The top ways to drive traffic to your photography website are all time and relationship intensive.  The first issue you have to cross before you can even consider driving traffic to your website is “will your users ever come back?”  Without good content few will return, but that’s obvious so lets just skip that topic for another time.  Here’s three ways to drive traffic to your photography website.

1.  Develop a great working relationship with a famous photographer.  If he mentions your work on his website, you have the potential to get thousands of hits in a single day from just one link.  Overall, this is a short term solution.  A single mention from David Hobby will change your life.

2.  Use Flickr.com and get involved within the photography community.  People love to see your work.  In fact if you’ve read this far look at my photostream!  Create links to your website from within the descriptions of your posted photos.

3.  If you’re not blogging about your experiences, then you’re not contributing to the photography community around you.  Being grateful and helping others brings good kharma… try it. 

I’d love to hear about other’s experiences in this arena.

Some sites sell things and others educate you, this site does both.  The Sunbounce web site sells some awesome equipment at fantasticly high prices, cause it’s worth every penny.  Most of the web sites I review I do have some sort of relationship, either I’m an affiliate, I know the owner, or I just like site.  This is one of those sites that I wish I knew the owner or was affiliated in someway, because the videos they make using their product and the end results that they do post are simply amazing.  The site is geared towards learning and as you see the product in use in numerous videos (over 100+) your desire to recreate what your seeing grows to the point that you feel the need to buy a sun-bounce product.

URL:  http://www.sunbounce.com/cms/index.php?id=1143&L=1

Summary:  The web site looks like it’s outgrown it’s current design as the ad and video links are haphazardly thrown on the home page.  Font sizes jump in point size throughout the web site indicating that more attention should be devoted to stylesheets.  Localization of the web site is not complete, meaning that the site is primarily a European web site and the English version appears to have many translation issues, though none to distract from content.  As an international user I expect more.

Pros:

• Without a doubt my favorite section is the videos of professional photographers on real photo shoots
• International web site with lots of language support
• Definitely an artistic web site not for the casual viewer

Cons:

• Localization is still far from perfect on this web site though PHP does support some sophisticated technical capabilities in this area
• Organization is a bit distracting and doesn’t quite seem as professional as it could be

In my last Bald Eagle post I showed only photos that I snapped.  In this post I’ll show only pictures taken by Bryan Orr.  He’s become an avid Kansas City Bald Eagle watcher to the point that when I want to do a photo shoot involving our national bird I contact him first!

Bryan you got some awesome angles.  When are you start offering sight seeing tours, I’ll be the first to sign up!

My brother-in-law, Bryan Orr, is a great nature observer.  A week ago he was driving some clients to the KCI airport when he noticed a Bald Eagle near the river.  He was so excited he started checking everywhere near the Missouri River to see if he could find a nest or just a plain old good spot to sit and watch.  It didn’t take long until he found a really nice spot in downtown Kansas City, Missouri near the Broadway bridge to kick back and watch his Bald Eagles.  Funny thing, the first time he saw an eagle downtown it was walking around near the river and he thought it was a turkey…seriously a turkey, come on.  Before Bryan started telling other family members about the incident he went down on December 31st around 9:00 AM with his Mom’s camera to get some prints as proof that Bald Eagles really do inhabit the city.  But he couldn’t wait until they were developed (yeah, he still shoots film) and spilled his guts at the family New Year’s Eve party…truthfully, I wouldn’t been able to contain the secret either! As Bryan’s telling me about the whole series of events, I had to get in on that action, even if there was only a remote chance to see an eagle in the wild.  After begging his wife, Kim, to let us go on a New Years morning photo shoot, I was just hoping we’d get to see at least one eagle.  We arrived at our location (see below) about 10 minutes after 8:00 AM and I shot my first Bald Eagle at 8:17 AM according to the metadata in my first photo and continued to shoot until 8:55.  There were a total of 4 eagles present in less than an hour; two adults and two juveniles.  Bryan speculates the group is a family, but I’m not so sure of eagle habits to jump on board with the concept, yet.

The entire time I was shooting I kept thinking, “how lucky am I to live near Kansas City and able to see Bald Eagles.”  In fact I work within a few blocks away from the exact site I shot at. After the guys at work see these pics, we’ll be headed over to the bridge for a few more breaks!

In case you care to know, I shoot a Canon 40D and in this situation I shot an 85-300 telephoto, mostly on the 300 side.  I was so darn excited about seeing wild Bald Eagles that I didn’t feel comfortable using a manual mode, so I dialed in the ‘Sports’ mode and acted like a wild man snapping away.  One interesting note about the exposure time.  On most of the pictures the time is 1/400 though an about a third of the pictures I see the exposure time as 1/395.  The 40D is new so I’ll work on understanding the differences between the two times.  ISO was set low on most pictures at ISO 100. My 40D is still set on the auto ISO mode so this was selected automatically by the camera.  As I *learn* this camera more, I have 200 clicks on it after this shoot, I’ll find out the nuances, similar to my experience on Canon’s 10D.  The big difference is the amount of pixels as these photos were taken about 500 feet away and I still had enough pixels to generate nice web images, though I’d hate to try to get prints off of these pics as they are highly cropped.

If you’re interested in shooting the Eagles yourself, here’s the exact spot (see map below) that I snapped the photos in this post.  We parked in the lot and stood about 5 feet from the car to get these pics.  We’ve seen Bald Eagles in this exact location three out of three times around 8:00 to 10:00 AM.  Post in the comments when you plan on going and maybe you’ll see either Bryan or I there! 

Broadway Bridge, Kansas City, Missouri

Thanks for sharing your Eagle knowledge, Bryan… U R da’ man!

Very few things published on the Internet inspire me.  I mean really inspire me…like goose bump, spine tingling, get off your duff inspire.  I just got inspired by a blog post of a photographer.  By know you know that I enjoy snapping a set of pictures in between coding a full day, eating and coding into the night.  But my nights are reserved for those truly worthy projects.  The kind that are driven by passionate mad men that movies are made about.  My latest pet project is Pack3084.com.  Being inspired by Cub Scouts will make your nights long, but your heart warm…

Back to the chase (inspiration that is).  The Strobist blog has an amazing case built on working for free.  Well, only for free when it’s the projects that won’t get done unless it is for free.  After all is said and done, we do have to eat and pay the mortgage, too.  After reading this post most of the concepts can be applied to the web development world…here’s a few to entice you to click through and read the entire article.

• Free Buys Access
• Free Removes Boundaries
• Free Buys You Near Total Control
• Free is Powerful Karma
• But I don’t want to be Branded as a Free Photographer Web Developer
• Why Now? Isn’t the Whole World Caving In?

If you’re still reading click through, click through and read now.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/12/four-reasons-to-consider-working-for.html

On a lonely morning at Lily Lake, outside of Estes Park, Colorado this little guy was the only one shreiking about.  Even the usual variety of ducks were calm, but this guy had something to say to everyone.  I really didn't want to get too close as this tough bird, was willing to take on anybody.  I stayed safely away with my 85-300 telescoping lense maxed out on distance. 

Funny thing about this photo is that the subject isn't really cute, dramatic or inspiring, just ticked off that someone's even around.  Reminds me of another web site that I visit from time to time... www.despair.com  Along those lines, what would be a good title for this picture? 

Sometimes pictures just line themselves up right. This is one of those photos where kids just jump into an activity and there's no wrong way to shoot it. This photo was again taken at the Deana Rose Homestead in the Milking Barn. No way would this kids' Grandpa let him milk a cow like that, but what really makes this pic special is the little girl just staring on. This is one of those pictures that just makes people smile.

Taken with a Canon EOS 10D.

• Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec.
• Lens Aperture: F/4
• Focal Length: 17mm
• ISO Speed: ISO-100
• No Flash
• Exposure Compensation -1 step

UPDATE:  In hindsight, I wish I would have had a faster ISO and that would have given me more light and definitely no exposure compensation!

Taking decents photos of large mountainscapes is difficult for a couple of reasons.  First, is the tendency is to have a poor sky, all bleached out or even bright white.  This can be an easy $30 fix with a neutral density filter.  With my 17-40mm lense (the glass portion is actually 77mm) I was able to obtain a nice blue sky and still maintain nice color on the trees.  Another trick is to meter off of the foreground then set the stage for the picture.  This photo could use some work with contrast on the rocks in the foreground, but I find the pool reflection gives this shot some extra feel.

Photo Specifications:

Shutter Speed:  1/125 sec
Lens Aperture: F/8
Focal Length: 17mm
ISO-100
Exposure Compensation 0 step

I finally did it I bought a T-ring and T-adapter for our telescope!  I haven't figured out how to use lenses into the mix yet, but I was able to hook up my Canon 10D directly to my telescope and take photographs.  I don't have any fancy mounting rigs, so I'm limited to somewhat short exposure times (less than a second or two) before the celestial objects move!  I did manage to get a fairly nice photo of the moon.  I'd like to try the moon shot as it gets a litter fuller, but the weather has just been downright terrible for view the Kansas sky.  Let me know if you got questions on this one!

My grandparents still maintain Purple Martin houses and have for at least 25 years. In Southern Missouri you have to mitigate all the mosquito bites in some way, just so happens, they chose to encourage Purple Martins to next near their house.  The cats used to get close and the birds would dive bomb them promptly. I never saw the cats catch one, but of the dozens of Martins around I suspect they got one from time to time.

The best Purple Martin habitat almost always contains a large open field.  I've seen small colonies (25 birds plus their young) on as small as a half acre tract.  My Grandfather's colony consisting of well over 50 adults has about 75 acres of open terrain.  The one thing I almost immediately noticed is the Purple Martin's tendency to fight for the gourd houses more intensely than the tradition multi unit houses.

I hear that a newspaper recently did an article on Grandpa's Martins. Can't wait to see it.

This shot was a long time coming.  Over the past three years I've tried various ways to shoot fireworks, however; it wasn't until this year did I apply my methodology of shooting lightning strikes to fireworks.  Basically, what I did was set up my tripod with my Canon 10D and a 17-40 lense wide open.  To achieve the shot I went to full manual mode and set the Time Priority to 'bulb'.  This means that when I press the shutter button and hold down my exposure will be 'active' until I release the shutter button, and I will have captured everything that happens during that time frame.  If you have further questions on how to use this technique to shoot fireworks, please, add a comment and I will answer you in the comments for all our other readers benefit as well.

Driving out on South Saint Vrain in Estes Park will quickly take you to Lily Lake, a Reynolds' vacation spot favorite.  There are a couple of easy trails, one completely around the lake and another up a small mountain.  Going around the lake in early morning will get you nice photos from any angle.  Not every day will you get fog at Lily Lake, so enjoy it when you can, though I prefer a clear day with a nice sunrise to shoot.

Photo Statistics:

Shutter Speed 1/90 sec
Lens Aperture F/4
Focal Length 17mm
ISO-100
Metering Mode Partial
Exposure Compensation 0 step
No Flash

In case you didn't know one of my Grandmother's favorite plants was the Elephant's ear.  In her honor we have several in our front yard...somehow this little boy got lost in the Elephant ear jungle.

One of my grandmother Charlene's favorite plants is the Elephant ear.  Growing up she had an entire patch of at least 30 bulbs, and I keep that tradition alive in my home, although mine is scaled back.  I may be a software developer, but with photos like these I got a new career brewing...Gosh, I like those elephant ears on this girl.

Saturday, April 20th, 2008 was my children's first taste of war.  Not a real battle, but a Civil War Re-enactement at Mahaffie Farmstead in Olathe, Kansas took place.  We positioned ourselves on the Union (blue) side and enjoyed watching camp life in the hours leading up to the battle.  Here's one of my favorite photos from the day.  This soldier just reclining back makes me think back to my own ancestor who fought in the Civil War, Rueben Davis of Greene County, Missouri and wonder about his war experience.

There was a historical society, present who took my email address down.  I hope they send me more details, soon.

Here's another shot from the Civil War Re-enactment on April 19th.  The smoke just blew out from a canon the left of these officers.

I took this shot with my Canon 10D...here's the lowdown on the settings...

• Shutter Speed 1/750
• Focal Length F/4.5
• ISO-100

Some questions have no rhyme or reason behind their answers. In fact I may never want to know the answer why Chris would have such an attraction to pigs. Her most annoying ability is to mimic pig sounds, and she's a city girl! I don't even know if she's heard pig mumblings outside of the movie Charlotte's Web. Maybe she heard them at the Deana Rose Farmstead? In any event here's a photo in her honor...

Taken with my Canon EOS 10D.

• Shutter Speed 1/90 sec.
• Lens Aperture F/4.5
• Focal Length 155mm
• ISO Speed ISO-100

Along the main drag in Estes Park, Colorado is a small stream, the locals call it a river.  It runs behind most of the restaurants and always seems to be the favorite stomping grounds of the kids.  In fact I remember back in 2006 when my 3 year old son decided to get too close the rivers edge.  Fortunately, I was close by and fished him out.  I can't believe how wet I got carrying him the three blocks to the car.  At least I managed to snap a few rounds off and got this one decent pic. 

My Canon 10D is one of my best memory makers.  It's snapped 10's of thousands of photographs and filled more than 1 hard drive up with the glimpses I've captured.  The issue I have is that I haven't always tagged the images with very good meta data.  In fact most of my images have almost no data associated with them, just some random file name that has no meaning.  Here's one of those images that needs some more info.  I took this picture in the park across from the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe, KS, but I have no idea who the artist/sculptor is and I sure wish I did.  If you know, please, post in the comments.

Now, it's not that I'm against tagging or anything, but I just haven't found a really good methodology to do so on Windows XP for free.  I tried a flavor of Microsoft Expression that did a fabulous job of tagging and made it super easy to keep tagging my photos, but the $200 price tag just doesn't fit my budget.

Estes Park, Colorado is the official vacation spot of the Reynolds' family.  The last two years we've gone and had a blast.  Something is in store for each of us...Chris is always the cut up.  She used to be a center fielder and her arm can still throw like a cannon.  Here's she throwing like a girl, probably cause she doesn't want to hurt my expensive camera!  Not to worry, I was sitting safely in the van.  I'm looking forward to this years trip, though it might be the last for awhile.

Deana Rose Farmstead in Overland Park, Kansas has numerous waterfowl, most of which are ducks with an occasional swan.  But this bird I haven't the foggiest idea what it is.  Chris asked me what it was and of course with all my farm boy knowledge on the line I responded back confidently, "A goose".  Can anyone prove me right, on this one?