free.  Fast forward a month and I’ve tried out the program with help from Wordpress for Dummies and have decided to do this for real.  Mine is still under construction and not quite ready to be live, but you’ll be the first to know when it is.  Until then, these are the steps I’ve taken:

Step 1: Buy a unique domain name and the use of a hosting site from a service like godaddy.com.  I called them up, told them what I wanted, bought the name, and had things ready for activating in probably less than 30 minutes.  I have the version where Wordpress is built right in the mix, so I continue to use that program.  Buying the domain name and having the hosting site has given me a clear name that is easily searchable.  I am also now able to install plugins.

Step 2: Choose a theme for your blog.  I was told that it’s all about columns – and it is!  With the RSS feed icons and the tweet widgets and space for other folders, lists, and archives, the layout where I have two columns in addition to my post area seems to be the best option for me.  Also, there are programs like Artisteer for personalized themes if you want a unique one.

Step 3: Install some plugins.  You can find the plugins at www.wordpress.org in the extend tab.  I started by adding Scissors (for editing photos that I upload), and a widget for Twitter.  I also set up an account through Google’s Feedburner so that people can easily subscribe to my blog via RSS feeds or email.  Those are a few of the inner details that I wanted smoothed out before going live.  I’ll worry about  adding more later.

Step 4: Publish your first post!  I also created an About Page that includes the same introduction from this blog, so if you read it don’t expect to be blown away.

Now, if you’re still wanting to try out a blog before investing money, then you can set up an account through Wordpress.com and be blogging in minutes.  It’s a lot simpler because you’ll take out steps 1, most of 2, and 3 and be done.

I don’t know if I’ll ever come to terms with the fact that blogs are always a work in progress.  There will never be a time when I can say, “Yep.  I’m finished,”   dust my hands off and call it good.  But it does relieve some of the pressure since I know that one post is not the last post I’ll ever make.  It’s sort of like when I go to a restaurant with my family and after I’ll have sufficiently held up the rest of the table’s orders by being the most indecisive person on Earth, my Mom will say “Kajsa, it’s not your last meal.”  Well-said Mom, well-said.

Have a great Saturday!

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