Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

Tumblr for my 365 Photo Project in 2011

For the last few years, I’ve watched with interest as friends as well as online acquaintances have embarked on and continued “365 photo” projects. I’ve held off joining this group of regular, sharing photographers, but this year I’ve decided to join the team. My 365 project will “officially” start on January 1st, but I’m getting an early start so everything is configured and in place. I’ve settled on Tumblr as my 365 project blogging platform, and setup 365.wesfryer.com as my 365 project blog using Tumblr’s instructions for a custom sub-domain. Since I already own the domain wesfryer.com and Tumblr (like Posterous) does not charge a fee to use a custom domain, it was a straightforward process to create a new “A record” in my GoDaddy.com domain manager and make my site “live.” I was actually startled at how fast this was to setup – MUCH easier than installing and configuring a new WordPress installation.

Custom Domain Test | Tumblr

There are several reasons I chose Tumblr for my 365 blog. Ryan Collinscomment on my post earlier this week, “365 Photo Blog: Posterous, WordPress or just Flickr?” was one reason. Since writing the post, “Quickblogging Options: Comparing tumblr and posterous” in May 2010, I’ve become an avid Posterous user. This has become increasingly the case as I’ve used my iPad more for media consumption as well as sharing. Although I enjoy using both the WordPress iOS app (free) and Blogpress ($3) to post to my blogs from my iPhone, the Notes application combined with email and a Posterous site remains a VERY easy way to mobile blog as well – and generally my preferred method these days. I explained this process in my November 30th post, “iPad Blogging with Posterous.” I haven’t become familiar with Tumblr in the past six months, however, and as Ryan suggested it’s a great option for a 365 project.

My Posterous Sites: 15 Dec 2010

I’m a vocal advocate for “digital sandboxes,” and this means having online spaces to create and share where the stakes are low and the peer support factor is high.

Digging Demo

I want to become more familiar with the capabilities as well as limitations of Tumblr, especially as it compares to Posterous and WordPress, so I figured the best way is to start using it regularly. A 365 photo project seems like a great way to operationalize this wish into a practical goal. The great looking, free Tumblr app for iOS (which I’ve used the past two days to post my initial photos) also looks like a great reason to use Tumblr.

Posterous iPhone App

With choices like video and audio, in addition to photos, I may include some varied multimedia in my daily posts to 365.wesfryer.com!

Posterous iPhone App Post Choices

The main disadvantage I see to Tumblr so far, compared to Posterous, is that it does not appear to support cross-posting to sites other than Twitter. With a Posterous blog I can have content cross-post to both Flickr and another blog, if desired. If Tumblr supports this functionality, I haven’t been able to find it yet. (Please let me know if it does!) It would be nice if Tumblr could auto-post to a website like 365project.org too, but I don’t think it can do that either. I’m planning to save the photos I use for my 365 project to my local hard drive as well as my Flickr account, although I’m not sure I’ll be creating a special “365 photo set” on Flickr since I don’t think Tumblr can help me do that automatically. The worst-case scenario for my project is that Tumblr will go the way of Drop.io and discontinue service, or other web 2.0 companies and go completely offline. That may happen, but it’s worth hedging my bets to learn more about Tumblr and its capabilities. I’m increasingly convinced a key litmus test for digital usability is the NUMBER OF STEPS it takes to do something. Sites like Posterous and Tumblr make sharing easier than ever, and for these reasons I think we need to consider recommending these sites to others who may be just getting started with social media and idea sharing. If you think Blogging with Blogger.com is “easy” and simple, try Posterous or Tumblr. These sites define “quick blogging” today, IMHO.

Alan Levine follows @dailyshoot on Twitter to get 365 photo inspiration. Do you have other sources of inspiration you’d recommend for 365 photographers embarking on this journey? 🙂

Several of Bob Sprankle’s amazing collection of iPhone photography apps have made it onto my wish list for Santa this year!

iPhone Photo Apps

My artistic photography skills may never match those of Marco Torres, but I know I’ll become a better photographer if I deliberately engage in photography daily and regularly share my creations with others! If you’re not already engaged in a 365 photos project, consider starting one in 2011! It’s a New Year’s Resolution that’s bound to bear some creative fruit!

Bob Sprankle and Wesley Fryer

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7 responses to “Tumblr for my 365 Photo Project in 2011”

  1. Bob Sprankle Avatar

    Wes,

    Congrats on joining the 365 project! Looking forward to your daily shares!

    Bob

  2. John Costilla Avatar
    John Costilla

    I did my 365 pic project last year. One of the must difficult and rewarding activity. I’ll share mine with you some time. I took all my photos, loaded them into iMovie, added music and sped up the preview. It was so insightful what my pics said about me and my interest. Good luck in your endeavor. John

  3. Claire Adams Avatar
    Claire Adams

    Wes,
    Coincidentally I’d decided just this morning to do the 365 in 2011. Have ordered a new camera, and am contemplating which web2.0 medium to use to share my pics with. A good friend used FB for hers this year, but I was leaning more towards flickr before I’d read this post. Will have to think hard about it before NYs.

  4. Chris Atkinson Avatar

    Wes,
    Tumblr looks like a great option. I am in the midst of deciding to and I think Tumblr is the way to go. I found this link tonight on photojo, http://pummelvision.com/ It takes your pics from Tumblr and creates a quick video of all your pics. You might want to check it out.

  5. nzchrissy Avatar

    Wes,
    I follow @dailyshoot too, as well as the RSS feeds of several bloggers who take part in the 365 project. My favourite blogger is Marie Coleman (Colemama) http://colemamasphotos.blogspot.com/
    I find her extremely inspiring and her “shoot” subjects are so simple yet so effective! Another good blog to subscribe to is Digital Photography School
    http://www.digital-photography-school.com/
    They post great tutorials for different ways of taking photos.
    Thanks for sharing Bob Sprankle’s iPhone photo apps – I’ve been getting into those too. Yesterday I downloaded Panoramatic and I love Pocketbooth. PhotoCard Lite is kinda cool too.
    I’ll be attempting the 365 challenge again – it will be my 3rd attempt to make it to the end! Love trying!

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