Here's an overview of all the photos that I blogged during 2008.
Click the thumbnail to go directly to the corresponding blog post.

As the end of 2008 is getting closer, I've been looking back at my blog. It was started in early 2008, and the first post was published on the 3rd of February.
At the time, my intention was to share some of my photos, as well as posting articles, reviews and tutorials on various photography-related topics.



I'm intending to continue in a similar direction, with photos, articles, reviews and tutorials. In 2008, I've also enjoyed a number of photoshoots with friends and colleagues, and hope to do the same in 2009, with our first shoot already planned for early January.

Feel free to leave comments if there's any particular topics you would like me to write about in the future, and I'll see what I can do.



Using wordle.net, I generated the word cloud below, using the text of all blog posts this year.
The size of each word is proportional to the number of times that word appeared in the text of the blog posts.




Below a summary of the 15 most popular posts during 2008 (based on the number of page views between 1 January 2008 and 28 December 2008, as reported by Google Analytics):

1. Tutorial: Faking Tilt-Shift - a Tutorial for Realistic Miniaturised Photos (posted 2008-03-21)
   This tutorial provides a detailed description on how to create realistic looking miniaturised photos in Photoshop. Most tilt-shift tutorials rely on a blur applied to a simple gradient, but this tutorial takes it to the next level, showing how to create complex gradients to provide a much more realistic result.
   
   
2. Review: Canvas Print from RedBubble.com (posted 2008-07-16)
   Ever wondered exactly what a RedBubble.com canvas print looks like? This post provides a review of a large canvas print purchased from RedBubble.com, along with plenty of photos of the canvas print.
   
   
3. Rant: Health Issues with Compact Fluoros (posted 2008-04-08)
   With Australians being forced to switch from incandescent globes to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), this post takes a closer look at the issues relating to the mercury content of CFLs.
   
   
4. Photos: Young Gouldian Finches (posted 2008-02-24)
   Some photos of our first batch of baby Gouldian finches, after they ventured out of the next for the very first time.
   
   
5. Tutorial: Making Bookmarks With Your Photos (posted 2008-04-27)
   Producing bookmarks with your photos provides another mechanism for you to share your photos, and can also provide a way to publicise your website. Bookmarks can also make attractive gifts, and can easily be slipped inside an envelope along with a card. This tutorial describes how you can easily make bookmarks with your own photos.
   
   
6. Review: Canon 50D - First Impressions (posted 2008-10-06)
   Initial thoughts and comments on the Canon EOS 50D, after having owned it for a week. Having upgraded from a Canon 350D to the 50D, I also describe the key differences between the 350D and 50D.
   
   
7. Info: New Toy - Cokin Z-Pro ND Grad Filter Kit (posted 2008-07-29)
   A quick look at the Cokin Z-Pro ND Grad Filter Kit that I purchased.
   
   
8. Photo: Port Arthur Penitentiary (posted 2008-06-12)
   One of the many photos taken during our Tasmanian holiday, this shows an unusual view of the Penitentiary at Port Arthur, underneath a rainbow.
   
   
9. Photo: Photographer Silhouette (posted 2008-04-02)
   Taken during a photoshoot in South Perth, this is a silhouette of one of the other photographers, showing him composing a shot near the river edge.
   
   
10. Info: Street Photography and People's Privacy (posted 2008-07-24)
    A discussion about photographers rights, after I received an email requesting that I remove a photo from my online gallery.
    
    
11. Photos: Spider Macros (posted 2008-04-06)
    A collection of four photos of an Australian Garden Orb Weaver spider, taken with one of my favourite lenses, the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. This was the first time I've tried macro photos of a spider, and I was quite happy with the results.
    
    
12. Info: Getting Your Kids Started in Photography (posted 2008-12-08)
    I introduced my children to photography at a fairly young age, and in this post, I share some ideas and suggestions for getting your children into photography.
    
    
13. Info: Selling Photos For Publication - How Much Should You Charge? (posted 2008-11-18)
    If someone wants to buy one of your photos for use in a publication, how do you decide how much you should charge for the use of your photo?
    
    
14. Photo: Narrows Bridge into South Perth (tilt-shifted) (posted 2008-02-26)
    A tilt-shift photo of the Narrows Bridge and South Perth, taken from Kings Park, and digitally tilt-shifted.
    
    
15. Photo: Canon 50D Firmware 1.0.3 Available (posted 2008-10-28)
    Canon released updated firmware for the Canon 50D, with the intention of resolving an issue some people were having with the 50D throwing "Err 99" errors.

I have been tagged by Nick, so here's my responses to "The Five Things Meme":


5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago

1. enjoying the first few weeks of having our first child
2. working at a power station in Dampier
3. working on a minesite in Collie
4. working in a client's office in Brisbane
5. attending a training course in Sydney

(As you can see, I was away from home a lot during October / November 10 years ago. Of the 10 weeks after my son was born, I was away from home for 5 of those weeks.)


5 Things On My To-Do List Today

1. lots of things to do at work
2. debug some issues with my blog, caused by an upgrade I did last night
3. respond to some emails
4. finish this blog post
5. get to bed on-time, as I have an early start tomorrow morning

5 Snacks I Like

1. chocolate
2. mixed nuts
3. dried banana
4. fruit
5. dutch licorice

5 Things I Would Do If I Was A Millionaire

1. donate to our church
2. pay off my debt
3. invest
4. travel overseas with my wife and kids
5. travel interstate with my wife and kids

5 Places I Have Lived (For Various Lengths Of Time)

1. Launceston
2. Brisbane
3. Perth
4. hotels in various locations while travelling for work
5. dongas on various mine sites

5 Jobs I Have Had

1. roof carpenter's assistant
2. trade's assistant for electrical contracting company
3. project engineer
4. applications specialist
5. consultant

5 People I Tag

1. Adrian
2. Alex
3. Bert
4. Neil
5. Shawn

Here's a summary of the 10 most popular posts during the month of July:

• Review: Canvas Print from RedBubble.com (posted 2008-07-16)
  Ever wondered exactly what a RedBubble.com canvas print looks like? This post provides a review of a large canvas print purchased from RedBubble.com, along with plenty of photos of the canvas print.
• Photo: Young Gouldian Finches (posted 2008-02-24)
  Some photos of our first batch of baby Gouldian finches, after they ventured out of the next for the very first time.
• Tutorial: Faking Tilt-Shift - a Tutorial for Realistic Miniaturised Photos (posted 2008-03-21)
  This tutorial provides a detailed description on how to create realistic looking miniaturised photos in Photoshop. Most tilt-shift tutorials rely on a blur applied to a simple gradient, but this tutorial takes it to the next level, showing how to create complex gradients to provide a much more realistic result.
• Photo: Port Arthur Penitentiary (posted 2008-06-12)
  One of the many photos taken during our Tasmanian holiday, this shows an unusual view of the Penitentiary at Port Arthur, underneath a rainbow.
• Photo: Paddle Steamer Decoy (posted 2008-02-10)
  The Paddle Steamer Decoy is an iconic paddle steamer in South Perth, and this photo was taken early one morning, with the city of Perth providing a background skyline on the other side of the Swan River.
• Photo: Photographer Silhouette (posted 2008-04-02)
  Another photo taken during the same photowalk as the Paddle Steamer photo listed above, this is a silhouette of one of the other photographers, taken while he was composing a shot near the river edge.
• Photo: Spider Macros (posted 2008-04-06)
  A collection of four photos of an Australian Garden Orb Weaver spider, taken with one of my favourite lenses, the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. This was the first time I've tried macro photos of a spider, and I was quite happy with the results.
• Photo: Sydney Opera House Before Dawn (posted 2008-03-31)
  A photo of the well-known Sydney Opera House, taken just before dawn on a cold and windy day during a photowalk with some local OCAU Sydney photographers.
• Rant: Health Issues with Compact Fluoros (posted 2008-04-08)
  With Australians being forced to switch from incandescent globes to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), this post takes a closer look at the issues relating to the mercury content of CFLs.
• Photo: Mozzies Beware! (posted 2008-03-27)
  This photo, taken during a dinner party at a friend's house, is a simple composition, with the a Citronella burner starkly silhouetted against the blue sky.

As a regular user of Google Reader (Google's web-based RSS reader), I've become used to the keyboard shortcuts it supports to speed up navigation.
(If you use Google Reader, and were not aware of the keyboard shortcuts, hit "shift-?" in Google Reader to view the complete list of valid shortcuts.)

I decided to implement something similar in my photo gallery, to allow keyboard shortcuts to be used to navigate through all photos in a gallery.

Some quick Googling turned up plenty of sample javascript code for implementing this functionality. I ended up using sample code from a page titled Handling Keyboard Shortcuts in JavaScript.

After a bit of coding, my photo gallery now supports the following keyboard shortcuts when viewing the contents of a gallery:

j	next image
k	previous image
shift-j	next page
shift-k	previous page

These use of the j and k shortcut keys is similar to that in Google Reader, and is very familiar to me, as j and k are used in vi (a linux text editor) for moving to the next and previous lines.