The Online Photographer

Dilbert this morning provides a new term for what I do all day...I'm just sayin'.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

If you'll look out your window, you'll notice it's turning 2011 out there. Just wanted to thank everyone for coming by in 2010, and I want to extend to you my best wishes for a healthy and non-harrowing next year—I hope it will be good to you. Thanks to all of you who supported us last year, and to all of our contributors and their families, and mostly to those of you who stop by to read at least once in a while. It's been fun.

I plan to try to keep TOP going for another 365, so please do come back.

All best,
Mike J., Head Chef and Chief Administrator

I get a lot of emails about how great TOP is, which I definitely appreciate. However, I myself can see, sometimes all too clearly, how it could be better. I often have many plans that don't come to anything. Nothing is a better example of this than Vivian Maier. When the news of her and her accidental rescuer John Maloof broke in 2009, I did a lot of research about the story. I even exchanged emails with John (mostly urging him to try to recover the negatives of hers he had resold on Ebay after buying the archive. He did try, but wasn't able to get them back). As a few people are reminding me in the comments to the previous post, a great many people sent tips and links to the story, over a period of a number of months.

But I never wrote up the story for TOP. Another obvious lapse is that I never posted about the Sony A33 and A55, despite meaning to. I also did quite a bit of original research for what one visitor called "The Uncle Not Ansel" negatives, too, including a phone interview with Ansel's biographer, Mary Street Alinder, which was very interesting. All of that should have lead to at least one extensive post. But didn't.

I've gotten quite good at conceiving and knocking out post-sized bits of writing on a regular basis, but, if I face facts, there are some stories that just don't lend themselves all that well to the gestalt of blogging. Some writing "assignments" (nobody assigns me anything, but you know what I mean) demand more more time to write, more time to research, even more "gestation time" (percolation time?*) than the daily demands of producing a website like this one allow.

I have all sorts of other projects in the wings, too—most of them larger than the average blog post. "Small Cameras We Love" is about a year overdue. And counting. (The landscape keeps changing underneath my feet. At least three entires in that article have been "orphaned.")  "Ten Great Photo Books You Can't Buy" is going to be a wonderful article...when I get it finished. Or should I say, "if." My darkroom isn't finished yet, either. (We got bogged down when the ventilation contractor quoted me an outrageously high "we don't want this job" kind of price for the ventilation system, and I balked. Stalled.)

I sometimes think it would be nice if I could write one long article a week for the web. I'm not complaining, mind you—I have the most perfect job in the world for me. And, being realistic, TOP could be a lot worse. I guess I'm the one who gets to see how it could be better, is all.

Seems like my New Year's Resolutions for 2011 are laid out for me pretty plain, huh?

—Mike, TOP Chief Bottlewasher and APES**

*I mean that they need to slosh around in your brain for a while—the actual writing is the easy part of writing—or easier—knowing what to write is the hard part.

**A phrase coined (at least to my knowledge) by Thom Harrop, long-ago Editor of Darkroom Photography magazine—it's an acronym for "all-purpose editorial slave."

I don't suppose this will do any good in the long term, but I thought maybe I should mention it.

When you try to comment on a TOP post and the system won't let you—it returns a message like "We cannot accept this data" or some such—it just means you left the comment box open too long. It's a feature. Well, I don't think it's a feature. I think it's a bug. Or acts like a bug. But supposedly it's a feature—a feature of the TypePad interface that TOP is written and presented on. I guess it's so that people don't mistakenly post half-written comments they started last night when they had had seis Equis* and were feeling a little hot but then, overnight, forgot all about.

The solution is to copy your comment, close the window you're in, open a new window, paste the comment in, proofread it (you always proofread your comments before sending them—I know that because there are never any spelling or punctuation errors or missing words or garbled syntax or mystery phrases in anyone's comments), and post it.

And, sorry for the inconvenience. There's nothing I can do about it from here.

—Mike, TOP Custodial and Building Maintenance Dept.

*Three Dos Equis. I.e., they've been drinking.

P.S. Also, all comments are moderated. That means I read them before posting them. And that, in turn, means that there is a delay between the time you posted the comment and the time it's published—a delay that might be two minutes, two hours, or even, very occasionally (as when I'm traveling) two days. It depends on when I get to it. So there's no need to post the same comment again and again if you don't see it show up on the site immediately.

P.P.S. Here again are TOP's Comment Guidelines. (Some changes were made recently, in part to acknowledge the large number of spam comments I now get from businesses trying to create links to their products or websites.)

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Bob Keefer: "Thanks for the explanati"

Featured Comment by sporobolus:"When I see this in other systems (e.g. Drupal), it's sufficient to copy the text and then simply reload the current page, rather than open a new one. Also, I believe it's a security feature—there's probably a unique key hidden in the comment form that TypePad uses to be sure it was submitted from a page generated by TypePad, not from a spammer robotically sending comment post requests; to keep overhead of the site down and minimize the possibility of forgeries, the website only accepts the key as valid for a set amount of time (I'm a web developer, but have no knowledge of TypePad)."

"Based on internet averages, theonlinephotographer.com is visited more frequently by males who are in the age range 35–44, are graduate school educated and browse this site from home."

—Basic site demographics for The Online Photographer from Alexa.com

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Featured Comment by HT: "Heh. I'm reminded of the Simpsons episode where Homer visits a 'Guess Your Age and Weight' booth at a carnival. The operator's guess is '53 years old and 420 pounds' to which Homer replies, 'Ha, you lose! 36 and 239!' "

Question from James W.: "Do you know what percentage of your readers are in the U.S.?"

Mike replies: Here's the breakdown according to Google Analytics for the most recent 30 days, which should be fairly representative on this question even though they don't count/analyze all our visitors: 

The large blue slice is the U.S., green is Canada, orange is the U.K., yellow is Australia. The next slices after that are Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Spain. The gray area is "all other countries." GA says we had visitors from "185 countries/territories." To the question of how many countries there are in the world, about.com says "Ultimately, the best answer is that there are 195."

Featured Comment from MarcW: "GET OUT OF MY HEAD, BENE GESSERIT WITCH! (Srsly. 40 year old male, browse from home usually, graduate degree.)"

Featured Comment by Bill: "Not me: Male. 36. Master's Degree. Browsing the site from work. Take that, statistics!"

Featured Comment by Edie Howe: "51 years old, female, PhD in Applied Living from the University of Hard Knocks, visiting from my monastic cell in Yosemite National Park."

Featured Comment by Jack Martin: "Older and mostly visit from work...oops gotta go now."

Featured Comment by Chad Thompson: "Hello my name is Chad. I'm a TOP addict. I'm a 35-year-old autodidact who reads your site from work. But it is my company, so I'm only cheating myself."

Featured Comment by Avi: "I'm male, 24, visit daily from work, home or iphone while on transit. Makes me a young TOP addict?"

Mike replies: I've always considered that our shared interest in photography makes "us" into us, even if we're old or young, male or female, conservative or liberal, professional or amateur, famous or unknown, rich or poor, experienced or new to the field. That's why I make a policy of using first names here, even though we have among our readers doctors and professors, corporation presidents and judges, millionaires and writers, and a former Senator. I'm sure we have a great many differences between us. But that doesn't matter here. Here, because of our shared interest, we're equals and friends.

However, Avi, I hafta say, you are younger than my tripod! (It's 29 or 30.) But don't feel bad. There's a lot good about being young, and nothing bad about it that time won't eventually cure. :-)

If things seem a little quiet at TOP right now, it's because yer humble editor is sick. I've contracted the gallumphin' phalarphus. Most annoying symptom: ears feel like head is in a barrel of water. I'm off to the ENT in the morning, just because intimations of hearing loss freak me out. (Life without music? What, that isn't self-contradictory?)

No need to send condolences. It's nothing; I'm not complaining; just temporarily a bit low on energy is all. You know what they say....

Mike

Thanks very much for all the comments, private and public. Very helpful indeed—I got several crucial recommendations from the responses that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. This will enrich the final list, assuming I ever actually get it done.

And, incidentally, that post set a new TOP record for number of comments—252 in 17 hours (better post this before more come in). And I read every single one, no foolin'. Thanks to all.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

So, what's this...?

Every now and then (not very often recently) I try to remind people that TOP exists mainly because you support us by using our affiliate links to B&H Photo and Amazon.

You can always find the links here.

It's important to emphasize that when you do this you don't pay anything extra for the goods you buy. It's a profit-sharing arrangement—if we refer someone (you) to B&H Photo or Amazon, they share a little bit of their profit with us. You pay exactly the same for your goods either way.

Here's the way it works for the two sites:

For us to get credit for something you buy from AMAZON, you either a) go to Amazon from here or b) bookmark the appropriate URL (again, found on our links page) and use it as your own regular link from your own computer. BUT even if you use our links, we only get credit for things you both put into your cart and also purchase during that same discrete visit to Amazon. We don't get credit for anything purchased from your Wish List or anything that was already in your cart. Within those restrictions, TOP is credited for most things you buy from any department of Amazon*.

With B&H Photo it's different. You can't bookmark that link; with them you have to go directly from our site to theirs, using either a link in a post or by clicking on the B&H ad that's at the upper right-hand corner of every page on TOP. And, again, things that are already stored in your cart don't count.

Anyway, there's no obligation, of course, to help us this way. But it seems like a zero-pain, win-win-win situation to me: you win because you get to help TOP continue to exist and not spend any (extra) money to do it; the vendors win because our readers become their customers; and I win, well, because it's how I get paid for what I do all day.

We do make money in other ways, but the links are by far the most important.

So if you wouldn't mind, could you try to remember to use 'em, for stuff you're buying anyway? Pretty please?

So that's what this is. It's a pretty please...

...with a cherry on TOP. (Groan.)

(And: thanks very much!)

Mike

*Amazon pays us slightly more than B&H does. But there are variances for different kinds of products; we get very little for computers, but a lot for software; a lot for Kindles but not for Kindle books. The other consideration is that at Amazon, our overall percentage for everything goes up with the total number of items ordered by everyone; so, even very small items (lens caps, a $2 used book, etc.) that get credited to us end up helping more than you'd think, even if the direct income from them is very little.

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Henry Posner, B&H Photo Video: "B&H is glad to have an affiliate relationship with this site and we're grateful for the many customers who come from here to our site to shop. Thank you all. I've asked our affiliate people if there's a way for a customer to come from here, put an item in a wishlist, buy it later and still have the affiliate get his due. I am not certain it's possible, but if it is I will encourage implementation."

Photo by Art

Our TOP evening at Yokoso Restaurant in Brookfield was a success. At least I can say it was a treat for me (as I mentioned at the restaurant, I don't get out much—chained to the news desk most of the time). Twelve TOP readers came (Jim, Grace, Paul, Jan, John, Woody, Mark, Mark, Ed, Andreas, Pierre, and Art—how'd I do guys?), which was perfect—we all fit well at one large table. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly especially considering that few of us had ever met before, and the conversation, as you might imagine, centered around photography. Several cameras were passed around the table, including John St. Onge's new K-5, which is amazingly quiet. My son Zander was our waiter, as luck would have it (the tables go to the wait staff by turns, so it's quite possible he might not have gotten us).

I want to thank everybody who came for coming! Several drove from Chicago or Madison. I didn't take any pictures, but several others did. John and Art have already sent me their pictures, and I suspect a few others might as well, so I'll post a few more pics later today.

We'll definitely do it again sometime. Maybe next time in Chicago or Minneapolis?

Mike

Don't forget we're having a TOP dinner at Yokoso Japanese Restaurant near Milwaukee this Sunday. Five people have signed up to attend so far, which promises a lively conversation at the TOP table! You're invited if you can make it. Here's a link to the post with all the info.

Mike

I'm having a little get-together in Brookfield, about 20 minutes west of Milwaukee, on Sunday, November 7th, from 4:30 to 7:00 or so, and you're invited. This is nuthin' special, just a gathering—no program, no slide show, no speech, no super-secret prototype cameras passed around surreptitiously under the table (unless Pentax wants to send me a 645D for the day). Just me and a few other photo-dawgs at a table in the corner. On the good side, there's no charge—all you have to pay for is your own food and drink, and you don't need a reservation, ticket, or anything of that sort. Just bring yourself. Families and friends also welcome.

You can just show up on the day if it works out that way for you, but it would be nice if we could give the restaurant a rough idea of what to expect—so if you think you're, say, 80% likely to come, please drop me an email. No obligation.

Only two rules: no gifts, and you're not allowed to buy my dinner! It's not a great spot to look at fine prints or books, but bring cool toys, iPads, etc. if you want to. Again, no obligation.

The meet-up is at Yokoso Japanese Restaurant, located at Goerke's (rhymes with "turkeys") Corner in Brookfield. It's right off the expressway so it's easy to get to. The address is 20101 W. Bluemound Road, Brookfield, Wisconsin 53045, phone (262) 782-8880, email [email protected]. Directions are here. It's my favorite restaurant. My son is a part-time waiter there, and might even be on duty that night.

Click to enlarge

Yokoso does have many cooked entrees if you have an aversion to raw fish. The chefs are skilled and the fare is excellent. You can see the menu here.

We've never done this before, and I realize 99% of the people who read TOP aren't local, but I thought we'd give it a try and see how it goes. If all goes well, it's possible we could do the same thing in other cities at some point in the future. Hope you'll come if you can!

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Unfortunately, the proprietor is obliged to take a short break, so TOP will be on unaccustomed hiatus for a day or three.

Back soon.

Mike, Chairman, CEO, CFO, and Directeur Generale

The Spanish-language website caborian.com has just published a translation of my May 28th post "Letter to George."

I'd be interested in hearing what Spanish speakers think of it.

Mike

P.S. Here's a link to the original (in English) and the follow-up.

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.