Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

In my previous post All Eyes Are On The iPad. Are Yours? I noted how the iPad was setting the stage for a publishing revolution with its transformational user experience. How have I come to this bold prediction? Three key signs have led me to the belief we’re on the cusp of a publishing revolution in short order.

1. Tablet computers are currently the next must have device.
2. Touchscreen interaction / navigation will be spreading to traditional computers
3. Touchscreen interaction / navigation is defining an entire new branch of user interaction & user experience

Must Have Device
If you haven’t noticed already there are iPad giveaways around every corner. Apple’s iPad has captured the imagination of millions of people by changing how they interact with content on the web. This same fervor hit consumers in the 80’s with the mouse and here in the 2010’s touchscreen technology is making online viewing less abstract and physically more interactive. Apple’s ability to hit it big with the iPad, as with their other successful product launches, inevitably results in competitors releasing cheaper takeoffs. Odds are if you know someone who wants a gadget for Christmas they’ll be asking for an iPad. If an iPad isn’t in the budget you can bet that your local retailer like BestBuy will be selling a variety of competitors to fill the void.

Expect Touchscreen Interaction on Your Computer
Mobile devices are an intuitive place to utilize touchscreen technology. Mobile devices with their small footprint must be compact for portability while walking a fine line to provide an easy to view screen with easy navigation capabilities. Ask a child to view something on a computer and their first reaction invariably will be to point to the screen. This exemplifies the simplest navigation tool available… our fingers. As mobile devices become ubiquitous amongst younger generations such navigation is not only going to become intuitive, but expected.

The difference between a 3.5 inch (9 cm) and a 9.75 inch (24.5 cm) diagonal touchscreen of an iPhone & iPad may seem less than notable, but the increase in real estate to present text, images and video is huge. Everything (navigation cues, graphics, buttons, etc.) becomes easier to identify, touch, and move. Larger screen sizes also create greater opportunity for new and innovative navigation and presentation layers.  This type of content interaction is not likely to be lost on traditional computers with even larger screens, as recently surfaced Apple patent filings of a touchscreen iMac confirm we’ll be seeing more of this style of interaction on future computers.

Evolution of Web Use & Design Standards
In a recent edition of Wired magazine it was prognosticated that the web is dead.

Over the past few years, one of the most important shifts in the digital world has been the move from the wide-open Web to semiclosed platforms that use the Internet for transport but not the browser for display. It’s driven primarily by the rise of the iPhone model of mobile computing, and it’s a world Google can’t crawl, one where HTML doesn’t rule. And it’s the world that consumers are increasingly choosing, not because they’re rejecting the idea of the Web but because these dedicated platforms often just work better or fit better into their lives (the screen comes to them, they don’t have to go to the screen). The fact that it’s easier for companies to make money on these platforms only cements the trend. - The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet

How the data is parsed to come to this conclusion is questionable in my book (video is not considered the web? really!? What about YouTube?), but this Wired article in general raises an interesting premise and should make you think twice about how you’re experiencing the web today and how you & your audience might be experiencing it in the future.

The iPad, being the first out of the gate, will have a disproportionate amount of influence on design standards and user experience trends for the touchscreen oriented content. Knowing these standards and understanding how users are interacting with online content is critical whether  that content resides in a web page, app, peer-to-peer site, etc.  The question then raised is how does your web site translate to a touchscreen device like an iPad? In case you were unaware iPadPeek is a great way to see (just be sure you disable Flash on your browser first).  The even bigger question is how will your audience be viewing the content you produce and publish online?

Will traditional web sites hold up? Will apps be the dominant channel of online publishing? Will mobile viewing overtake traditional computer viewing? I have a notion of how things will play out in the future and it centers on a maturing model of revenue generation, but details to this thought will have to wait for the next post in this series. Stay tuned…

Technorati Tags: photography, Apple, iPad, publishing

It was fun ending last year making some predictions in relation to photography and social media, but now that we’re wrapping up the first week of 2010 I thought I’d share with you 5 technology products/services I’m looking forward to in 2010. On some level each of these technologies/services relate to photography.

Adobe CS5
It’s pretty well known by now that Adobe is aiming to release their next version of their CS suite around April of 2010 (some reports saying April 10th). In general the odd versions of Adobe CS products carry the greatest number of changes and enhancements not to to mention generate better sales for Adobe. With leaked technology demos through out 2009 this is one update I’m looking forward to.

• A sneak peek at the new technology in Adobe Photoshop CS5
• Content Aware Fill (Facebook video)

TinEye
Tineye reverse image search engine expanded their index of images in 2009 from roughly 700 million to 1.25 billion images. Having reviewed TinEye in the past and having become a regular user I’m quite eager to see more frequent updates and expansion of their image index.

PicScout ImageExchange
ImageExchange is currently in an invite only beta (see below on how to request an invite). PDN summarized how PicScout quite well:

PicScout has been beta testing a potential solution to the problem. It is called ImageExchange. Image owners can use the system to attach metadata–including their name, copyright information, contact information, and a link to their web site–to each image. Wherever the image travels, anyone with an ImageExchange reader on their Web browser can see a small blue information icon at the top right-hand corner of the image. (See the top left thumbnail image) By clicking on the icon, the user can access the ownership information and click through to the image owner’s web site. (The ImageExchange reader will be a free download)
- New PicScout Tool Connects Image Buyers to Owners

Sign-up for a PicScout ImageExchange beta invitiation

Google “Caffeine”
Google is poised to release “next-generation architecture for Google’s web search” any day. No really… any day. There has been a lot of anticipation around this release, with Google giving not so subtle clues that the roll out to one of their data centers will happen in January with others to follow shortly. What’s in the upgrade?

“It … will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits “under the hood” of Google’s search engine, which means that most users won’t notice a difference in search results.”
-  Google Caffeine via the Google Blog

While most people might not notice those who manage their web sites closely with an eye on search might see some variation or differences.

Apple iSlate
Apple with much anticipation is due to release a tablet computer on or around January 26th. Will it be an alternate to an iBook, Kindle, netbook, etc? It’s tough to say. It could be a lot of things to a lot of people. In either case it’s a new technology product that should be noted.  Apple’s products are always sexy (Ok maybe not the Newton) and bring a lot of attention to new facets of publishing. If there is a big surge in interest in this type of product it could influence how you publish your photography.

• The Exhaustive Guide to Apple Tablet Rumors – Gizmodo
• Apple rumored to announce tablet later this month – Mobile Burn

Technorati Tags: technology, Apple, iSlate, Adobe, CS5, PicScout, Google, Caffeine, TinEye, search

2009 has been an interesting year for photographers who have taken the plunge with Social Media. I’m guessing back in January of 2009 many of you would have scoffed at the notion of being active in Social Media by years end. It’s been great to see so many photographers experiment with it this year. While I knew use of Social Media would not stick for some, I have been pleasantly surprised more people have stuck with it than I’d have anticipated.

If you consider yourself a Social Media friendly photographer here are 10 predictions for the New Year to keep you thinking through 2009 and beyond.

1. Real-Time Search becomes a game changer
   Twitter’s search deal with Google & Bing is the beginning of the end for traditional search. Google will work to stay ahead of the pack in developing algorithms to query and rank results from Twitter. Google’s battle with Facebook on the Real-Time search will also pick up steam as the race begins to dominate this new and fast growing set of data. We may not see the full effect in 2010, but we’ll definitely start to see an impact from real-time search in day to day management of our sites. Sentiment, brand management, and shifting rankings will impact all who manage business web sites.
2. Reverse Image Search applications go mainstream
   TinEye, PicScout Image IRC and Google Goggles will increasingly become part of daily search for many people. The main drivers to this development will hit opposite ends of the use spectrum. Mobile phone applications will free up tired thumbs that need a break from tiny keyboard typing. Larger companies will more widely adopt reverse image search applications to manage their intellectual property in an increasingly chaotic environment online.
3. Engagement & Sentiment analytics will become the latest obsession
   Standard web metrics will look like child’s play compared to emerging engagement & sentiment analytics. With ever growing demand from larger corporations a software development race will heat up to provide meaningful analytics to tackle Return on Investment (ROI) & Return on Engagement (ROE) questions. Engagement analytics will fill a growing vacuum to measure & manage community development, brand management and personnel management
4. Facebook’s 2009 identity crisis will last through 2010
   Circa 1990’s Microsoft fashion Facebook will continue to steal feature ideas from innovators to secure and expand its foothold in the Social Media space… all while developing very little innovation of its own. Continue to see Facebook change course in 2010 and beyond, as it attempts to morph into the latest buzz.
5. iPhone apps will lose momentum
   iPhone applications have reached a saturation point and as a result developer interest will continue a sharper fade in 2010. The one exception will be the maturation of augmented reality applications and demand for games. Lack of a larger interest by developers will impact demand downstream with app users. In addition the lack of market expansion resulting from diminishing developer support will drive consolidation of game development to companies who have profited most from iPhone app development. The gold rush for individual developers is coming to an end.
6. The U.S. government will officially turn to Social Media to fight terrorism & address national emergencies
   The growing threat of non-traditional communication channel use by enemies abroad & at home and the success of the DARPA Balloon Hunt has put Social Media squarely in the sights of government security and emergency relief agencies. Larger safety concerns, terrorism and natural disaster, will spur programs to use Social Media communication in polar opposite fashions: monitor & hinder information seen as a threat vs. leverage & spread information to avert threats. And you thought you had a love hate relationship with Social Media!
7. Facebook will yet again fail to learn from past mistakes regarding Privacy
   With an eye toward company goals (IPO,  expanding ad revenue, etc.) Facebook will turn a blind eye to privacy concerns incorrectly thinking members will endure most anything rather than re-establish network relationships through another service.
8. Flickr will undergo a long over due redesign
   My Hail Mary prediction of the year is that Yahoo it will undergo a layout redesign. Personally I think this is a long shot, but I’m hopeful that Flickr will surprise me. Improvements will include an update to the image detail page layout to more clearly highlight use rights, tags, image sets and embed social media hooks to improve the sharing capability of their service. Higher level changes to display Explored images will take effect to broaden community interaction.
9. Data Portability will make little head way
   Full Data Portability will live on as an idealistic dream. Implementation of a widely adopted independent & open format for single sign-on will remain rough and barely hold on as Facebook makes a full frontal assault to dominate this space as Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect taints the larger community effort . With few incentives for private companies to adopt true data portability it is likely to languish until the next PR nightmare to haunt Facebook, Google or Twitter.
10. Google Wave will start to live up to the hype in late 2010
    GoogleWave beta has had a tough time living up to the hype it has received.  It’s biggest strength and biggest weakness is its dependence on developers to create reliable functionality that can be appended to its use. Incredibly strong for communicating collaboratively it has a while to go before hitting a tipping point with a larger audience. GoogleWave strikes me as having its strongest use by large enterprises, but less the proper developer support will find itself stuck in niche uses. As more reliable and functional add-ons are created for GoogleWave, use will increase and a larger tipping point among individual users is likely to happen in late 2010.

Technorati Tags: Social Media, predictions, 2010

It wasn’t that long ago that I ran a poll here on the JMG-Galleries blog to get your feedback on using DISQUS. The results are visible on the original post Poll: Should I keep using DISQUS on my Blog?

I found it really interesting that up until the last day the vote was a dead heat. I had an even number of votes for, against and “no opinion” up until the last day and then after that I received all positive comments & votes for DISQUS.  This in combination with the incredible support I’ve received from DISQUS I’ve decided to keep using it on the blog. In fact I would recommend its use to other bloggers.

DISQUS is great in that it mirrors your comments and doesn’t replace the comment functionality of WordPress. This helps if you decide to stop using it… you’ll never lose your comments as they’re still stored with in your site and will appear normally after using DISQUS. It’s also cool in that you can have real-time nested conversations with out reloading the page. I’m also fond of the fact that comments are pulled in from other social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

There are some downsides. I do find that I have to double manage spam that slips through on Wordpress and DISQUS. Fortunately its very easy to manage such situations with DISQUS. I also had an initial problem that my comments weren’t fully imported into DISQUS when I started. This was quickly remedied by DISQUS support. It would seem the number one reason people have issues with DISQUS as in not being able to comment is a result of firewall issues. I’m not sure if this is due to people accessing my site from well fortified corporate networks or personal firewall software but that does appear to impact a small minority of users. I’m working with DISQUS to narrow down the cause of this.

While I had some initial challenges, the last couple of weeks my experience has been great. If you haven’t tried DISQUS you should check it out. If DISQUS isn’t your thing I’ve heard great things about BackType as well.

Technorati Tags: DISQUS, social media

I’m trying out a new commenting system here on the JMG-Galleries Blog and I’d like to solicit your feedback on it over the coming weeks.

DISQUS is rolling out a new version of their blog commenting system (v3) this week, integrating blog comments and corresponding comments found on other communities such as Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed. I’m patiently waiting for the full roll out and looking to see when it takes effect here on my blog. The upgrade should be a substantial improvement as comments are threaded and update in real-time with out any need to refresh the page you’re reading.

In the meantime you can still enjoy threaded comments in the current version and login via Facebook, Twitter, DISQUS or as a guest. As always your participation on the blog is much appreciated and I look forward to interacting with you more as DISQUS v3 rolls out.

Technorati Tags: DISQUS, version 3, v3

Adobe Lightroom has been a critically important application to my photographic workflow, but from early on watermarking functionality has been limited. The standard copyright text line provided by Adobe Lightroom is enough, but lacks the ability to be customized giving photographers using it some level of individuality. As noted in my earlier blog articles on watermarking watermarks are not only functional to avert image theft, but a key component of branding.

Enter LR2/Mogrify, a Lightrooom plug-in created by Timothy Armes, that adeptly fills the void. Mogrify provides functionality to apply borders, text and graphical watermarks. Mogrify also harnesses the power of Lightroom to batch process photographs. The combination of these functions makes for an incredibly valuable photographic solution.

Since the end of 2008 I have been a diehard LR2/Mogrify user. The cost for Mogrify is what you are willing to pay. It is donation based and receiving the activation key opens up all functionality with in the plug-in (otherwise you’re limited to watermarking 10 images per export).

How I Use Mogrify
Once I finalize my highest rated images per photoshoot (post-process, add metadata, etc.) I select one or all and right click to Export my photos for web display. In Lightroom I use the Mogrify plugin to Read more…

After attending the getMETAsmart event in San Francisco last week I became curious how photographers who read my blog and/or follow me on Twitter use it. To be honest I’d be even more curious how photo buyers or stock agents actually use metadata on a daily basis, but that will have to wait for another post. Metadata as many of you know is often discussed but rarely so in the context of how real people use it. While hearing about best practices is helpful everyone has a slightly different take on the subject and many address metadata differently in their workflow. Let’s first address the “why”. Why should metadata play a role in your workflow? To answer that I’ve combined my understanding of metadata with feedback received from my Twitter followers. Read on to learn more.
Read more…

Reputation management is the monitoring of how an individual, company or other entities are perceived online.  Online reputation is centered on trust. The greater the trust with in an online community around an individual, company, etc. the more often their content is to be referenced online, the more business that they’re likely to acquire and the more likely they’ll develop a following.

If you’re reading this consider yourself ahead of the curve. Reputation & Brand management online is just now starting to hit the mainstream. For old pros this is nothing new, but if you’re just now diving into Social Media Marketing or just aiming to take part online more, then the following information is essential to your success online. Read more…