Adding Photos
In the ongoing organization of everything Simeon, I have started to sort through my collection of digital photos. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to organize my library. I really like this program, and I am still learning all the ins and outs. My only major compliant has been printing photos, but I think there is a user error in play. I do like the Panel based design. I am really getting the hang of the Library features. I am starting to learn the Develop features. My goal is to be able to completely and efficiently manage all my photos. I even want to catalog some of my analogs.
Organization of photos is great, but photos are meant to be shared. In the past, I have been really bad at sharing photos. I'd take a million pictures and no one would see them. I wouldn't even get to enjoy a large percentage. After some research, I decided to select Flickr as my program of choice to share my photos. As I narrowed my choices, SmugMug was at the top with Flickr. Both products have their pluses and minus. A big minus for Flickr is their visual design. I really don't like the white background. You can circumvent this downfall with Flickriver. Here is my first set of photos, Growing Up. A major drawback for SmugMug is Flickr's popularity. Flickr's social networking tools and large member base convinced me to sign up. Also, Flickr's "Pro Account" is cheaper than SmugMug. The only thing I am really going to miss are the DVD backups.
Another key for me was integration between my local photo library and online photo library. Jeffery Friedl has written an excellent Flickr plugin for Lightroom. It is now very simple to export from Lightroom to my Flickr account. There are many options to preserve metadata and manage the location of the exported photos. The last piece of the puzzle was to display my Flickr photos here. I found a simple plugin at MT-Hacks called FlickrPhotos. The requirements didn't mention Movable Type 4.0 support, but it seems to be working just fine. As I slowly redesign this web site, I hope to explore the plugin's full capabilities.
I hope everyone enjoys the photos! I know they have been a very long time coming. My goal is to add all my vacations and meaningful photos over the next few weeks. It is a very satisfying feeling to be organized. It is a life changing experience for me. I was always overwhelmed by my clutter. I didn't have any photos organized so, I wouldn't get the latest set out to anyone. This snowballed, and I wouldn't even take pictures of daily life. There was no reason because I had no outlet. I am working to change all of this. I know I am starting to benefit, and I hope that others do as well.
