Backlink Builder

Quality Backlinks are extremely important in improving your search ranking and placement within Google and other search engines. Here is a great tool that You can place on a web page or blog that will allow you're visitors or you to create great back links that are keyword generated and are within the same genre of you're website. Here it is:

Backlink Builder Enter Keyword (Theme)

Heres what it looks like on my website. If you would like the snippet of code for your'e own site here is the
link

Picasa Features

Being an amateur photographer I definitely have a need for a good photo management program to sort through all my images. I chose the totally free program called
Picasa from a little company called Google. I have tried several programs including the adobe products but just seem to love how Picasa will search you're hard drives for every image and catalog them. Later you have a chance to input keywords so that you may find photos using Googles powerful search technology.

Picasa also has some other cool features like image adjustments, red eye removal, B&W conversions and filter effects. Lastly I like the ability to make a contact sheet or collage as you can see in this example I used in my other Website Nwlandscapes.com. Give it a try you have nothing to lose.

Free Website

Want to Build a free website ?

For those of you who do not have a web presence whether you have a product to sell or just want to share thought images and ideas. I recently stumbled upon a great site called Yola formerly Synthasite.

There is no catch with this site absolutely zero hidden fees. However they will put a small ad at the footer of you're index page. This Is what I put together in just a few hours. What I like about it is the fact that you can use your Google Ads here to generate income without a web hosting expenditure. You can also sell products here using Paypal

Sure there are drawbacks like a slow server lack of scripting choices and the use of widgets gives the sites a somewhat unprofessional appearance.

I recommend this site if you truly want to build a free Website for yourself or small business.

Oregon Photo Ops

I have found another opportunity for Photo Ops on the Upper Clackamas River photographing the onslaught of rafters and whitewater kayakers that come down. This is a great opportunity to get great action shots from the bank and to practice and hone you’re skills for action sports. If you check various sites like the Upper Clackamas Whitewater Festival They have an annual whitewater event that brings many photographers out.

Widgets

I stumbled upon this pretty cool site that allows the user to choose from several different widgets ( a portable chunk of code) to display photographs in a fun clean artful way. All widgets are free but allow only limited photos. You may purchase the Widget for a nominal fee in order to display many more images. The site is called goodwidgets.com and you can also customize size, duration, and accent or background colors to blend with and post to your website or blog. Give it a try it's pretty fun.

Creative Photography Lighting

As the rain and winds of late have kept me homebound and unable to seek out natural landscapes of Oregon I find myself experimenting and looking for different ways to communicate something photographic. The photo you see here of the chess set was a culmination of creating an improvised setup then finishing the image in Photoshop.
For the setup I simply balanced my glass chess set between two speaker stands and the provided a black foam board as a backdrop. Next I used a lamp without the shade to place directly underneath the table with a 100-watt bulb. Finally I look for color by finding a glass vase that fit over the bare light bulb to diffuse and disperse light upward. Placing My Pentax K10d on a tripod fitted with a 16-45mm f4 lens I was able to take several second exposures allowing the sensor to pick up all that color. I worked the levels and saturation in PS Elements. I only wish I would have photographed the setup for demonstration purposes. I like the results, as the set almost looks cartoonish. Other perspectives of the board including a monochrome version can be found at ShalamarImages.com. This is proof positive that you don’t always need a flash unit or a strobe to take interesting indoor images.

Christmas wishes

Well as I sit here in my home in Oregon us Oregonians are going through one of the worst snow storms in years. It's really quite beautiful and treacherous at the same time. Once things calm down I hope to get out and take some photos to document this historic event. I just wanted to wish all a wonderful Christmas season and warmest regards. We at ShalamarImages hope all of you can be with friends and family this year enjoying this wonderful time. Let's not forget however those who sacrifice everything for us on the battlefield. Please keep our soldiers in your prayers and that everyone can come home soon.
Merry Christmas

Blurb Online bookmaking Reviews

As promised I am now ready to make an honest assessment of the services offered by Blurb.com. After receiving a copy of my book I was somewhat disappointed. I do realize that this review might be counter productive to my book sales but the truth must be told.
First off for those of you wanting to display photos for artistic and not editorial reasons I would order the largest book size that Blurb offers. Having said that, for me cost was a factor as I find these books quite pricey. Go to Costco and you can pick up a massive coffee table book for under $50.00.
The cover was nice although it was a bit sloppy and loose and will move around while trying to examine the pages. I only wish that the Content pages were of higher quality and had more of a glossy look to them. My photographs didn't look nearly as nice as when printed on My Epson home printer. Note however that there is an option to order upgraded paper with more weight and sheen to them, which I simply forgot to check when ordering, so I can’t really speak to that end.
The binding seem adequate and solid just like most store bought books. Shipping time was average about 7 –10 days for standard rates. I really liked the software and templates called book smart. It was very simple to use.
I've done some research and found that they are several companies providing online book making for the masses but couldn't really say which stands out as the leader. One of the big names seems to be Shutterfly Photo Books. All of these companies price point seems very similar and a little expensive.
To recap I would recommend Blurb to you if your willing to spend more on your book than seems reasonable and would recommend the largest size that fits you're budget. Don't forget to check the box for upgraded premium paper it's only a few dollars more and worth it. Just don’t expect to sell many books at such a high price point. Blurb does not make public its sales figures and therefore I don’t know if any books are selling through the blurb bookstore. All in all it is fun and rewarding to create a book with your own images it makes a great conversation piece. No matter which company you choose and even if to show only to friends and relatives I would recommend making your own book. Take care

New Oregon Landscape Book

We just published a new book using blurb.com . will give a recommendation after receiving the first copy. Until then you may preview and purchase this all Oregon hardcover coffee table book for yourself or a gift.

All Oregon

From Sea To Mountains

By Shawn Martin

Book Preview

Shroom Season

 

For all you photographers out there who may be in the doldrums this time of year now that we are between fall color and heavy snow fall, I offer you an alternative to your regular landscape photography. Yes it is shroom season between September and the first substantial snowfalls. Pull out you're favorite macro or any suitable lens to find theses sometimes hidden gems in the forest. I recently got back from Silver Creek State Park primarily to shoot waterfalls. The weather was a misty rain and heavy fog which enabled me to divert my attention to the forest floor. This is something very new to me but I can really see pursuing Fungi and mushrooms as a subject for the camera. As I am always looking for color the Amanita Muscaria is more along the lines of those I would prefer to shoot. You know the one, it's bulb shaped with a red top and covered with white flakes. I won't attempt to identify everything I shoot in that there are thousands of species in North America alone. I did find it interesting to learn from different Mycology websites that mushrooms are really the flowering part of Fungi and that the latter is mostly found underground.