Wednesday, October 1, 2008

A Few Blog Changes

I finally spent some time updating the blog's appearance last weekend. I added a title picture (some trees across the street from my house). Also I adjusted the colors of the background and text. Hopefully it's a little less stark and easier to read now. What do you think?

Most significantly, I started linking the photos to Flickr instead of uploading them to Blogger. Flickr has a strange user interface that takes some getting used to. But it has so many features for sharing photos I think it's worth the effort. Some of them:
  • Most of my photos are geo-tagged. So when you're looking at one on Flickr, you can click on the very small "map" link to the right of the photo (under the "Additional Information" section) and see exactly where I took it on a map. (Click on "Hybrid" on the map for a satellite view.)
  • You can click on the "All Sizes" link above a photo to see a bigger version.
  • If you have an account on Flickr, you can comment on individual pictures.
  • You can even comment on particular parts of a picture by using the "Add Note" link at the top-left of each photo. (The notes are visible when you hover over the picture with the mouse.)
Try it out! Here's a Mourning Dove I saw on Sunday that I posted a couple notes on. It's pretty neat!


I don't put all my neighborhood birding pictures on the blog, but I do put them all on Flickr. So you can also explore my "photostream" there to see more. (I tag all my photos from the NASWC area with "Neighborhood".) Have fun!

3 comments:

Chris Cowan said...

Does your camera geo-tag? I've been experimenting with Airme on the iPhone, but wish my Canon had this feature.

Mikael Behrens said...

Hi Chris,

No, my camera does not geo-tag. I have a little bluetooth GPS logger that records my path while I'm out birding. Then I found some free programs to load the tracks off the logger and use those tracks tag my photos with GPS coordinates. It all works surprisingly well.

Michael Ziegler said...

Like the new header photo! I have often thought about geo-tagging my photos on My Photographic Memories, but I haven't gotten around to learning how... Maybe I will soon.

When I walk around the neighborhood, I am noticing more varieties of birds besides doves and grackles. Thank you for that!

Mike Z