Watermarks

I have finally designed a watermark to use on my images. Since my logo header for the site was just words with no pictures or backgrounds, I was able to use that file and adjust the transparency.

I don't like the way it responds to the portrait layout. On the landscape layout it is the correct size. The system must shrink it down to fit on the portrait, and I do not think it covers enough of the image.

I will design a new one at some point, but for right now, this one will hopefully do the job.

This was the last of the image theft protections that I needed to get done. One more thing to check off the ever-growing list.

Little Details

For the past couple of days I have been working on the little annoying details that stick out like sore thumbs on my webpages.



The weird thing about them - it is different for each web browser. What is showing as one color or one font in one browser, it shows as a different color or font on a different browser. And even the same browser, but different (older) versions will show different things as well.

So to some viewers, my website has got to look pretty funky with the different fonts all on the same page. The different font colors - even in the middle of a phrase - is not good either.

I am beginning to think that it is just the way is goes, and I will have to let it be - not all programs and systems are made to work together. But since most of this is just basic, I really don't understand why they can't all have some common ground somewhere.

Google Analytics Results

Almost a week has gone by since I installed the Google Analytics tool on the website.





It contains a week's worth of info at a time, and it is really pretty interesting. They have pie graphs and line graphs that track the links in and if the visitors are returning or new.

The one graph I like the best is a globe of the earth which puts a yellow dot put on the location of someone who visited the site. There is a huge yellow dot on my area, as I am always entering and working on the site - and the dot just gets bigger each day.

Each day there is a new country with a dot - Japan today, Australia yesterday, and India has four dots now. Most of the hits are from the US and Europe, and the only continent that doesn't have any dots yet is Africa - and of course Antartica.

I would think that any website would be able to use this tool - give it a try, you can always remove it if you don't want it any longer.

Resources Page

Yesterday I started to build a Resources page on the website.

I have decided to put some articles and some of the great links that I have collected over the past few years on some of the pages.

I know that the search engines like content, so adding some articles to the website should help with the search engines and the ratings. My images also have good keywords which is important too.

These Resources pages are something that will be built upon over time and added to as I accumulate more info.

Kind of nice to get it organized into one area rather than having the links spread throughout my bookmarks. There is really some great info in some of the links.

Networking

I have been visiting other Smugmug members sites to view and comment on their images. I think by visiting a few each day, it will hopefully encourage them to visit my site. I will most certainly reciprocate any feedback left to my galleries or images.

I have enjoyed viewing some of the beautiful photos, and many of them are inspiring. There are many talented people around the world!

I like the links that get left also, as it makes it easier to view their work the next time.

Links Page

I have put together a new Links page. It has been redesigned and set to the journal view so to separate out the different categories.

All of the links are hand selected for quality and content, and they they are all photography related. Please contact me if you are interested in exchanging photography links.

I will be adding more links and articles as the time goes on.

Added Google Analytics

I added a new tool to the website today. It is the Google Analytics tool that tracks visitors to the website.

It is a free tool offered by Google, and once you sign up for it, they will provide the code needed to put it on the site.

It will take a couple days before I start to see the figures and the handy pie graphs that are great visual aids.

Looking forward to see how it all works!

Guestbook Page

This morning was spent designing the guestbook page for the website. Adding the contact me link was tricky as I needed to find code that didn't allow the spam robots to harvest the email address and fill my inbox with unnecessary junk. The dgrin forum once again had all the answers - and it worked like a charm!

I welcome you to visit my Guestbook page and leave a comment. If you are a fellow smugmug user I am interested in viewing your work.

Guests are also welcome to leave comments. Thank you for taking the time to visit, and enjoy!

Customizing Website

I have designed and changed three header banners for my site. It is really not a quick and easy thing to do to get the correct look, then get the coding correct so it all works on the website.

I searched the internet for a unique font, one that photoshop would recognize, then looked at many other websites for examples.

I like to use the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) theory most of time, and adding a somewhat elegant, yet professional look to the equation made the solution a bit harder for me. I think I finally hit it right on the third try.

Smugmug has a great forum that is called Dgrin (Digital Grin Photography Forum). It contains so much information and if you can't find what you are looking for, the forum members are more than happy to help you. I swear I had answers to my posts within 2 seconds of posting a new thread.

My photoshop experience has been limited to working on and correcting images, so designing something from scratch was also a learning experience. It turned out pretty easy to do overall.

I still have much more to do on my site, and many more pages to design and customize before I will be all set

I am pleased with the work that I have accomplished in a week's time. It has all been a learning experience, and each little tweak that gets done is one less thing on the list. Funny thing is though, just when I think I am beginning to make a dent in that list, more things get added on to it. Such how it goes!

Published Work

This is a list of Photography by KML posts that have been published in online articles, newspapers, or publications.

Through the Trees by the SouthTown Star

Marine Patrol Boat by the Chicago Sun Times

ABC Wednesday - E is for Empty by Reuters

Snorkeling at the Lake by Herald News

After the Storm by the Post Tribune

Motorcycle Exhaust by the Chicago Sun Times

Printing Photos by Computer Shopper

Green Thumb Sunday - Purple Wildflower by the Post Tribune

Calcium While Dieting by Reuters

Medical Records by Reuters

Medical Records by the Chicago Sun Times

After the Storm by Reuters

Marine Patrol Boat by the Lake County News Sun

Smugmug for Photo Web Host

After searching and looking at hundreds of photography websites, I finally settled on Smugmug to host my art work.

The pages are completely customizable, and that is one of the big reasons for choosing them. I didn't want an empty site that I had to build from scratch and try to find compatible software to install on it. My coding knowledge is minimal, so I needed a good base to build upon. Smugmug offered that hands down, and the forums are great with many experienced members quickly helping out.

I can also offer sales and have public and private galleries. The space is unlimited as is the bandwidth.

I like the professional look the site provides, and there are many pro photographers who have their sites hosted here as well.

They offer several plans for hosting to suit each user. By using the link above and registering, you can save $5.00 on the the hosting plan that you choose.

Photography Blogs

This is a list of Photo blogs that I enjoy visiting. Great photos and great posts by some really great people - Enjoy!!  BFK Photography  Peripheral Vision Photos From Northern Norway Photography by KML Website Smugmug Photo Hosting B N Sullivan Photography 

Stock Agencies

This is a list of Stock agencies that I sell my images through with different licenses available for different uses. Shutterstock Fotolia Dreamstime Big Stock Photo 123RF Canstock Photo Featurepics Imagekind

ABC Wednesday Blogroll

A Focus in the Wild
Andrea's Thought of the Day
Avcr8teur
Bon's Time Out
Declaration Photos
Digital Flower Pictures
Digital Shutter Mania
Dragon Days
Ida's Little Corner
Kriz Cpec Photo Blog
Little Rock Daily Photo
Me, My Life, My Garden
Mrs Nesbitt's Place
Neva
Nevada and Lilli
Out and About in NYC
Pedalogue
Pernille
Peter Miller
Petunia
Photowannabe
Portland Daily Photo
Postcards From Paulie
Salty Dogs
Simply Sage
Strolling Through Georgia
Tenforty
The Max Files
The Oswegan
This and That
Veg Plotting
Visual Norway

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 16 May 2008


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact photosbykml@gsinet.net.


This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

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This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.


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Green Thumb Sunday

Favorite Blogs

This is a list of blogs that give me great pleasure to visit. These blogs have some excellent photos and the varied topics and writings that they contain are such a joy to read. It would be hard to find a better group of bloggers than these fine people - I am glad to have found them. Take a minute to enjoy them - you won't be disappointed!

My Only Photo
The Right Blue
Rosehaven Cottage
Blackholes and Astrostuff
Wayfarers Journey
Jenty's Photo a Day
NoDirectOn
Sue's Daily Photos
Fruit Species
Totally Useless
Eavesdrop Writer
Searen Art and Design
Let's Jump Together
Powell River Books
Women's Self Esteem Blog

Welcome

This first post is to welcome visitors and get this blog started.

It will be used in conjunction with the Photography by KML website to post articles and news related to photography.