5. The risk of boringness Using too much text can overwhelm your readers. Something like a word overdose Imagine reading your textbook or LOTR without stop for one whole day, you can just quickly tire out and feel bored Pictures between lengthy posts give your readers a subconscious mind break If you just keep spamming words, your readers would eventually associate your blog with boringness and leave your blog And I would I have probably lost you by now…
24. Just some pointers Most bloggers use them sparingly To produce a good video, at least some editing must be involved Movie maker (basic), iMovie (basic), Premiere pro (advanced) Vlogger (Youtube) Dance moves
Hi my name is Luke and today I’ll be speaking on using pictures and videos to spice up your blogWill be touching more on pictures and little bit on videoSome of you might think that blog is everything about writingHowever, if you have skills in pictures, you can have an edge
Before we know how, we must know the why
Help to bring your point acrossThere are things that you can only say using a pictureThe ice-cream for example (food, pretty girls – Megan Fox)For example, Megan FoxYou all know how hot she is right? But what if you never see her before and I were to intro her in my blog? No matter what I say, you can’t get the idea of her hotness
No matter how hot I say she is, without a picture, it wouldn’t do her any justiceLanguage is somehow limited
As the saying goes, we humans are visual creaturesNot everyone can stand long lengthy word posts Like what I said in the previous slides (which you might have not been able to catch)…Pictures give a break and keeps readers interested
Now that we know the why, let me talk about the how of using pictures in blogBasically the things you need to know about regarding pictorial usage in blogs
Basically there are many sources where you can get pictures for your blogFirst, of course is for you to produce the pictures yourselfSecondly, you can use the world wide web
If you’re good at drawing, you can draw.. Draw using paper or a software then upload to your blog, doesn’t have to be good as long as you’re able to use it to convey what your messageAlternatively, if you have a camera, you can snap pictures tooChoice depends on what you want to convey and your preference
This is one of the example of a blog that uses drawing (comic) Not exactly the manga or professional comic style but sufficient enough to entertain
- Another example, better drawing. If you love drawing, designing or a comic style of blog, maybe you could do something like this- It takes some talent and some software and hardware to draw like this
But of course, not everyone can draw, people like me for example. Can’t even draw a stickman properlyWhich is why I prefer to take photos
This is an example of a photoblog
-If you have been to a blogger’s outing before, you would see almost all bloggers holding oneFor the image, look more high class and professional (imagine going to an event)Undeniably, it takes better quality photos under almost all conditionsAnd it gives you the ability to take almost all kind of photos, as long as you have the money (lens, body)
But everyone can afford a DLSR. Lots of money, a steeper learning curve (too many things regarding the skills) and not everyone can master itAnd you can still take good photos when you have a decent enough camera and sufficient know how
These are the example of things you need to know when it comes to taking pictures for your blogKnow your subject: Plan your post with the photos, what you want to write, relevant to postLighting: What to see if there’s no light, light must always be from the backComposition: When people look at your picture, they know what is your focusThis is for when taking photo
Example of bad lighting photoLighting is at the back
Example of a poor composition photoToo scattered, no real focus
And if you have some photoshop skills, these are the extra stuff you can doMake your photos stand outI choose to be funny, you chance choose to enhance your photo or make yourself look prettier
But of course,photoshop is expensive, also steep learning curve, for professionalsThere are other more user friendly and easier to learn applicationsGives your photos effects and feel
When you don’t want to draw or take pictures, you can use pictures already on the web Photos, cartoons or demotivational posters are among the examples you can findI use Google images the most, easiest and fastestHowever, there are some copyright issues to be concerned about, if you’re afraid, give credit to where you’ve taken the picture from (but normally won’t have problem, I’m still talking in front of you)
however, never copy the url of the image because if the url is changed, the image is gone. And it will redirect away from your blogDownload to your computer and re-upload it if canBlogger and Wordpress have uploading servicesGive credits if the owner of the website you’ve gotten the picture from requires it
Ultimately, it’s really up you on what you want to useThe entire area of imagery for blogging is huge, different types of images (pictures, drawings, photos) suit different types of blogsYou can choose to be serious or you can just include relevant imagesAs long as your images are able to support ur blog, it is enoughYou’re not a comic drawer or photographer
