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Get Off Your Fat Blog and Take a Photo – B&H Photography Podcast

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I was recently on the New B&H Photography Podcast titled “Get Off Your Fat Blog and Take a Photo”. It was an awesome experience, and I think the podcast came out really well. The podcast was about Photography Websites and what goes on behind the scenes pretty much. It was myself as a guest and the other guest was Kevin Raber from Luminous-Landscape. If you are not familiar, it’s one of the best photography websites on the web and I have referenced their reviews many times on various Sony cameras and more.. Luminous-landscape is run by extremely experienced veteran photographers, so the knowledge is vast, in-depth, and on point. Speaking from that much experience gives you a perspective that is clearly going to be different than most

The main podcast host was Allan Weitz and creative director John Harris was also participating in the conversation. They are both respected long time photographers and did a great job keeping the conversation going in a planed direction with several key talking points.
The experience as a whole was awesome I must say, and I really hope you listen to the podcast and enjoy it as much as I did.

B&H Photography Podcast

I have the podcast embedded below so you can just click to listen if you like. Or you can go to to the Soundcloud Streaming Page Here >>

Despite poking a little fun with this episode’s title, we are big fans of photography websites and camera blogs, and if you are reading this, you probably are, too. On this week’s podcast, we are fortunate to have Kevin Raber and Jason Hermann, proprietors of Luminous Landscape and SonyAlphaLab, respectively. Have you ever wondered how sites like these operate, are funded, get gear to review and deal with the, shall we say “experts,” who populate the comment sections? In this very animated, on-point conversation, Raber and Hermann talk specifically about their sites, the proliferation of gear chat, and the camera industry in general.

Guests: Kevin Raber and Jason Hermann

To listen to this week’s episode: Listen to or download on SoundCloud, or subscribe to the B&H Photography Podcast on iTunes; Stitcher; SoundCloud; or via RSS.

About the Podcast and People

I really enjoyed spending time with Kevin, Alan, and John plus learned a lot during the podcast. Kevin shared some very good information and inspired me to kick things back up into high gear to the best of my ability. I have let things go due to the family obligations and serious lack of sleep over the past two years or so. Please stay tuned as I rev things back up over the next few months here at SonyAlphaLab!
We discussed a number of topics and I tried my best to share what I do here and how I try and make things work on the back end. It’s pretty interesting to here how things work at SAL, and how Luminious-Landscape does things was a serious eye opener.

Obviously LL is a monster website in comparison to this little Sony blog, but a lot of the common sense strategies can be applied to help make this a better place for everybody. Basically, I just need to do a much better job since I’m the sole guy that does everything. I need to figure out how to streamline my production and website maintenance without sacrificing quality in any way. This is critical! I believe it can be done if I put in the hard work and time needed. I just have to do it is the bottom line, and I know I can! The only way to get better at something is to practice, and I am working on some stuff behind the scenes that should help me in this regard…
Now, lets take a look some photos!

Photography

Luminous-Landscape.com
Keven-Raber-ll-1
Keven-Raber-ll-2
Keven-Raber-ll-3

Kevin shared a few photos from his collections and they are nothing short of jaw dropping! 😉 Be sure to check out his website and portfolios for inspiration and knowledge!
Luminous-Landscape.com

Kevin Raber Photography Blog

See also

Some Of My Photos

Some of my favorite Sony Photography via my Flickr Page >> I really need to put together a better portfolio style website at some point, but for now flickr has been that for me. I let my Jason Hermann Photography website go when I decided to stop doing Pro work several years ago shortly after Layla was born. Things are starting to come back to order now though, and I may fire that back up at some point soon…

Fireworks
Fireworks w/ Sony Nex-6 and 18-55mm kit lens
Vanderbilt Mansion
I took this single frame with the new Sony A7r Mark II via my Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Lens!
Bones - Sony A7r and Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Lens
Bones – Sony A7r and Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Lens
Lower Kaaterskill Falls - A7r Mark II - HDR
Lower Kaaterskill Falls – A7r Mark II – I took this 5 frame exposure HDR photo with the new Sony A7r II and my Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Lens via the Metabones III Lens adapter.
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 lens @ f/2, 1/60sec, A7r, ISO 1600
Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 lens @ f/2, 1/60sec, A7r, ISO 1600
Sony A7II w/ FE 16-35mm f/4 OSS ZA Lens @ 35mm, f/8, 30seconds, ISO 400
Sony A7II w/ FE 16-35mm f/4 OSS ZA Lens @ 35mm, f/8, 30seconds, ISO 400
Nex-7 w/ Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens
Nex-7 w/ Rokinon 8mm Fisheye Lens
The Road - Sony RX10
The Road – Sony RX10
My Dad - Sony RX10
My Dad – Sony RX10
Sony A7r and old School Minolta 50mm f/1.4 Rokkor-X Lens
Sony A7r and old School Minolta 50mm f/1.4 Rokkor-X Lens
Sony Nex-6 w/ 16-70mm f/4 OSS Zeiss Lens @ 70mm, f/4, 1/200sec, ISO 100
Layla – Sony Nex-6 w/ 16-70mm f/4 OSS Zeiss Lens @ 70mm, f/4, 1/200sec, ISO 100
Jase - Sony A7II w/ FE 35mm f/2.8 Lens @ f/2.8, 1/60sec, ISO 500, Raw Qaulity
Jase – Sony A7II w/ FE 35mm f/2.8 Lens @ f/2.8, 1/60sec, ISO 500, Raw Qaulity

Closing Remarks

That is about it for this article and I really hope you enjoyed the podcast and sample photography above. I really appreciate you guys checking out the website and be sure to check out the Forums for the latest Sony News, Rumors, Tutorials, Q&A, Killer user photography, and much more… For example, I just put up a poll on what features you would like to see most in the future Sony A7000 if they decide to produce it (Click Here)

Have a great day and please feel free to leave your thoughts below in the comments section. I always enjoy reading them and try to reply as fast as possible.
Jay

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7 Comments

  1. hi Jay,
    As I mentioned before I listened to the blog and luved it.
    It was interesting to hear both sides of the website story. My perspective as a newby I prefer the way you work and your website hands down.
    I have looked at Luminous landscapes before and to be honest I was overwhelmed and felt “left out”. I luv some of the photos and other things but what did it for me was asking for payment (even though only $1.00) it lost its appeal because to me it says we value you only if you pay.(no matter the amount)
    From my point of view what I like is websites done by people like yourself that luv what they are doing and have on their sites a donate page where folks can donate.
    There are a few like this I visit(not just photo sites ) and I donate because I know its hard and time consuming…can I suggest you find a way to do this because I would Happily donate , and how you use it is your call, its a thank you for your time and effort.
    Cheers from me a newby that has learnt heaps from the inclusive nature of you your website and the folks here

    Reply

    1. Hi Steve and thank you so much for the comments and kind words. I also really appreciate the feedback in regards to the website and how I do things vs some of the others out there. I do have a donate type system that I need to start pushing in order to bring things to the next level, but I honestly hate asking for money. Last year when the website was hacked I literally had no choice, but now things are running pretty smooth. What I want to do is add more quality content that people would be willing to donate a dollar a month for ideally. That would be awesome and can be done with my Patreon Campaign page Here >> I’m working on adding a icon to the right side of the website that will say donate or something and bring you to the Patreon Campaign page. I can then mention that from time to time for those willing to give back a small contribution or whatever. The bottom line though, is I need to produce consistent quality content that people enjoy. I have been trying the past few weeks to really step things up and need to continue down this road.
      As a side note, I have made some progress on the back end, and I can now get equipment more frequently than once per month. This should really help my abilities to test more gear for people without necessary having to review it all. I can then selectively review gear and test gear much more often, which should help keep things more active and entertaining here I think. For example, I have the Sigma lenses that I don’t think I will review in detail, but I will write an article showing off what they can do with the A7r Mark II for example… I will do a detailed review of all the new Sony Lenses and cameras though of course! I have a list of gear that I must review, and another list of gear testing and review requests…
      Thanks again for the great comments and I will catch up with you later,
      Jay

      Reply

  2. Jay,
    I get where you are comming from asking for money is horrid. Can I suggest that the Donate Icon stays on whatever page the person browsers too. Does not have to be big and in your face , but when people like me read something that has an impact or makes a difference we are more likely to donate if we noticed it earlier on in the page, very subtle marketing.
    The main web page you can place a little blurb with it about how its done for luv and not the money and any donation will go back into the site to make it better. It makes folks feel involved and when they donate they will come back , there is a vested interest now for them to see stuff being done……this however does put it a bit back on you to make sure things are done….which they will be off course be…8-)…keep up the good work.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the reply Steve and I do here what you are saying 😉 It makes sense and hopefully people won’t be offended… I added a donate button to the lower right hand side of the sidebar area. It shows up on the article pages and review pages, but not the home page.
      Thanks again for the loyal user feedback and advice on the matter,
      Jay

      Reply

  3. Hi jay had a look at the patreon Page.
    These type of sites I hate….I work in IT and this means they store your CC details for however long the donation runs for.
    Other sites like paypal and other e-commerce stuff use a system that can once a donation is done on cc the details are removed and deleted if the person does not want details to be maintained.
    For me I would donate in one offs every so often….I dont even save my cc number in the phone company I use so I have to manually enter my cc details every time to top up my phone….Having seen in real life security breeches and helped fix them…..I never save any person financial details to anything anymore…..the public do not hear about breeches for the most part as would u shop or use your cc online if you heard every day about security breeches on e commerce sites…lol

    Reply

    1. Steve,
      Great point and I totally here where you are coming from. I have my CC info saved on probably 20+ sites by now I would imagine… I really think you are in the minority in this regard, but for very good reason no doubt.. Internet security is always being breeched and to think are info is safe, is naive for sure. Patreon has been around for quite a while though and they do take serious precautions in this regard due to all the security issues and wide range of contributors.. I really don’t mention it very often, so I might just do away with that platform pretty soon. Perhaps it’s more hassle than it’s worth. Others are doing very well with this solution, but they constantly promote it with every production re-lease. I don’t do that and how would people know unless I promote it.
      Thanks again for all the feedback and food for thought 😉
      Jay

      Reply
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