Category — gregorybrine.com
The Gregory Brine .com website is getting a re-design and re-developement
This site is going through a bit of a re-vamp at the moment. The old site, at www.gregorybrine.com has been live for a while now, and I felt like re-developing it to have a more web 2.0 design and feel.
A while ago, I built a demonstration version of gregorybrine.com using Ajax. The reason being that I wanted to test a idea I had for a very fast, highly interactive site that we could use for Wiliam’s new web site. The site needed to make heavy use of Ajax and also be search engine friendly. No easy task. That demonstration version has been sitting on my computer for a while now, and I finally started having the ideas I wanted to really push.
So what’s going to be new? Well, I can’t tell you everything yet, as there’s some under the hood stuff I’m doing that I don’t think anyone’s done before. Then there’s the URLs. I wasn’t happy with some of the old ones as they had spaces and non-compliant characters in them. The new site doesn’t have these, and the SEO benefits are already shinning through. The site’s been up for about 3 weeks, and it’s already getting traffic from Google, and hopefully With my planned updates, that’ll increase further still.
The design you see is not the design. It was simple a design I put in to highlight the highly modular nature of the site, and how elements can be updated on the fly. The final one will be something special I hope - I have an amazing web designer helping me get it just right.
Watch this space… I’ll be updating the technology over the coming weeks, and hopefully start designing it too.
And the old URL will soon be pointed to be pointed to the www.gregory-brine.com content
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January 6, 2008 No Comments
10 Things I’ve learnt about Travel Photography
This isn’t meant to be a hard and fast guide to taking photos. It’s more a list of things I’ve come to realise. Looking through my photos, you’ll see a couple of gems, but, the majority are just moments. But, if you put all those moments together, it’s something special to me, and those that were there with me.
- Always have a camera
This seems really obvious, but it’s a mistake I still make. Get yourself a small camera that fits in your bag. I have an Olympus Mju that’s served me well for the last two years, and has survived 6 months of backpacking. - If you think it might make a good or memorable picture, take it!
How many times have you seen something, thought about it, and then carried on? One of the joys of digital photography is that you can take a lot of photos and edit them later. If you see something that takes your eye, even if it’s only for a moment, there’s probably a reason why you thought about it. So take it! - Format the memory card when you’ve backed it up
This is something I do automatically, but I’ve heard of people who’ve never done it, and it’s resulted in them losing most of their photos. I doubt this would always happen, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
- Take lots of photos
Digital photography is a blessing as it allows you to take more shots than you can ever keep, and delete the bad ones. Hopefully you won’t take bad ones, but everyone makes mistakes. - Mini camera tripods are worth their weight in gold
About 2 years ago, I started playing with long exposures, and I suddenly discovered how much better my photos became if I used something to rest on. Then I got a mini-tripod and have never looked back! Even the simple shots come out better, and it’s such a simple thing to leave in with your camera - or even attached to the camera. I personally use an Octopus style tripod. - Set-up somewhere to upload your photos
In this day and age, it’s so easy to get your photos online. Sites such a flickr and myspace make it so easy to let your friends know what you’re upto. But, make sure you do it before you leave, and let your friends know what the address is! - It’s not always about the camera
I have a Canon 20D Digital SLR and an Olympus Mju. Obviously an SLR isn’t the most practical thing to be carried around, and you’ll be amazed how good the shots that the pocket camera’s take now. When I was travelling in Asia, I opted for my pocket camera, and was so happy with the shots it took! - Don’t forget the timer or be afraid to ask strangers to take group shots for you
This is one I always forget, and I’m hoping that by writing it down and telling everyone to do it, I’ll remember myself! I look through the shots taken for me, of me with the people I met, and I wish I’d asked more people to do it for me! - Get a tough little camera
That’s an odd comment, but I say it as I look at my pocket camera and each scratch, dent or blemish reminds me of stumbling on the steps of some amazing temple, or crazy night’s drinking on Khao San Road. Part of the appeal of the Mju was that it’s semi-waterproof and has a toughened case, much like Canon Ixus cameras - I had a tough choice between them, especially being a Canon fan! - Smile!
Now that’s a cheesy comment - no pun intended. But I look back through some of my photos, and the number of times we look dead-pan in them is frightening! That look just doesn’t convey the feelings at that moment. Even if you think you’re grin looks silly after, it’ll still make you, and those looking at your photos smile with you. Trust me on this.
This list is written quite off the top of my head. I’ve been meaning to write something along these lines, and with my trip to Japan, and then home coming up, I was keen to get my creative juices flowing again. I hope it works for you too!
May 14, 2007 No Comments
Website passes the 10,000 mark
For the first time this month, my website’s had more than 10,000 visitors in a month. Actually, it passed 12,000 too (If anyone cares for precision, it was 12,478). Ok, so all my friends are now groaning, but to me, that’s a pretty impressive number for a personal website that’s not selling anything.
So why do i think this happened? Partly due to re-writing the code of the site to be more search engine friendly. Partly re-writing the content to be more relevant - and to those who keep pointing it out, one day I will fill in the gaps. Posting articles and comments on forums and news sites around the web. And I’ve been updating the site a lot more regularly. Writing blogs, uploading images, just trying to keep the site fresh and interesting to those that follow, and perhaps a few out there just randomly wandering the web.
So, what’s next for www.gregorybrine.com? Well, when I get time, I’m starting to re-write it in Microsoft’s Asp .NET. As part of that, the galleries are getting an overhaul, and some friends are interested in combining sites - that could be interesting and fun. Oh, and I might move it to new, cheaper hosting… We’ll see. It’s all about having time, and a desire to finish at work, then sit in front of a computer doing more of the same… Hmmm… Let me think about that… I think I just heard the pub calling….
January 3, 2007 No Comments
