To see all the shots and to order prints from this session checkout the full album.

I setup this shot to really emphasize how much snow there was so I got close enough to fill the frame with the side of the snowbank with a clear view of the tunnel going straight back into the snow. The portal is available as a limited edition print.

Your Family Photos

I’m available to shoot your family’s portraits too. Give me a call/text at 530-727-8020 or email me so we can talk about it. You can find me information about what I do here.

1. Give a Descriptive Page Title
   The page title is the first thing a person would do to figure out what the page is about and the same is true of a search engine. Just like a person who reads left to right, Google places greater value on the words on the left of the title. You should never have the name of your website start each page’s title. Be descriptive when you title an image. In the past I would give my images artistic names that were rarely descriptive of the image. Now, I title my images with the name of the subject and in parenthesis put my artistic name afterwards. For example, a recent picture I posted of Burney falls is titled like this, “Burney Falls (Veiled Secrecy)“.
2. Upload High-Resolution Photos
   Google wants to give it’s users the best experience possible and people generally prefer bigger images over smaller ones. If Google is trying to decide between two images of Yosemite’s Tunnel View and all things are equal except the number of pixels, the higher resolution image is going to rank above the other file in the search results. I have heard it said that it is preferred to use the IMG tag’s height and width attributes to instantly tell Google your photograph is big, but I have never used height and width attributes and I can’t see any negative effects. YMMV. Though looking at the results for an image search, Google does know how many pixels each image has regardless of the height and width attributes.
3. Use ALT and TITLE Attributes
   Inside your IMG tag, the most direct way to tell Google what the image actually contains is to write a concise sentence that fully describes the photo in either of these attributes. Now there is conflicting information about how to use these. Some people say use ALT, some say TITLE and some say to use both. The title tag has the added benefit of displaying a tooltip for the user when they mouse-over the image. Where the ALT attribute is the text used for people who use text-readers to browse the web. I personally only use the ALT attribute because I have additional information with my images rendering the tool-tip unnecessary. I also don’t want to stick the same sentence in both attributes in the off chance Google might consider that keyword padding. Google’s recent chain of “Panda” updates have been targeting duplicate content around the web and subtracting it from their index.

   

4. The text around the Photo
   This most frequently overlooked tip is hard to measure, but Google also uses the text written around the image in it’s search results and rankings. I like to write at least a paragraph about the photo. It’s another chance to use a few important keywords. Often times visitors like to read some of the back story about the image and how it was created, so the user experience is that much better.Say you’re ranking well but you’re still not getting the clicks, this text will also help boost your click through rates. In my case this paragraph of text is also used as the text snippet describing the image on Google’s own search results. So I try to craft this paragraph carefully to draw people in to actually click on the at that result and land on my website. It’s conventional wisdom to use the META description tag for this purpose, but in my experience, Google completely ignores this description.
5. Keywords in the URL
   The format of the URL can be hard to control if you’re relying on a third party gallery service like Smugmug where you have zero control over it. If you share your images in a daily blog post, the WordPress platform allows you to set the “permalinks” where the image title gets used in the URL. In my case, my gallery is custom made, so I designed it to use the image title replacing the spaces with hyphen for the URL. This reinforces what this page is actually about.This is another tip that has a human benefit. When you share a link on the net, if someone can read the URL and have some kind of clue what they’re going to see, they are more likely to click on it. So in the above example of Burney Falls, the URL to that image is, http://ericleslie.com/image/Burney-Falls-(Veiled-Secrecy).
   
6. Keywords in the Filename
   This is a very often overlooked detail. I don’t know how many images you see floating around the internet with names like DSC_3022.jpg. Just do a Google Image search and hover over the results for page one. The link just under the image is the file-name.  Look at the Google Image Resultsfor Burney Falls and you’ll see every single image on the first page has the keywords “Burney Falls” in their file-name.While this may seem like a hassle,  if you use Lightroom, this is a no-brainer. You are already titling, captioning and keywording your images in Lightroom right? If you’re doing that, you can setup a filenaming template in your export presets so it will name the image with the title you gave it. Once that’s setup, you don’t have to think about it ever again.

In the past I used to believe that SEO was all about gaming the system and tricking Google to artificially boost your rankings. Today I believe it’s merely a handful of techniques you can use as a website owner to make it clear to Google what each page is about so it can properly rank it in it’s search results. If you can put all six of these tips together, you will have one knock-out punch. At that point you can just focus on creating new images for Google to serve up to our hungry audience. An audience that consumes photography at a rate never before seen in history. It’s not too late to get out in front and lead the way.

It was a stark contrast with the crowds found all over the valley. Here, I had this view all to myself.

To get a limited edition print or download a hi-res copy, click here.

So what should I do to get my business off the ground? Should I find all the hot blogs and see what they’re saying. Should I subscribe to a podcast that has really awesome sounding advice. How about I take a workshop and learn from someone who knows what he’s doing? Perhaps I should buy the book from the guy that says he got rich using the same techniques from the book and is now getting rich off the book about how to get rich.

Here is where I stand. I’ve been studying this subject from many of the sources I listed above and I have noticed patterns leading to a general consensus for how things are to be done. There are certain tracks you can take to become various kinds of photographers. They are almost pre-written formulas like a treasure map leading you right to the buried gold. I think for any business to succeed, they need to sell a product that is uniquely different from the rest. It needs to be the best and it needs to stand out from the crowd of competitors.

Now lets compare running a business to simply creating great photographs. Go ask 100 photographers if they strive to be unique and stand out from the crowd and you will find a vast majority work towards this end. Ok, throw into the mix social media and blogs where the majority of photographers share their work. They can have a million different motivations for sharing, but everyone of them prefers to hear praise and constructive criticism over the mean spirited, unwanted and hurtful feedback. It’s a barometer that lets us know if we’re are on track.

We seek the approval of our peers and this has a HUGE impact on the photography we produce and share on the internet. If we want more likes and re-tweets, we’ll start producing work that the majority people deem as a good photograph. Hopefully you’re starting to see how this directly contradicts our initial goal of producing unique art that has great impact. Now please don’t done get me wrong. There is a place and a time to have mentors and “rules” to go by that can help you produce stronger photographs when you’re beginning, but there is a point when you start to figure out the balance and the mechanics of the pedals on your bike. That point when you’re ready to remove those training wheels and start experimenting. You learn how to pre-visualize an image before you press the shutter and have a process that takes the picture from your mind’s eye and creates a matching work of art. At some point in order to truly be unique, you need to pre-visualize images in a manner that doesn’t follow the status quo. It has to reflect you because you are what you bring to the table that really is unqique. In general, you’re going to find the community won’t be receptive to it, initially. It will take time for you to establish your style among your peers and you have to grow thick skin and learn to roll with the criticism.

This applies to most anything, including running a photography business. I’ve made the pledge to share all of my decision along the way, to help encourage those of you who might be thinking of doing what I’m trying to do.  Just like the skills I’ve learned in creating a photograph, I’m having to create practices for running a photography business. I’ve started with a TON of research and case studies looking into many different careers as models. The patterns I’ve seen have been clear. There is probably 90% of the photographers out there running their business in what I’d consider the classic model. They tend to ignore the day we live in with the internet and this culture of sharing having a death grip on their copyrights thinking that is their life-blood. It’s a common story among them about how the industry has changed and there just isn’t money out there like there used to be. They resent the changes in the industry.

The other ten percent are breaking out of the mold and seeking new ways to share their work fully embracing the changes. Ultimately getting their names in front of the eyes of people who still purchase photography. So I have set myself up to be different. One thing I really fear in doing things my way is coming off as some kid who is just a rebellious punk. The majority  group of pro photographers have been doing things a certain way for years and they have ideas on what works and what doesn’t. So when I come along, I’m breaking this mold and by sharing these decisions with everyone, I’m inviting criticism.

Some things I do know for sure. Like any one of my photographs, I have pre-visualized how I want my business to work. My job is to make this come to fruition. Yes I’ll make mistakes, but I’m not going to give up. I’ll keep iterating and trimming the fat and I’m going to enjoy every step of the way. I’m not going to succumb to Groupthink that is prevalent in the online photography community.

Yosemite Falls

Another shot from the land of a million reflections aka Yosemite. Yosemite is one of the bigger touristy attractions so I kind of avoided it, but how could I pass up a shot like this?

I’m still a Landscape guy. Nature is still my first love and it will always be my top priority. I will continue to create fine-art photographs that will be available to license and get printed. I wanted to teach workshops. While this might happen on occasion, I came to the realization that I want to be a photographer, not a teacher. I would much rather organize a public photowalk and hangout with all of you as equals where we can all learn from each other. So workshops are on the back burner.

Now the challenge was to carefully weave shooting weddings in with my specifically Landscape branded website. I will have many tweaks to make over the coming days to enhance my SEO for local searches. I’m going to be relying heavily on search and social media to spread the word. Here are some things I had to consider when I started making changes.

Every wedding I shoot will always have Crystal there with me as a second shooter. We each have our own personally branded websites, so we decided to keep them seperate and work together to have a cohesive product that’s sold from both websites. Her website is getting a facelift and will be finished soon. Here, I have created a couple new pages. There is a new People menu item. That takes you to a slideshow of some images and gives a brief introduction to the services we offer. There it links to a very detailed pricing page where it outlines all of our totally awesome services with clearly labelled prices.

One last bit is a new domain name that I registered to connect both RideAndSee.com with EricLeslie.com, LesliePhotos.com. It’s powered by Smugmug so we get all the benefits that come with their service. Things like unlimited image hosting, Lightroom Integration and it handles all the print sales and fulfillment. This will have minimal branding. It’s biggest purpose will be to have a place to send clients to view their images and buy prints.

Thanks for reading this far. To help get this new venture started, I’d really appreciate it if you share it on your favorite social network. Good night

©Crystal Leslie

In comes my brother in law who was getting married and he asked Crystal and me to shoot his wedding. We agreed with the stipulation that we couldn’t guarantee anything and they graciously accepted. The panic then set in. Yeah, we know how to setup a composition and understand exposure, but posing and lighting not so much. I started experimenting with my lighting and quickly learned we needed to work with light to get really exciting images. We invested in some wireless triggers and umbrellas to shoot our Speedlights through and practiced the whole month leading into the wedding.

Crystal planned out everything to a T. We made a list of all the poses we wanted and organized them into a schedule to coincide with the wedding plans. One of the biggest challenges we had to face was the ceremony itself. It was at night and candle lit. There was some auxiliary stage lights, but it was dark. We needed some pro glass, so we rented a pair of 24-70 f/2.8 lenses. This decision ultimately made all of this possible.

It was a long and exhausting day, but the amazing thing was how much Crystal and I enjoyed it. My good friend Aaron Patterson who is a seasoned wedding photographer warned me that my first wedding would be the worst and that it would get better. He was trying to encourage me and to expect mistakes. We made a few but overall, we rocked it. Everything went so smooth and we had so much fun doing it.

In the end it came down to a month’s worth of preparation and practice, having the right gear and most of all an open mind with a good attitude. Shooting with my wife was kind of scary in and of itself because we have slightly different tastes and opinions on how things need to get done. Yet somehow we gelled and it all came together in the end.

So guess what? I want do it again.

I’m not going to give up on my landscapes and licensing that kind of work. I’m just going to seek out wedding and portrait clients now that I know that I don’t actually hate shooting people. I’ve been approached in the past and I turned that work down. In my initial Going Pro post, I suggested I’d teach work shops. That’s looking less likely now and more likely weddings and portraiture.

Weddings are a very crowded market and I’m going to work very hard to differentiate myself from the rest. Using light is going to be central for my work. In my area, it isn’t very common. I also want to mix in some of my landscape experience bring it in together giving clients some truly unique work. The challenging will be to carefully craft my new branding. I don’t want to throw away everything I’ve already worked for yet I am going to selling something that you don’t see mixed together often.

I am completely biased but I think the photos came out fantastically! Here’s a link to the whole album if you want to see more. How many of you guys love shooting landscapes and think the idea of shooting a wedding is too scary? Perhaps you’ll rethink it.

I tried to shoot Horsetail Falls during that window where the setting sun hits just the falls creating this molten lava look. This winter has been so dry, Horsetail wasn’t more than a seep, but it still looks cool with the light hitting El Capitan. I got the pleasure of meeting up with Lori Hibbert and Jeffrey Sullivan who are very familiar with the park and showed me some great spots I would not have found alone. So thanks you two!

Tonight, I’m sharing my sunset shot from the classic Tunnel View overlooking the valley. To the left you have the mighty El Capitan and on the right is Bridalveil Falls with Cathedral Rock. Further back is Half Dome. Coming into Yosemite, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about shooting in the crowds of people. Having to setup close to other photographers competing for a view of the landscapes. While it was busy like I feared, people were cordial and real pleasure to meet. People who all share the same passion I do, so there was an instant connection with these total strangers. So the competition quickly turned into comradery.

There’s no denying the fact that the internet revolves around social. It is only going to get more tightly integrated when things like Facebook’s “Frictionless Sharing” becomes more widespread. So as a website owner, how do I utilize all of this social power for my own evil deeds? Sure, I’ve got social buttons so it’s super easy to +1 and “Like” all of my content, but that so 2010. The latest craze has been to bring the social networks to your website by generating conversations around your content instead of people simply leaving comments.

This is where LiveFyre come into play. At the core, they are a hosted comment service. The magic lies in how it’s tightly integrated with Facebook and Twitter (hopefully Google+ in the future). You can @ mention all of your Twitter and Facebook contacts to bring them into the conversation here on my website. You can share good comments on Facebook and Twitter. To top it all off, it will bring posts from Facebook and Twitter into your page where it belongs using what they call SocialSync.

It isn’t perfect yet. For example, I have a site that is half custom built and half WordPress. So on their end, they consider this two separate websites and is treated like two separate installs. So I have two places to maintain settings and moderate comments. They say this is getting worked on. The other problem I have is with SocialSync. While it’s great that it’s snatching all the posts from Facebook and Twitter and bringing them into my website, it’s just there for reference. You cannot interact with those posts and tweets at all. You can’t “Like”, or reply to those conversations. You can’t even follow a link back to Facebook to enter into the conversation there. This is a new feature and they are iterating their product quickly so I suspect I won’t have to wait long.

So LiveFyre has completely replaced the standard WordPress comment system with a simple plugin and that worked flawlessly. For the rest of my site, I just had to drop a JavaScript code snippet into the pages where I wanted to enable commenting. So now you are free to leave comments on all of my photos and tutorials. Cool! So I look forward to hearing from you. Be sure to leave feedback on my photos, I love hearing from you!

 Daily Photo: Listen Carefully

Hiking along somewhere new, you kind of paint this picture in your mind what you think where you’re hiking is going to look like. So walking along through the forest, my senses are on overdrive looking for a waterfall. I know there is a creek below the trail, but the sound got louder and louder and I saw something of a deer path going down the steep hillside down. This is what I found and assumed it was the lower falls on Brandy Creek. I’m still not sure, but I’ve learned to always trust my instincts when I get an urge to turn a path or hike her or there, sometimes it pays off with sights like this.