Entries in the Articles by David category:
Why I pay for content - and you should too
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The idea that 'information wants to be free' is the driving force behind so much content delivery on the Internet. It sounds good, right - progressive and egalitarian? But it's a tenet that's bankrupting newspapers, impoverishing photographers and redrawing the media map. And if we don't start paying for online content soon, we'll all be the poorer.
My first job in the Internet industry was in 1995, when I went to work for fledgling web consultancy Nua. Gerry McGovern (or 'guru Gerry' as we called him not quite to his face), had this weird idea about 'making free information pay'.
We created a bunch of free email newsletters about web stuff, and became very successful as a result. But for us, successful meant getting paying web development jobs.
This approach is still valid and valuable - you spend time blogging, tweeting and the rest to show how much you know, connect with people and (hopefully) get some paying gigs out of it. Professional content creators - individuals and organisations - can and should do some of this, too.
One traditional way to fund this give-away is by advertising, but since that's never really balanced the books online, we need another plan. Which is why I unfashionably pay for content.
A new approach for photographers’ websites - integrating Wordpress and Photoshelter
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
I’ve worked on several photographers’ sites (Chris Felver’s for example), and was always frustrated by the off-the-shelf solutions.
So either I built everything by hand (not so easy for the photographer to update themselves), or I was limited in how many text-based pages (news, blog, profile, articles, whatever) I could include.
But now I have a solution - integrating the Wordpress blogging tool and Photoshelter photographers’ archiving, display and sales service to create a dynamic site that looks consistent and makes it very easy for the photographer to upload and organize images and keep a blog going.
I’ve rebuilt my own photography site - Clearing the Vision - partly as an example of what can be done with this approach, and I’m very happy with the result.
Article in print edition of JPG Mag
Monday, December 03, 2007
An article of mine is featured in the latest print edition of the photography magazine, JPG, that’s just arrived in my mailbox.
The article - called ‘Prime Suspect’ - is a hymn of praise to the cheap and cheerful Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens. They included three of my photographs to accompany the article.
JPG is a high quality print magazine available throughout the US, that has over 100,000 members contributing articles and photographs to its website. Members vote on the things they like, but an editorial panel makes the final print version.
So I’m well chuffed to have made it in. Especially as this combination of photography, journalism and the Web is an area I’m going to explore in more depth in my own big project in the New Year. More on that later, but for now, feel free to rush out and buy a copy of the mag.
‘Signs of the Times’ article for JPG online edition
Friday, October 19, 2007
My latest photo essay for the online edition of JPG Magazine looks what a neglected string of Route 66 motels reveal about Santa Fe and the city’s idea of what its identity might be.
Santa Fe, New Mexico is a schizophrenic place. The city of history and culture enjoyed by its many visitors is very different from the city of high rents and unreliable services experienced by its inhabitants.
The manically-imposed architectural consistency that reigns in the downtown area means swanky new hotels have to be donned in ‘fauxdobe’ clothes to look old. Meanwhile, in the rapidly-growing south end of town, big box store follows generic chain hotel in a sad procession all the way to the freeway.
Read the full article over at JPG magazine.
New photography article for JPG magazine
Monday, August 20, 2007
Just a quick note to let you know my latest article for the online version of JPG Magazine is up. ”Prime Suspect: the plastic fantastic” is a hymn of praise for the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 - a cheap and deeply uncool $70 prime lens.
The JPG site runs on user-generated content, but there’s also a print version available nationally in the US showcasing the best photographs and articles (voted by the users, but also subject to an editorial selection process).
Content for the front page of the site is also chosen by the editorial team, and I’m delighted to say my article was chosen for the front (complete with my accompanying photo).
The article begins:
It’s cheap, plastic and it wheezes. But it’s by far my favorite lens. My precious is the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens.
Eschewing such luxury developments as USM focusing or full-time manual (and don’t even think about image stabilization), this $70 lens - known variously as the ‘nifty fifty’. ‘thrifty fifty’ or ‘plastic fantastic’ - produces amazing results.
And the full version is here.
Behind the scenes at the CNN.com relaunch
Monday, July 02, 2007
My latest article for my friends at iQ Content is an interview with the development teams at CNN.com, who’ve just launched their redesigned site:
CNN.com unveiled its redesign over the weekend, incorporating a cleaner look, a better way of linking different media on the same story, and some slick Web 2.0 goodness (including in-page video and user commenting).
It’s a radical do-over for one of the most highly-trafficked sites on the Web. We asked the production teams (in London, Atlanta and Hong Kong) how they approached the project.
Get the full story over on the iQ Content site.
New Photo Essay for JPG Magazine
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
This one’s slightly out of the ordinary. Just wanted to let you know I’ve written a photo essay for the photography site and magazine JPG. It outlines how my interest in all things photographic has grown since my daughter Fionnuala was born, and there are some photos to accompany it. So please head over and check it out if you’re interested.
JPG has an interesting model - people submit photos, essays and articles (often on particular themes), and the other users vote on them. The best end up in a print magazine that’s published every two months and available nationally (so a vote for my essay would be gratefully received).
Anyway, now back to work.
Bill Richardson’s website - where’s the beef?
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and there’s much excitement (if not much surprise) that our Governor, Bill Richardson, has announced his bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Being a web designer who’s previously reviewed British and Irish political once or twice before, I quickly dashed over to check out Richardson’s new site - richardsonforpresident.com.
So how does it stack up?
Blog if you’re blogging
Despite the cliched red and blue palette, the front page is otherwise unobjectionable if a little staid, but heading to the blog was a big disappointment.
There’s one entry. This man’s running for president, and as I write, it’s been 4 days since the site went up and there’s still only one post. Where’s the behind-the-scenes info from the staff, the candid photos, the more informal commentary and analysis to go with the more solid news elsewhere on the site?
It’s basic web design practice that you don’t launch with a blank page (or the next worse thing) - you pre-fill the blog with a couple of entries, and make sure you have some more to roll out in the first week. This looks like you knew you had to have a blog, but weren’t sure what to do with it when you got it.
The Future of TV - law vs. technology
Monday, January 22, 2007
I’ve seen the future of TV, and it looks more like a computer or a phone than a big box in the corner. Over the last week, several things have made me think about where TV’s heading (and I’m not talking about the cancellation of The OC).
Being an Anglo-Irisn expat in America, one of the things I long for is access to British and Irish TV. BBC America is obsessed with home improvement and antiques, and still seems to think that Benny Hill is funny.
So I’ve toyed with BitTorrent sites for my fix of ‘Top Gear’ and ‘Life on Mars’. Sitting in front of MacBook Pro watching a TV show works well, but getting the shows onto the computer in the first place is often a time-consuming and illegal process.
If anyone from the BBC is reading this, what I really need is an expats’ TV licence, entitling me to free download access to the full range of the BBC’s output. UK residents currently buy a licence which funds the BBC (commercial stations are funded by advertising, as elsewhere), and I’d be happy to get the online equivalent.
The Sad Death of the Album
Thursday, October 12, 2006
The debate about the randomness (or otherwise) of iPod’s shuffle has got me thinking about how the evolving technology of music has changed the way we appreciate the art.
I’m a child of the early seventies, so my music collection spans several media - first cassette tape (now almost all gone, thank goodness), then vinyl (which I still have, with a new turntable to play them and rip them to MP3), then CD and now digital download.