Happy 1st Birthday to My Blog
Starting Out
On August 30th, 2016 I published my first ever blog post, We All Have to Start Somewhere. It was very much an introductory article in which I talked about why I had started the blog and what my goals were.
I had been thinking about starting a blog for some time. I wanted a place to share my stories and images so a blog seemed the best place to do it. I already had my website so adding the blog was relatively easy. The challenge, of course, was going to be writing interesting and engaging content for it.
Like a musical artist delivering his first album, I'd had plenty of time to think about my first collection of tracks, or in this case, articles. The real challenge would be to keep the momentum going. I had watched plenty of Fro Knows Photo's Rapid Fire Critique's to know that a blog that isn't regularly updated is a dead blog.
Momentum
To keep my blog alive I made a personal commitment to write a new blog post every week. At first, this was easy as I already had a few article ideas but as time progressed the pressure started to build.
It would have been all too easy to let the idea drop, but I'm not that kind of person. Not only was the blog helping me grow as a photographer, but people were actually reading my content! As soon as people start leaving comments I felt duty bound to continue with the blog. More than that though, and despite the challenges, I was enjoying the process of writing.
Benefits and Growth
So a year on and I'm pleased to say that I have managed to publish a new blog post every week. Some have been short, some long. Some have had videos, some have been opinion pieces. Whatever the nature of the content though, the commitment of writing something new every week has greatly encouraged me to get out much more with my camera and shoot.
The natural progression of this increased time with the camera is that my photography has improved. The action of taking pictures and then writing about it can really make you think about what you did and why. By learning from my successes and failures I have grown as a photographer.
To help get my blog posts and photographs seen by as wide an audience as possible I made sure that each new blog post was shared on Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus and Twitter. This approach has really driven traffic to my site and I have seen a 20 fold increase in visitors to my website. It's very encouraging to know that people want to see your photos and read your blog.
One final benefit of all this writing is that I was recently asked to start writing articles for Improve Photography. This was a fantastic opportunity and one that I have grabbed with both hands! Improve Photography is a great source of information, training, tips, reviews, and articles so if you've never visited be sure you do soon.
My Favourite 3 Blog Posts
Over the last 12 months, I have written about a wide variety of photography topics, but the three blog posts below are some of my favorites. They might not necessarily be the most read, but for me, they are possibly the most important as they either represent significant topics or were a story about moving forward with my photography.
The Future
So what does the future of the blog hold? Well, I'm going to continue with my commitment of posting every week. I'll carry on telling stories of my photography adventures, including all the failures! I'll also share my opinion on various photography topics and share any advice and tips I have. So lots more of the same but I also have some exciting plans for the future so stay tuned!
Do you have a favorite blog post of mine? Is there something you'd like me to cover on the blog? What other photography related blogs do you read? Let me know in the comments below.