En Route to Glacier Park
The science of stat-tracking has brought to light a strange new era in the life of this blog. Site traffic has increased recently, but most of the new visitors have not been intrepid seekers of truth—that is, Readers—they’ve been iconoclastic image-grabbers.
The various world-class photos on BitterSweetLife attract dozens of hits a day, changing Google’s “image search” into a personalized client server. Photo-searchers flock here like bees to honey. The favorites tend to be this picture, this one and this one—all courtesy of Google.
While I appreciate Google’s good taste, I’m still deciding whether to send a thank you note.
Obviously, the extra site traffic is nice. But in terms of potential readership, what am I actually gaining? On the practical side, several action steps suggest themselves.
- Place photos inside text posts. That way image-searchers will at least be “exposed” to some text. How’s that for ironic?
- Emphasize the proverbial © Ariel...
- Shoot more world-class photos.
On the pragmatic third item: Most of my images are generated on vacation, since I apparently don’t have time to take pictures at home (although I do snap an occasional keeper). So the obvious thing to do is take more vacations to take more great pics to drive more blog traffic.
That’s while I’ll be leaving Sunday for Glacier Park in Montana. The frenzied desire for still more site traffic (of any kind!) is forcing me to take an extended photo-vacation.
Later.
Well, not really. Not exactly. Actually, we are leaving, but that’s not why.
The mountains are calling. The mountains and a bunch of relatives on my dad’s side we have yet to meet. We’re packing the camera, the coffee, the books, the basketball, the hiking shoes and the hoops kicks—and heading to Montana. It’s family reunion time, wilderness escape thrown in.
The idea is to come back jivin’ in body and refreshed in mind, recharged by new ideas, new people and new scenery. We especially want to see God’s creative work on display in Glacier Park.
In light of all this, whatever happens with the “image search” thing is gratis (or just annoying) as far as I’m concerned. That was all just a front to gently break the news that we’ll be gone for about a week. As always, I know this is hard. But hang in there.
Scan the archives. Savor bittersweetness. Be strong.
7 comments:
"The various world-class photos on BitterSweetLife attract dozens of hits a day, changing Google’s “image search” into a personalized client server."-
why don't you start an exclusive picture blog?
last time I was in Montana (and planning to camp for few days in Glacier Park) the Park was on fire. I hope you see a bear.
Ariel, kind sir, please hit me with some digital camera advice. You seem to have some serious skills. I'm not sure if they're enough to pay the bills, but skills, nonetheless.
What type(s) do you use? Any bad camera experiences? Good? What would you buy today if you were starting to get into photography?
Hey oneway, as of today, the skills aren't payin'...but I guess that prevents me from caving in to crass commercialism, eh? At least for now.
I have a 4-year-old Sony Powershot camera (5 megapixels) which has served me well. Before that I constantly used a couple of Nikon SLR film cameras. If I were starting today...and I had the cash to spring...I'd definitely look at Nikon's digital SLR line-up. (And buy online.)
Canon and Nikon head up the camera world, but I've always been a Nikon man - I like the heavier feel, more rugged construction.
If you're looking for a lower-end entry point, Sony is worth a look as well. No doubt there are other good mid-range brands out there, but I can't speak from experience.
Let me know what you end up looking at.
eagerly anticipating the wonders of glacier park to appear on the blog....but perhaps more eager for your insight into His glory.
Thanks for the advice, guru. If I may, how important is a long digital zoom? Do you think a 3x would be too limiting, say out in expansive settings like national parks?
Hey anonymous, thankfully the wonders of Glacier Park and the glory of God tend to overlap. In some ways, they coincide almost exactly... Incidentally, you may have to come clean about your ID one of these days; as it is, I have a guess.
Re: the digital zoom, oneway. "Digital zoom" is overrated. All it does is crop the existing picture to make it appear closer. I never use digi-zoom on my camera, because I can get the same effect by cropping in Photoshop. True physical zoom is a real asset, though. You have to be careful, because the "10X ZOOM!" or whatever that's advertised is usually digital. Read the small print and you'll find the actual, physical zoom listed. Go with that. (The more the better, but 3x or so isn't too shabby.)
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