Here are 3 new articles from Aaron Hockley

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• Mobile Isn’t Killing Kodak; Kodak Killed Kodak
• Remembering 2011 in Photos
• Comparing Photo Sharing Websites

Mobile Isn’t Killing Kodak; Kodak Killed Kodak Posted: 05 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST Today on ReadWriteWeb writer John Paul Titlow asserts that the proliferation of mobile camera phones including the iPhone is a significant factor in Kodak’s near-bankruptcy. I disagree. Other camera manufacturers that have introduced solid and innovative products are seeing success. Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, and others see strong sales both of DSLRs as well as compact units. Canon’s S90/95/100 series cameras are the size of a deck of cards and being used by professionals to sell images. The micro 4/3rds cameras along with the compact Nikon N1 system are allowing for amazing images to be created by small cameras that don’t have the heft of a DSLR. Kodak was one of the early players in the digital camera market but they haven’t introduced anything that stood out either to high end users or the mass market in several years. Couple this along with the decline in the film, print, and processing businesses and we see why they’ve faded away while other manufacturers are doing well. I agree that phone photography has cut into compact camera sales a bit but that’s hardly a leading factor in Kodak’s situation.

Remembering 2011 in Photos Posted: 05 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST It’s hard to distill a year of photography into a small set of images. Over on my website for my Vancouver, WA photography I recapped five memorable images from a business standpoint but I wanted to take a broader look including personal work. As I look at 2011 I have some images that stand out purely from an artistic standpoint, but others that stand out because of a story that accompanies the photo. Here are ten images from 2011 in date order: Fun in Seattle: Disco on the Sidewalk I made several trips to Seattle in the springtime, while walking downtown one night I looked down and found some interesting lights that made a fun image. Railroad Generations: National Train Day As a photographer who has always had a “thing” for trains, being able to photograph National Train Day for Amtrak in May was an exciting assignment. In this image, restored Southern Pacific steam locomotive #4449 slowly moves into position at Portland’s Union Station as its headlight reflects off of an Amtrak Superliner car. Embracing HDR: No Rocks Under Stone In past years I’d toyed around with HDR processing a bit, but in 2011 I began using it seriously for some images. This was one of my first HDR photos this year, looking through a concrete-covered trail in the Columbia River Gorge. The structure was built to protect the walking and biking path from rock slides from an adjacent hillside. Burning Awesome at the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic This might be my favorite event photo of 2011; we see a crew member on a hot air balloon yell back to the ground just after liftoff as a big flame illuminates the scene. Photogenic Old Stuff in the Bay Area, Part One I made my first of two photographic journeys to the San Francisco area in August. The lighthouse and brickwork of Fort Point remind us of the past in which this establishment was a military post guarding the entrance to San Francisco Bay. An arch of the Golden Gate Bridge frames the top of the photo. Cashing in on Mobile Photography This image of a forest fire in central Oregon represents the first photo I’ve sold that was originally published via Instagram. You can read more about that story. Photogenic Old Stuff in the Bay Area, Part Two In October I returned to the Bay Area with a significant amount of time researching and photographing for my Alcatraz Book (hit that link for information or to purchase in print or ePub format for iBooks). Here I’m looking up to the ruins of the Warden’s house; the Alcatraz lighthouse stands intact and operational in the background Occupying My Lens Like photographers across the country I made images documenting the “Occupy” movement. Here’s a representative image from a demonstration in Portland’s Jamison Square. Rick and Scott and the Portland Startup Scene Portland has a thriving startup scene right now. I’ve photographed several public events and I’m currently in the midst of a personal project to document the first “class” of startups that are part of the Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE). In this image, Urban Airship CEO Scott Kveton (foreground) listens to a question while PIE General Manager Rick Turoczy observes. WordPress Friends Sara and Chelsea December found me at WordCamp Las Vegas where I got to hang out a bit with Sara and Chelsea, two great designers who work with WordPress. I’ve been attempting to make more impromptu portraits and I was quite pleased with this one.

Comparing Photo Sharing Websites Posted: 04 Jan 2012 11:29 AM PST The photo sharing world used to be all about Flickr. In the past couple of years Flickr has fallen from its position of high regard and we’ve seen various other options come onto the scene for photographers to share images with the world. I’ve recently fielded a few questions about various services and I decided to put together a comparison chart of features followed by some comments below. I’ve chosen to compare some of the leading sites; there are other options out there as well. Photo Sharing Feature Comparison   Flickr Facebook Google+ 500px SmugMug Free Accounts Yes Yes Yes Yes Free Trial Paid Accounts Yes No Yes Yes Yes Features of Paid Account Unlimited uploads Unlimited sets/collections Access to original files Stats No ads HD Video n/a Additional Storage Unlimited uploads Unlimited collections Custom domain HTML5 Portfolio Priority support Google Analytics (All features of the site) Unlimited uploads Unlimited galleries No ads Customizable site appearance Custom domain HD Video Single Photo Display Size 640 px 720 px 915 px 900 px 1015 px Private/Protected Galleries Yes Yes Yes No Yes Mapping / Geotagging Support Yes No Yes No Yes Community Commenting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Like/Favorite/etc. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Follow Specific Users / Contacts Yes Yes Yes Yes No Group Photo Pools Yes Yes No No Yes Discover Popular Photos Yes No No Yes Yes Social/Sharing Embed Images Elsewhere Yes No Yes Yes Yes Share via Twitter Yes No No Yes Yes Share via Facebook Yes Yes No Yes Yes Mobile Interfaces iPhone App for Posting Photos Yes Yes Yes No Yes Android App for Posting Photos Yes Yes Yes No Yes Flash Galleries that Won’t Display on Mobile No No No No No Photo Sales Sell Photos at Cost Yes No Yes No Yes Sell Photos for Profit No No No No Yes     Beyond the Specs: My Thoughts on the Services I have used and am currently a member of all of the services compared above. Flickr used to be king, but Yahoo has mostly ignored the service and there hasn’t been any significant innovation in several years. Recent Flickr updates have basically been half-assed catch-up efforts and Flickr still displays photos in the smallest size of the sites compared. Most of the social photo interaction I used to have on Flickr is now happening on Google+, where I interact with huge numbers of other photographers in meaningful discussions. 500px provides a pleasant visual interface and briefly had the attention of a bunch of photo heavy hitters but seems to have fallen by the wayside as many of those folks have devoted their effort more towards Google+ which offers many options beyond photo sharing. I use SmugMug to show off my photos on a custom-designed site which matches the look and feel of my photography business website and for my clients to review images from their event or portrait session. I hate Facebook and rarely post photos there. Their constantly changing privacy and copyright policies bother me and I find nearly everything about the service annoying. Which service is right for you? Depends on your goals… are you looking for the best visual display? The biggest community? The ability to integrate with other services? If social interaction is the most important factor, I’d recommend Google+ Photos. If you’re purely concerned with the visual display or the ability to sell your work, go with SmugMug.

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