I had started to write a lyrical and eloquent post about David duCenin's wonderful web site because I wanted to tell you how inspiring and motivational I have found it. But all you really need to know is that having followed his recent comment on my blog to his web site, looking through the wonderful content kept me up way past my bed time and prompted me to get up extra early this morning to continue reading.

The very first category in my web browser bookmarks is entitled "be inspired" and is reserved for those very special sites that are uplifting, educational, informative, entertaining and, most importantly, which are capable of motivating me and of getting my brain whirring with new ideas. David's pixelatedimage.com site is the latest addition to that very exclusive list of bookmarks.

These are just a few of the highlights I found last night and this morning:

1. David's Portfolio, especially his recent World Vision photos from Mongolia, gorgeous images from Nepal and the "Colours of India" and "Classic India" galleries.
2. David's Blog has some great info, including...
3. A glowing review of Joe McNally's new book, The Moment it Clicks, which led me to Joe McNally's web site and then to his blog. More great reading!
4. Flying with Fish. A blog written by a well-travelled photographer, Steven Frischling, with lots of hints and tips for the travelling snapper.

I realised too that David was also a finalist in the recent Travel Photographer of the Year competition so I'm doubly delighted to be in such illustrious company.

I've ordered Joe McNally's book, which, to veer off at a very angular tangent, reminded me about what I was saying the other day about blogging becoming a great producer of the "buzz" that can surround new products. I haven't seen the book mentioned elsewhere and although it may be reviewed in one or two of the photographic magazines that I subscribe to, there's no guarantee that it would ever have come to my attention. It's no surprise that companies are turning their attention to bloggers when they're looking to promote a product.

My copy of "The Moment it Clicks" should be here in a day or two and I'll certainly post a review here when I've finished reading it. Indeed, with a growing number of products to review and comment upon I shall be stealing an idea from David duChenin and Scott Kelby (and others) and introducing my very own rating and endorsement system for products that I've used, books I've read and web sites that I've visited. It will probably be no more complicated than a simple five-star rating system but if you have a clever idea for something I can use instead of stars then please share it. I did think about have an f-stop rating system with great products getting f/2.8, average products receiving f/8 and a rating of f/22 being reserved for the real dogs but felt that it was unnecessarily complex. Simple, as they say with a stammer in my home town, is often best.

Tags: blogs

Congratulations to Wink, winner of the 2007 Photoblog awards. Congratulations too to our friends at Chromasia for making it to the final ten and for scooping the title of Best European Photoblog.

Taking a look through the finalists' web sites will give you a real treat, there is some really creative and quirky work being presented. One thing I did notice is that the photoblogs do seem to increasingly rely upon post-production effects. I've no argument against that, it's all part of the production process and I admire the skill of those people who can manipulate their images in Photoshop to get the very best out of them.

It did strike me though that there seem to be fewer photographs that work purely on the subject matter and composition alone. I may have seen a skewed selection of pictures as I flicked briefly through the nominated web sites and it's really just an observation in passing. There's a certain, very obviously "Photoshopped" style that seems to be prevalent in Photoblogs these days. I'm not saying that's a good or a bad thing, it just is.

One site that did buck that trend (to immediately contradict myself) was The G8 (pronounced "The Gate" not "Gee-Eight"), which has some lovely portraits.

There are some lovely, atmospheric pictures at SHOTZZ, some stunning black & white surfing shots at Shazeen Samad and some evocative landscape photographs at the photo-passion web site.

Each of the finalists' web sites is thoroughly engaging and whatever the arguments about the relative health of the commercial side of photography, photography as an art form can surely never have been healthier or more popular. The ability for any photographer to so easily publish their work to a worldwide audience will undoubtedly continue to make photography an increasingly popular pastime, both for the takers and for the viewers. And Hurrah for that say I.

Tags: photography, blogs