Stuck On Building a Website

converge
Originally uploaded by paldusty

Picture: A perspective shot of two brick walls converging in the corner.

I have been studying like crazy as usual and shooting as much as possible. One thing that I find helps me grow as a photographer is to attempt challenges that various photo forums put up for their members. It is a good way to go beyond your comfort zone. When I think of things to try they are usually not that far off from what I may have tried in the past or something that I am already OK at. Letting some one else choose makes it more challenging and more fun. You never know what you will be asked to try.

One off the neat more interesting things on my list is "Minimalism". That is the only clue or direction given. If you look up minimalism in Wikipedia the definition says to break something down to it's basic elements. In photography that can mean many things, so it will be fun seeing what I and others come up with.

As I keep saying I have been studying like a mad dog and one thing keeps coming up. Something that just about every pro says should be your number one or number two priority. That is building a portfolio even if you don't have real good equipment. A portfolio is the single best way of getting your work in front of people that can get you hired. I know that I need to do this big time and I have come up against a couple of hurdles. One is simply in my mind and that is which images should I put in it. I already know that you should categorize your work into themes and find an arrangement that leads the viewer from one to the next in the most pleasing way. As far as that goes I may have too many themes because I have not completely settled on what kind of photography I want to concentrate on from a personal perspective. Street? Event? Portrait? What?

The thing that has me the most cobbled up is the website itself. I don't have the faintest idea how to build one and I obviously don't have any money to pay for someone to build me one. There are sites that have a free side to them, which allows you to use a template from them or one of their members and edit it to "make it your own" and that is what I plan on doing, but as with so many other aspects of computer programming, the auther of the tutorials assumes that you know more than one does. I missed the memo on the basic basics. I wish I had someone who could show me the basics and that I could bounce questions off of, but I don't. At least I don't at this point, so we will venture into the great wide open as Petty says.

The second BIG priority to the pros that I read is always the same as well and that is "Get a Mentor!" Someone who will look at your work and let you know what your are doing well and where you can make improvements and I bet someone who can help you build a portfolio. Ironic, I think. Photography just as with so many other pursuits has that between a rock and a hard place thing that says you can't a job unless you have experience and you can't get experience unless you have a job. What is true however with creative pursuits is that if you keep plugging away and immerse yourself in it you will eventually meet people that are into the same thing and make some contacts and find those folks who are willing to help a newbe along if they see that you are working your butt off.

Take a look at my Flickr page for a lot of new images I have posted and a new panorama. Actually the pictures that made up the panorama are not new, but the pan is. Oakland Athletic Stadium. Can't remember what game it was. And make sure you sheck out the photographer links I have placed in the blog. Really inspiring stuff.

More to come...