Everything is vibrant on along the walk.  The water, rocks, trees and grass, mansions, etc.  Everything!

This was captured using the Leica M9 and Zeiss 25mm f,2.8 lens.  The Leica makes me think more about the composition and exposure. But it also makes me slow down and enjoy the scene I am photographing.

There is more still to come…

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

Being that many of my readers are photographers I thought it was valuable to share a snippet of the article for everyone to see.  After reading here, please visit the full article for more information and a free Google Analytics Custom Report.

For those who don’t know, long tail keywords are keywords that you are ranking for, made of three or more words.

In the article you will see how I use a custom report in Google Analytics to find new topics worth writing about and also which long tail keywords I am ranking for.

VIsit the article, Use Long Tail Keywords For Finding New Topics To Write About, to grab the report and read the full article.

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

I’ve been saying that for quite some time.

A learned a new trick recently, that I thought I would share with everyone else.

One of the best was to increase engagement with your Facebook fans, is to post to your timeline with a fill in the blank.   Check out the screenshot below to see what I mean.

As you can see, a simple post with an open ended fill in the blank offers your fans to leave creative comments.

You may be wondering why this is so powerful as a marketing tool.  Well, I’ll tell you.

If you’re a portrait photographer, you can come up with a fun fill in the blank related to your target market and offer a free 1 hour portrait session to the most creative answer.  People LOVE free stuff.

As a side note, this one experiment resulted in 19 comments in under 5 minutes.

So give it a try and then come back here and let me know how it went.  I want to hear about it!  Also, join me on my Facebook fan page to see what other experiments I try.

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

If not, click the link above and see Google’s Easter Egg.  Please note that sometimes it doesn’t work.  Maybe Google disables it even so often.  Not sure…

Anyway, so during my recent trip to Rhode Island, we visited the Newport Winery for a tour.  The winery is small but their wine is delicious.

The winery purchased their barrel’s from France.  They’re strong, smell amazing and are huge.  What I found so neat about how they use their barrels is that after 8 or so years, when they aren’t good for wine anymore, Newport Winery sells them to a local whiskey maker.  That whiskey must be so good.  If you’re ever in the Newport, Rhode Island area I highly recommend spending a couple hours at the winery.  Bring a lunch and picnic in the field!

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

This was shot with the the Leica M9 and Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 lens during my trip to Rhode Island.

We knew that the sunset was going to be to be visible from the hotel room so my friend Vanessa and I grabbed our cameras and went out to the balcony.  It rained about 30 minutes before sunset so I put my camera down on one of the few dry spots of the railing.  Of course, being on the 3rd floor, the camera strap was around my neck and I was crouched in a strange angle.

It likely looks funny to other people

I metered, framed and focused to get the sunset, water, buildings and Vanessa all in the shot.

The result is so cool and calm.  I love it.

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

The Leica M9 is such a fun camera.

In fact, I brought the camera and one lens on my Rhode Island trip.  That is how much faith I have in its abilities.  On top of that, the one lens is a Zeiss 25mm!

Walking along the cliff walk in Newport, Rhode Island offers amazing landscape opportunities.  It also offers macro photography, textures, shapes and colors.

Now, there are many Leica shooters that enjoy having their camera capture both color and black & white.  I am not a fan of that method.  I prefer shooting in color and process the DNG files in Lightroom if I prefer black & white.  What I have found from using the Leica M9, is that while colors pop – so do black & white.  Check this out…

As I’ve mentioned previously, the Leica M9 colors are stunning.

But so are the black & white conversions!

Now that you’ve seen the same photograph in both color and black & white, which do you prefer?

Are you the type of photographer that will photograph in black & white when desired or are you like me that shoots in color and converts when desired?

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

Yes… I always have and always will.

For the past year and a half I have been working outside the photography industry as a marketing manager for a fantastic IT Security company.  However, I was recently approached by the team at Photocrati to see if I was interested in coming back to the industry full-time.

After some amazing conversations with Photocrati and more conversations with Melissa, I decided to make the move.

So it’s official, as of May 7, 2012 I will be joining Photocrati Media.

Who Is Photocrati Media?

Photocrati is a digital media company for photographers.  Every product they make and every website they own is for photographers.  In fact, you might even say it’s the FUBU of Photography because it’s made by photographers for photographers. (FPBP)

When I say digital media company, I mean they make an amazing WordPress theme for photographers and some other products to be announced soon (sorry, can’t spill the beans just yet!)

They also run the following websites:

• Photographers SEO Community
• Best of Wedding Photography
• Seven by Five

What Is My Role At Photocrati Media?

Glad you asked!

At Photocrati, I will be wearing multiple hats (in a good way!)

For the most part you will find me writing and chatting with everyone on the Photographers SEO forum and blog, the Photocrati forum and blog and also around 7×5 and Best of Wedding.  However, you will also find me on the websites for Photocrati secret projects coming soon.  (Again… can’t spill the beans!)

What Does This Mean For Your Website?

Very good question.

I will be blogging here regularly.  Two to Three times a week.  The articles will likely be more photograph oriented than marketing or SEO.  Any content I write outside of “the photograph” will be on a Photocrati website.

However, I will be sharing Photocrati articles with the community here because they will continue to be valuable for photographers.

In addition, my website which is currently driven by a StudioPress theme, will be converted to the Photocrati theme.  It’s going to be a fun transition and can’t wait to share it when complete.

In Conclusion

I hope that you keep reading, stay subscribed and continue commenting.

Thank each and every one of you for the support you have given me over the years and I am so appreciative of the engagement you’ve given me.  I hope that you join me on the Photocrati Media websites as my job will be to help you grow your photography business.

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

However, there is something to be said for the power of voice over the air.

Here is why…

A while back the local talk radio station, NJ 101.5, was discussing how small businesses use their websites and social media.  Of course, this is a topic that I love talking about so I called in.  I was on the air for under 5 minutes talking with the hosts.  However, being that I was allowed to spell out my website for some shameless self promotion, I noted the time so I could check Google Analytics in the future.

When time permitted, I went back to check on the traffic during the time I was on the air and it shocked me.  The conversion was so short, yet my traffic increase by four times its normal rate.

So what does that say?

Maybe giving radio advertisement is worth a shot.

Will photographers who advertise through the radio be hurting their reputation like the ones that offer Groupon deals at practically free prices?

Trey Ratcliff gave magazine advertising a true test, but I do not have it in my budget to test the radio advertising theory.

Have you heard local photographers advertising on your radio stations?  Do you think it would have good ROI?

Please comment and share your thoughts.

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

I absolutely love this camera and its simplicity.

One thing that I’ve already noticed is how vibrant the colors are without any processing.  As you can see with the photo above, the colors of the grass and sky are beautiful.  The reflection just takes the cake.  It’s a subtle reflection, but still incredible.

Even with a simple scene and subject, the colors just pop as if a lot of post processing was done.  However, the only thing I did to these photographs were use Lens Correction to adjust for the 25mm lens.

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott

Leica M9 Tip:

These were in the first batch of photos I shot with the camera and where I learned my lessons about keeping fingers away from the focus window.

Many Leica M9 shooters use the original strap (which isn’t very comfortable) or use expensive and overpriced straps.

I prefer comfort at a good price.

Leica M9 Strap

When I got the Leica M9 I used the original Leica strap while waiting for the CustomSLR Split Strap to arrive.  I heard nothing but great things about CustomSLR and love that they use Kickstarter to generate the community around their innovative products.

Now, I know Eric Kim used the CustomSLR glide strap solution by using the C-loop.  However, I’m not a fan of the hang upside down style of strap systems so I went with the “old school” style of using a camera strap.

The cool part about the CustomSLR strap is that no matter which system you decide to use, you’re still getting the ergonomic strap.  Not only is it comfortable (even with my Nikon D700 w/ grip) but it stays on your shoulder.

What caught me off guard (in a good way) when I opened the packaging, was to see two sets of camera end straps.  Because the CustomSLR system has releases so you can detach the bulk of the strap in seconds, they provided a second set of camera end straps.  That makes it possible for me to use the strap on the Leica M9 or Nikon D700 – just not at the same time of course.

Neat, right?

Leica Metal on Metal

If you ever looked at a Leica M9 out of the box, you may have noticed that there was something missing where the straps belong.  Most DSLR bodies come with a little circle or triangle ring where the strap would feed through.  On the Leica M9, there is none.  That is be caught the ring is built into the original strap.

Here is the solution…

Pick up a couple small but strong key rings from store.  Then visit your local art store and purchase a strip of black leather fabric.  Why?  This leather is going to act as a cushion so there is no metal on metal contact with the camera body.  This $2 piece of leather is what the fancy $100+ straps have included,

Take a look at the Instagram shot above and you’ll see what I mean.

So there you have it.  A simple way to get an amazing camera strap, and protect the Leica M9 camera body from scratches, at an affordable price.

Thanks for reading and happy shooting,

Scott