View Single Post
  #16  
Old 8th April 2015, 06:23 PM
KevinAllan KevinAllan is offline
Friend
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Posts: 148
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry S View Post
H

Also, any good blogs out there that are worth reading (photography wise) that might also give me a few tips.
I use Wordpress but rather than address the hosting issue I'll try and answer the second part of the question.

Since the blog is for a degree project, the most important piece of guidance will come from the course guide, which should indicate the learning outcomes and the assessment method.

If the object of the exercise is to simply demonstrate that you can master the IT skills necessary to create a blog, then the tutor may assess you by ensuring that he can access the blog, all the links work, etc.

If your design skills are being tested, then the tutor might assess the overall look of the site.

If the content of any photographs you post on the blog is to be assessed, then a different set of criteria will come into play.

Alternatively the tutor may assess your ability to engage in discourse around contemporary photographic issues (whatever that means - I don't know myself). In that case, the quality of your writing may be assessed.

The above might seem obvious; the reason I raise the issue is that about five years ago I had to do something similar for an Open College of the Arts course and I either failed to understand what was required of me, or I understood but hoped that creating a web site the way I wanted would be good enough ... it wasn't and I didn't pass as a result.

So, pointing at some sites which are of general interest to fellow photographers might be misleading, because those sites were probably not created to meet the needs of a degree project.

The photography blogs that I have seen tend to fall into one of three categories, with some overlap:

a) Those which consist mainly of photos, often single images, with few words.

b) Blogs with a high content of reviews or other discussion about equipment. Film blogs are as likely as digital photography blogs to go down this route; they just discuss older pieces of kit. (Incidentally I try not to have too high a percentage of equipment discussion on my own blog, but the blog stats tell me that these articles are by far the most popular)

c) A small percentage of blogs which have something interesting to say about technique or approaches to photography.

Because most blogs are maintained purely for the enjoyment of the blogger, there are no rules or style guides which must be followed. The very low barrier to entry (compared with, say, magazine publishing) is both a tremendous strength and a weakness. There are lots to see, but most (including my own) are of interest to only a tiny number of readers. There is no financial impact of my failure to attract hundreds of thousands or readers hence I'm not driven to up my game.

Anyway enough rambling, that's my two pennorth.

Last edited by KevinAllan; 8th April 2015 at 06:26 PM. Reason: spelling
Reply With Quote