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Original poster

What comes first??

36 replies

stitchthis · 07/08/2011 21:01

The pictures or the text? I often blog based on a picture I have taken...I'd be interested in what everyone else does?

OP posts:

Tee2072 · 07/08/2011 21:07

The text. Without words, there is, IMHO, no blog. Yes, yes, the web is a visual medium, I get that. But there are enough pictures on it!

This is why I never do Silent Sunday or whatever it's called. I am not a photographer. I'm a writer. And a designer.

The exception to that is my professional blog, which is about design. That I may start from a picture. But rarely.

FlamingoBingo · 07/08/2011 21:13

It depends on your blog. If you're doing a photo blog, then photos first. If you're writing articles, then you choose photos to illustrate the article. Words first for me - I'm a writer, not a photographer :D

MmeGuillotine · 08/08/2011 09:01

The pictures often come first (unsurprising as Madame Guillotine started life as an art history blog) but if the text comes first then I find that I usually spend twice as long choosing the pictures to go with it as I did doing the writing.

FlamingoBingo · 08/08/2011 09:41

I do do that, Mme - so frustrating! I'd love to have no photos at all, but I konw blogs without photos look shite, so I do make the effort to find some :)

PeppermintPanda · 08/08/2011 10:09

So far, mine always start with a picture, and that leads to a little bit of waffle. I'd like to say that I'm working on the basis that a picture speaks a thousand words and I don't want to clutter up the web with more words, but in reality, I'm just not very good with words! And since my blog is about my pictures, it wouldn't be very interesting without them.

MmeGuillotine · 08/08/2011 13:35

Oh yes, 'no pictures' is pretty high up on my list of things that turn me off a blog!

FlamingoBingo · 08/08/2011 13:49

When you blog frequently like I do, then thank goodness for Flickr users who allow people to use their photos for free!

Original poster

stitchthis · 08/08/2011 14:35

Yes, that's another thing I worry wonder about - making sure you don't fall foul of copyright. I always link back to source - is that enough? It's one of the reasons I use my own amateur wobbly badly lit homespun snaps.

Funnily enough I am not aware of my images being plaguarised

OP posts:

MmeLindor. · 08/08/2011 15:34

Hmm. I have never thought about it that way.

If it is post about a place that I have visited (like the Scotland ones) then I have an idea which pictures I would like to use, but write the post first then insert the pics. I may tweak the post so that I can include a particular photo.

When I am writing a rant or discussion piece (like today's post on maths in schools), I search for an appropriate photo and pop it in last.

So, yes. I guess I write first then put photos in.

CaptainNancy · 08/08/2011 16:24

Now now Tee- we all know you don't have enough pictures on your blog!

I think it's dependent on what you're writing about tbh- if you're talking about your latest patchwork then obviously a decent quality close-up is a good place to start. If you're discussing the proposed re-introduction of capital punishment then the text is probably more important.

Tee2072 · 08/08/2011 17:08

I know CN! How dare I not have pictures!

And since MmeG is saying she won't even read my blog, due to it's lack of pictures, which is, of course, her right, I will ask her the question that I never got answered when another person insisted all blogs have to have pictures;

I do write about my son or other things such as that and I use pictures and videos. But I also write about my diabetes, my mental health issues and my fibro. What picture do you recommend I used for those?

And I'll add another question;

Why do 'blogs with no pictures look shite'? Are we writing comic books? Do you also only read books with pictures? How about Pepys' diary? Would it have been improved with pictures?

mymumdom · 08/08/2011 17:12

I like to have a mix. I like taking photos, so do do The Gallery and Silent Sunday But I'm no photographer so have plenty of posts that are text only.

MmeLindor. · 08/08/2011 17:13

I don't know, Tee but I do have to agree with MmeG that I am more likely to read a blog with pics on it.

Perhaps because it breaks up the page. I don't know. Will think about it.

I normally look for a pic that would illustrate what I am writing about. So would use a medical theme

ghostwritermummy · 08/08/2011 17:26

I usually write the post and then spend AGES trying to find a picture to go with it. I like to break the text up and I like reading blogs set out like that too. If its a shorter post, I don't usually bother. To be honest i'm not much of a photographer so The Gallery suits me much better than Silent Sunday because you can explain your picture and there are no real rules!
XxX

Tee2072 · 08/08/2011 17:57

I guess I just don't get why a person would put a picture just to have a picture. Which is what it would be if I used a medical picture when talking about my health.

And I think all of you who don't read blogs without pictures are kissing some incredible writing.

MmeLindor. · 08/08/2011 18:05

I do read some blogs that don't have pictures, but a new blog is more likely to catch my eye if it has pics. For intstance, I enjoy this blog even though her posts are longer than I would normally read, and she has no pics.

I suppose the difference is that if a blog has really good writing, then the lack of pictures would not bother me. If a the writing is mediocre but the pics great, then I will carry on. Mediocre writing, no pics - then I have already closed the window.

MmeLindor. · 08/08/2011 18:06

And of course, I read your's Tee

Tee2072 · 08/08/2011 18:10

Well, that goes without saying MmeL!

And I guess I think if the writing is mediocre pictures aren't going to help!

FlamingoBingo · 08/08/2011 19:30

Tee - how long are your posts? Long blocks of text are difficult to read, so they need to be broken up with lots of paras and photos just help the process.

Short blog posts definitely don't need pics IMO.

And, personally, I do read blog posts whether they've got pics or not if I'm interested in them, but I know that lots of people will give up on blogs that are just lots and lots of words (not me, btw!), so I put pics in to keep people reading my blog, basically!

TrillianAstra · 08/08/2011 19:34

I just write shit, but it's quite short shit so I don't think it needs pictures unless I have actually taken a photo of an actual thing myself.

Tee2072 · 08/08/2011 19:39

See for yourself!

FlamingoBingo · 08/08/2011 19:44

Well, if you're interested in my opinion, which you may well not be , I reckon that they're nice and short and snappy. Not difficult to read at all. Do you want more traffic on your blog? What is your aim for it?

Tee2072 · 08/08/2011 19:52

My aim is to write. And then write. And then write some more.

I don't care if anyone reads it other than my mom and my brother. I write it mostly for them anyway since I moved to Belfast from the US. Anyone else reading it is just an added bonus.

My design blog, however, is for advertising my company. That isn't part of the MN Network and will be, in the next few months, SEOed, redesigned, loaded with pictures (well, it is about design!) and so forth.

Tee's Blog is just for fun.

FlamingoBingo · 08/08/2011 20:11

In that case, the photo issue isn't an...um...issue, is it? :) If the people you want to be reading it are doing so, then you've met your aim :)

I'm sorry I said blogs without photos look shite - I was wrong to do that. I meant to be disparaging about my own site, and ended up just being plain rude to anyone who doesn't put pics on! It's not my opinion - just what I've been advised.

Tee2072 · 08/08/2011 20:20

A lot of people feel that way, FB, and I don't get it. Most so called 'professional blogs' have few or no pictures, unless they relate to the topic and/or were taken by the blogger. They don't have pictures just for pictures sake.

it would never occur to me to have pictures unless there were a reason, such as my post about my clean kitchen or when I write my monthly newsletter to my son. Then pictures are appropriate.

Otherwise, I'm not going to put a picture of insulin or a crazy person just because 'blogs need pictures'.

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