Blog Review Monday

Haven’t done a blog review in awhile. The last one was of the blog, AmericansuburbXCALIFORNIA.

Today, I move on to the cool and funky Dudecraft. I had this site bookmarked several times because of its offbeat content.

The blogger, Peter Overton, blogs daily and introduces himself with a note that he has not made his octogenarian neighbors happy because he has a lawn that makes them want to call the authorities.

His blog is set up with the traditional blogger format, a post a day listed chronologically on the page. I’m amicable to that format because I’m so used to it and my previous blog, Digital Traveler,  used not only the same format, but also the same template.

Peter’s  post today involves art made with dust bunnies, a very creative find of awesome (a word Peter is partial to) works of found art (art that’s made from found objects).

I can relate to his writing because it’s similar to mine. He interjects his own opinion and past experiences into almost all matters– subjects relating to technology and art. He has a knack for finding content that ranges from nerdy to odd. One post that caught my attention is his link to the  Pancake Project blog, which eventually brings you to a breakfast called “Leggo Eggo” that looks as if it contains a waffle head connected to a body that spills out cherry guts.

Occasionally the blog delves into photography concepts. His post about shadows leads you to a striking combination of street art integrated into shadows. That post makes me want to carry a piece of chalk around with my camera.

This is the blog for right-brain thinkers and their pals. I’d give it a 7/10.

Five Best Digital Photography Information Sites on the Web

It’s Blog Review Monday and I’ve combed the Web to find the best resources for improving your digital photography. You’ll find hundreds of digital photography tips by visiting these sites. You’ll learn about composition, camera settings, light, focus and more.

If you want a complete guide to digital photography, pick up the book, 101 Quick and Easy Secrets for Using Your Digital Photographs.

Here are the sites:

1. DP Tips Central–Digital photography basics, composition techniques, masters of photography.

2. Cambridge in Color–Interactive tutorials about exposure, focal length, aperture,  bit depth, histograms, noise dynamic range and more.

3. PhotoNotes–Dictionary, articles, camera equipment reviews and blog.

4. Bob Atkins Photography–Canon camera and lens reviews, digital photography news and articles.

5. Ken Rockwell–Nikon, Canon and Leica reviews, articles and gallery.

Blog Review Monday

Today I review “Ask the Photographer,” a site strong on helping out all photographers in a variety of genres. On the Home Page you’ll find a prominent “featured” article. On this given day it’s entitled, “Tutorial, Photoshop for 70 basketball portraits in two days.” Initially looking at it, I have to scratch my head and ask just exactly what does that mean. Have no fear though, as there’s a short description of the featured article right below the leading headline and photograph.

Once you click on the headline to get to the article, you find that the writer, Dustin Snipes, has a stash of some very good equipment. As he says, “To get a hard look, you have to have a hard light,” he does. When filming basketball players for this post he used Alien Bees Ab800 backlights. He also has fill lights and background light. Oh, the joys of having good lighting equipment!

Going back to the Home Page, the avatar, “Ask the Photographer” really is too small, but the rest of the page looks super–balanced elements, contrasting, matching colors and simple sans serif fonts. At the top of the page are tabs for About Us, Ask a Question, Forum, Glossary and Photoblogs.

Most interesting of the bunch is “Ask the Photographer,” a place where you can, well, ask a photographer a question (by email)–any question about photography. They specify, “ask about anything from general photography advice, to photoshop tips, to business tips–the sky’s the limit! No question is too big or too small.”  The questions and answers are given by clicking Questions in the links that are listed at the bottom of the Home Page. The questions are not only answered, but a book is promoted in the process: “101 Things Every Photographer Should Know.” Boy, that sounds familiar. As I recall I’m in the process of writing a “101 Quick and Easy Secrets” photography book series. Oh, what competition!  Other items in those links are: Featured, Link of the Day, News and Rumors.

Great design continues on the Home Page where there is a scrolling list of selected posts, each with a thumbnail pic and a short description of what’s in the post. The images are riviting!

Overall a great site. I’d give it a 10! It’s worth at least a half hour of your time.

Blog Review Monday

Ahhh, here it is Monday again…and it’s time for 101 Quick and Easy Secret’s blog review.

Today’s fascinating blog is Photocritic.org.

THE LAYOUT I’d give it a 8. The blog owner, Haje, has a good eye. He places images and text so the blog looks appealing overall, however he has too much repetition on the Home Page. He has three areas where you can click on links to various articles on his blog. Grant it, each area pulls up different posts–at the very top of the Home page are image links, next to the large avatar are titles and image links and strewn across the center of the Home page are featured articles with titles, image and summaries.

CONTENT I’d give it a 9. The content is varied and interesting. Articles provide fascinating looks into everything from Native American portraiture to making double exposures using Photoshop. The Google ads, though, interupt the flow of the articles because they are placed right smack in the middle of each article. He covers eyebrow-raising topics PG style such as “Nude Photography 101″ with a poll asking readers if they’ve ever photographed anyone in the nude. Last, he has useful info such as the post, Top 50 Photography Websites.

WRITING I’d give it a 10. This guy is funny and, at times, irreverant. With lines such as “Of course, with the modern world’s paranoia about nudity, it’s not easy to know where to begin…” you get a look at not only the subject of photographing subjects, but also the feelings that will be encountered by both photographer and viewer about the subject. The writing comes with a lot of thorough research into a topic. Take, for example, the post, Food Photo Tricks. He lists every trick in the book for making food look yummy, some of which will make you lose your appetite. In essence, turns out to be an opportunity to play with food. What fun!

OVERALL I’d give the blog a 9.5. You’ll get carried away reading this blog, spending nearly an hour reading it. That’s way more time reading than with many other blogs.

Blog Review Monday

That’s right, you’ve found it here. The only blog that lists the 2009 Webbies with links!

The Bloggies (Weblog Awards) were announced last week.

The blog we wrote about last week, The Pioneer Women, won top honors.

Many of the blogs that won look no better visually than the one you are reading right now. One thing is for sure…the winners have very well-focused content.

The only one that I think warrants the winning prize is the Pioneer Women. The rest, well, they’re okay, but not the best I’ve seen on the Web.

Here are the  winners and their links.

Weblog of the Year: Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Lifetime Achievement Award: Fark

Best Web Application for Weblogs: Google Reader

Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog: Girl With a Satchel

Best Asian Weblog: Suzy’s Big Adventure

Best African Weblog: Glad to Be a Girl

Best European Weblog: Chocolate and Zucchini

Best Latin American Weblog: A Canuck in Cancun

Best Canadian Weblog: Everybody Likes Sandwiches

Best Photography of a Weblog: Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Best Art, Craft or Design Weblog: PostSecret

Best Food Weblog: Cake Wrecks

Best Fashion Weblog: Go Fug Yourself

Best Travel Weblog: Camels & Chocolate

Best Music Weblog: Stereogum

Best Gossip Weblog: Dlisted

Best Entertainment Weblog: Television Without Pity

Best Sports Weblog: Fat Cyclist

Best Politics Weblog: Five ThirtyEight

Best Computer or Technology Weblog: Lifehacker

Best Topical Weblog: Cute Overload

Best Teen Weblog: Foodie at Fifteen

Best Humorous Weblog: I Can Has Cheezburger?

Best Writing on a Weblog: Cake Wrecks

Best Microblog: One Sentence

Best Group Weblog: Gawker

Best Community Weblog: I Can Has Cheezburger?

Best-Designed Weblog: Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Best-Kept Secret Weblog: Pistols and Popcorn

Best New Weblog: Cake Wrecks

Blog Review Monday

NewsOK puts a cowboy-cookin,  pioneer women into its pages, celebrating her soon to be  award-winning blog, The Pioneer Woman. Now this woman doesn’t fool around when she puts together her blog. She’s got just about every feature on her blog meticulously planned.

The top tabs on her blog include: confessions, cooking, photography, home and garden and home schooling. Now those features might sound mightly drab, but this woman spices up everything she does. Her avatar includes the fact that she’s a desperate housewife; she has a chapter-by-chapter slice-of life memoir that refers to as “Harlequin Romance meets Green Acres meets The Godfather;” and  she bakes cupcake pops.

Most importantly especially for the purposes and goals of this blog is that she is a photographer who takes unbelievable pictures of food among other things. As far as her photography is concerned it’s not technically perfect, but her advice is right on for beginners. Last is her never-use-flash mantra. I’ll drink (a mineral water) to that!