# New Photography Blog - Feedback appreciated



## RoiSoleil

Hello,

During the lockdown I decided to create a separate blog as less formal place than my portfolio site to post my photos and articles.

I already have a photography portfolio/store website. This is designed to be a less formal and fun place to share my work. I try to keep things light hearted with a bit of humour.

Any feedback on the design, ease of use and content is much appreciated. I've tried to keep the layout as simple as possible.

Photography with Barry - Photography and Travel Blog


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## Derrel

Decent. I like your amplifier analogy and Adobe Stock illustration.


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## RoiSoleil

Derrel said:


> Decent. I like your amplifier analogy and Adobe Stock illustration.



Thanks. I find it's the easiest way to explain ISO. I only discovered I had access to Adobe stock recently. It's handy when you don't have an image of your own to illustrate a particular point.


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## Jeff15

Very nice site........


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## Ysarex

RoiSoleil said:


> Hello,
> 
> During the lockdown I decided to create a separate blog as less formal place than my portfolio site to post my photos and articles.
> 
> I already have a photography portfolio/store website. This is designed to be a less formal and fun place to share my work. I try to keep things light hearted with a bit of humour.
> 
> Any feedback on the design, ease of use and content is much appreciated. I've tried to keep the layout as simple as possible.
> 
> Photography with Barry - Photography and Travel Blog



It's readable and the humor is good.

You have some content concerns. You're aware of some of that and handle it by dismissing it with a denigrating "humorous" comment. Some of your content issues you deal with by just leaving them hanging. For example:

"_In photographic terms, exposure refers to the amount of light that enters the camera lens and hits the digital sensor (or film) inside the camera.... We can control the amount of light by adjusting two settings: aperture and shutter speed. *A third setting, ISO can also have an effect on the final exposure.*_" But you just said exposure is the amount of light that hits the sensor and we control that with two settings: aperture and shutter speed. And also ISO? Is ISO also controlling the amount of light hitting the sensor? You just leave that comment hanging and move on. If ISO is also effecting how much light hits the sensor why are you mentioning it separately like that?

In the post What is ISO? You ask the question that's the title of the post, what is ISO and you never answer it. An analogy is not a definition. The amplifier analogy is a common one and it's fair but also weak. You dismiss angry guys in their parents basement but also say they're correct:

"_We also learnt that people who say that… 'ISO works by by having amplifiers in the image sensor’s circuitry increase the gain before sending the analogue voltage read from the photon well to the A/D converter to be digitised.' … are perfectly correct but probably need to get out more."_

But that's not correct.

Another example of how you just drop something and then leave it: "_Exposure is measured in “stops”. If you find that your photograph is too dark (underexposed), you will need to increase your exposure by a stop or more. If your photograph is too bright, you will need to do the opposite and decrease your exposure by a stop or more. Stops can also be divided into half stops or one third stops for more detailed adjustments._" So if we're measuring exposure in "stops" a stop is ___________?

In your post about aperture you note that fractional stop values are often encountered and you list f/16 as one example -- oops. The printed f/stop scale just above that comment is in full stops but with f/16 missing.

Also in the post on aperture you note that DOF distributes in a 1/3 front 2/3 back ratio and suggest focusing 1/3 into the photo with a rather odd method: "_Where do we focus in a scene when we want everything to be sharp? The answer is about 1/3 the way up from the bottom of the frame. This is because (as I mentioned earlier), there is twice as much depth of field behind the point of focus as in front of it._"

I'm not sure where it came from, I have heard it before, but the 1/3 front 2/3 back rule about DOF distribution is just wrong. You're handing out faulty info there.

Joe

P.S. I'm not angry and I don't live in my parents basement.


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## Designer

RoiSoleil said:


> Any feedback on the design, ease of use and content is much appreciated. I've tried to keep the layout as simple as possible.


Hello!

Your website is very pretty.  Very good layout, and your photographs are excellent!

B  U  T.... There is no such thing as the "exposure triangle", so you might want to just teach good photography and drop the technical aspect.  Goodness knows there are many photographers who need help with the artistic aspect.


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## RoiSoleil

Ysarex said:


> RoiSoleil said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> During the lockdown I decided to create a separate blog as less formal place than my portfolio site to post my photos and articles.
> 
> I already have a photography portfolio/store website. This is designed to be a less formal and fun place to share my work. I try to keep things light hearted with a bit of humour.
> 
> Any feedback on the design, ease of use and content is much appreciated. I've tried to keep the layout as simple as possible.
> 
> Photography with Barry - Photography and Travel Blog
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's readable and the humor is good.
> 
> You have some content concerns. ......
Click to expand...


Many thanks for taking the time to give such detailed feedback. I will definitely take on board the points you made. ISO is always a tricky one to explain without getting mired in jargon I find. I try to avoid getting too complex with novices. It's always the one that generates the most discussion though!


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## RoiSoleil

Designer said:


> RoiSoleil said:
> 
> 
> 
> Any feedback on the design, ease of use and content is much appreciated. I've tried to keep the layout as simple as possible.
> 
> 
> 
> Hello!
> 
> Your website is very pretty.  Very good layout, and your photographs are excellent!
> 
> B  U  T.... There is no such thing as the "exposure triangle", so you might want to just teach good photography and drop the technical aspect.  Goodness knows there are many photographers who need help with the artistic aspect.
Click to expand...


I do get you point about the exposure triangle but I think as way of simply explaining the 3 concepts to beginners, it's fine. You are absolutely right about the artistic aspect of photography. After the tech side is done, I have a series of tutorials on composition, light and inspiration in the pipeline. I much prefer writing about these!


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## Ysarex

RoiSoleil said:


> Many thanks for taking the time to give such detailed feedback. I will definitely take on board the points you made. ISO is always a tricky one to explain without getting mired in jargon I find.



It's tricky to try and explain when you don't know what it is to begin with. I suspect your difficulty lies there. You need to define ISO -- for yourself?



RoiSoleil said:


> I try to avoid getting too complex with novices.



ISO isn't complex. Why assume novices need to be shielded from information? We can use your humor approach and make jokes about Photography for Dummies. Part of your trouble results from your, on one hand, correctly defining exposure as the amount of light reaching the sensor as determined by aperture and shutter speed and then not knowing what to do with ISO because it really isn't an exposure determinant but you've included it in the "Exposure" Triangle and at least suggested that it is an exposure determinant. You're not avoiding complexity you're creating confusion.

Joe



RoiSoleil said:


> It's always the one that generates the most discussion though!


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## Derrel

Many of us do not agree there is an exposure " triangle"....but we understand the concept; the exposue triangle is enigmatic....it sort of exists but yet it does not.


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## theweddingmoments

RoiSoleil said:


> Hello,
> 
> During the lockdown I decided to create a separate blog as less formal place than my portfolio site to post my photos and articles.
> 
> I already have a photography portfolio/store website. This is designed to be a less formal and fun place to share my work. I try to keep things light hearted with a bit of humour.
> 
> Any feedback on the design, ease of use and content is much appreciated. I've tried to keep the layout as simple as possible.
> 
> Photography with Barry - Photography and Travel Blog



I know that you put more effort to do this blog. but buddy you have to look at technical issues in your blog site buddy.it shows the page not opening error buddy. Have a look at it..................


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## Original katomi

You may want to touch on the history of ISO and that pre 1974 ASA was one of the main terms used
You could include iso is international standards organisation  and that the idea is that what ever digital or film
That for a given setting the value is going to be the same. You could include how the structure of film is different at different iso ratings
Re exposure triangle, I have seen it in a number of teaching books for photography, 
It is a teaching aid, in that it reminds one that if you alter one setting then you will have to alter another setting to get the same results in your image
How about including mention of the sweet spot on lenses


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