I’m a bit of a photography junkie myself, so when I saw the opportunity to review a weblog that the author thought fell into the photography category.
One of the highlights for this site, for me, was the sidebar. It’s more than just the typical sidebar including links to other weblogs, or a bunch of webrings, or something that really doesn’t relate to the site at hand. The links here direct you to the inspiration behind his love for photography, as well as give you a small insight into some of his past photography experience. His “favorite gear” link, which can be found amongst the many links down the right side of the weblog, gives you an idea of the equipment he’s shooting all of his pictures with. There’s also a section devoted to some of his prestigious awards that’s worth checking out.
The archives are listed on an individual basis, starting back in January 2002. Jeff uploads a new gallery or section of pictures a few times a month, so it’s not a site that’s updated daily. The thing I didn’t like all that well about the archives is the way that the picture previewing capability is completely missing. Instead of seeing a thumbnail shot to get an idea what you might be looking at, you’re taken to a directory on Jeff’s domain where you have to click on each file name to see what the picture might be. There are times when the file name is descriptive enough to give you an idea of what you might be looking at.
Some of the different galleries that are set up, though, are set up in a very nice fashion. There’s a next and previous link beneath each picture, as well as a link to click back home to the main page. The galleries that are set up like this also provide viewers with a small caption. I like this option much better then rifling through a directory of file names.
The layout of the site isn’t anything out of the ordinary. The javascript-rollover effect that’s used in the top menu bar is a nice touch, and the way the entries are set apart from one another make things easy to read. The site’s easy to navigate, and everything seems to be working just fine.
The galleries that are listed at the very top of the site are ones that the author could probably claim as some of his best work. Some of the photos in these categories have been tweaked with PhotoShop, some of them have just been taken with a camera that’s been picked up at a garage sale for mere pocket change, or just some really great pictures he’s taken of people or places that he loves.
As far as photoblogs go, I enjoyed this one. The format in some galleries, as I’ve mentioned, is a bit cumbersome, but if you’re just looking for some really nice photos, this is a great place to start.
Post-nuclear Art