Meta Tags for Photographers

There’s a lot of debate in the SEO community about the effectiveness of the Meta fields. In this SEO Corner, we’ll take a look at Meta tags and what they can and can’t do for your PhotoBiz site. We’ll also look at ways to maximize your Meta Tag effectiveness.

What Are Meta Tags?

Meta tags are HTML codes that are inserted into the header on a web page, generally after the title tag. The purpose of the tag is to provide information for programs such as browsers or search engine crawlers to interpret about your website. PhotoBiz natively supports three types of Meta tag in the Search Engine Optimization section: Meta Title, Meta Description, and Meta Keywords.

There are two places in your PhotoBiz site where you can build Meta information: Globally, and per page. Global meta tags can be found in your Flash/HTML Control Panel by clicking on the Search Engines icon. Meta information you add in these fields will become the default Metas for your entire site. You can also configure Meta Description and Keywords for individual pages, including your Splash Intro. These can be found generally on the Details tab of any page in your site, under Search Engine Optimization.

You do not need to fill this information out for every page of your site. If you leave these fields blank, they will use the default Meta Tag information you have set up in your Search Engines section. However, if you want to have different keywords or descriptions on specific individual pages, this is where you set them up.

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Congratulations to John Edgar!

:: Your PhotoBiz Featured Photographer of the Year (2009) :: 

With over 15,000 photographers, 2,300 votes submitted and almost 400 comments on our blog; we have determined a Featured Photographer of the Year for 2009.  John Edgar finished on top with 553 votes, edging out Josh Blumental and Michelle Moore by less than 80 votes.

Click on the above image to view his PhotoBiz Website

John’s Blog

What is a Contributing Photographer?

With over 13,000 photographers using PhotoBiz, we realized that there is an abundance of talent and knowledge here. The goal of our blog is to share our news, share industry news, and educate. With that said, what better way to educate than to utilize some of the best photographers in the world.

Visit Hiram Trillo Art-Photography

About Hiram: I have been involved with photography for about 15 yrs. I have always been infatuated with photography. From childhood I use to love the photography of the 1920’2 thru 50′s. All the images where so captivating, from cinema to the great depression every image told a story. I bought my first camera at the age of 17 from a pawn shop. Most of my early photography was shot and developed guerilla style. I would buy old film (yes film) from camera stores and would develop them at the univeristy campus darkroom even though I did not have a photography class. I got caught a few times, but I paid my way in by helping clean the room or anything they needed. I finally ended up taking a position at the university news paper and worked my way to becoming one of the sports editors. A professor at the university saw some of my photographs and added me to an art exhibition that his senior students were having at a local gallery. It was there that a soon to be bride approached me and asked of I would do a bridal portrait, I had never shot a bride before, but I gladly said yes. After that I decided to learn more about the industry and just felt in love with the idea of creating art pieces for such a great occasion.

After working and learning under some great wedding photographers I decided to do it on my own. I began honing my skills by learning everything in sight about wedding photography the likes and dislikes of it all and how I would take my artistic approach to this industry. We created a couple of stand alone pieces for a friends’ wedding soon after that we had our first client and Hiram Trillo Art-Photography was born.

Gear Does Not Equal Talent

Who are we kidding, most of us are “gear” heads.  Some of us can’t wait until the newest and most expensive gadgets hit the market.  But, when the impulse kicks in ask yourself, do I really need it?  Is my photography going to look that much better?  Most of the time the answer is no, talent has nothing to do with your gear.

We all like shiny new stuff to carry along on shoots, but is it necessary.  After a few years of shooting and much money spent, I have gotten rid of most of the equipment and gotten back to the basics.  To tell you the truth on most shoots I carry everything in a single Tenba backpack.  That is all I need.

Equipment List for an average Bridal shoot:

• Two Canon 5dMKll
• 70-200mm f2.8 SI
• 50 mm f1.2
• 24-105mm 4.0
• 24-70mm 2.8
• 2 Canon speedlites 580 EXII
• 2 Quantum turbo battery packs and cables
• Honl grid set, color Fx, and straps
• 2 Alien Bees transmitters, 2 receivers and cables
• Ray flash
• CF cards
• Color calibration target
• 3 in one reflector
• iPhone
• Mac book pro
• All inside a Tenba back pack

I do not let my equipment dictate were my talent will go.  I have learned that expensive does not equal great photos.  Sure I have new equipment, but I limit myself to the essentials (cameras and lenses).  In this business, you should be on top of the game or you can be left behind. What I am saying is, you choose your gear not the other way around.  Purchase equipment that fits you. 

The greatest tool we as photographers can invest in is education.   Learn about your trade, even as a professional one must stay updated on techniques and equipment.  With tons of information at our fingertips, it is extremely easy to keep up to date.  If you are reading this then you have a tool already working for you, your website.  Use your site as a tool, direct traffic to it, keep it updated and fresh.  Blogs and social networks are also great tools to use to direct traffic to your website as well as trying to network with for potential clients and other photographers.  Use the gear and tools you already have and use them well.  The biggest mistake photographers are making in their business is not having an understanding of their numbers.  Keep track of what comes in and what goes out.  As mentioned before, choose your gear and think about the return on every investment. 

As the economy improves there will be a large influx of new photographers.  Many of these are looking to make a quick buck.  Separate yourself by knowing your trade and putting the equipment you own to work.  There are no magic words or secrets to success. In tough economic times, diversify, expand into new markets and most of all be ready to work hard.

Our December Featured Photographer of the Month

Check out Josh’s Website

1 What equipment you do you use?
Canon: 1DSmk2, 5Dmk2, 1Dmk3, .  Lots of lenses -almost all L – series.  Old Photogenic monolights with basic modifiers (New Profoto D1 Air lights on order, I’m very excited!!!).   Mac computers with BIG monitors.   Epson printers.

2 How long have you been shooting?
Technically since high-school, 1984.  In intended to be a photographer way back then, but it took untill 2003 to only have “Photographer” under my name on my business card.   It’s always been part of my jobs, but not the only part.

3 Where are you located?
Salt Lake City , Utah.

4 What type of photography do you take?
I refuse to specialize: I do Advertising & Editorial work, but Family and Pet photography pays most of the bills.  I also do weddings, mostly because I have fun shooting them.  I try to do it all (I’m in Utah, I have to do a bit of everything.)

5 Price range of events?
Anywhere from $300 to $30,000 (…not kidding)

• Weddings: $1500>$6000+
• Family and/or Pet Sittings: $400-$2500
• Advertising & Editorial jobs: $2500-$5000+

6 When did you notice that you had passion for photography?
When I took over my mother’s 1976 Nikon Fe in ’84. 

(I have visual art sensibilities, but no real skills…I can’t draw, paint, etc… I’m really good technically and on the computer. It just fits, especially in the digital world.)

7 Is there anything unique about what you do?
I do my own thing and don’t follow the “rules.”

8 What’s the funniest thing that ever happened during a shoot?
I’ve been pee’d on, thrown-up on and one time I was attacked by a Bischon Frise named Coco.

8.5 Most awkward moment during a wedding?

Multiple Choice:

a. Dropping a 15mm fisheye lens onto concrete during the ceremony, having the aluminum lens cap fall off and roll on the floor towards the couple, making that loud, tinny, squiggling aluminum sound.

b. Splitting my pants in the crotch area (No , I don’t need to loose a few pounds… I don’t know what happened).

c. Doing both at the same wedding.

9 What’s the scariest thing that ever happened during a shoot?
Main camera malfunction…. (but I cary double-redundant systems).  Or photographing the wrong event….  don’t ask….  yes…  wrong event….

10 How many events do you photograph each year?
It varies from year to year, but last year I did the following:

• 20 commercial gigs
• 138 family sittings
• 92 pet sittings
• 11 weddings

I generated over 100,000 images in 2008.  I assume 2009 will be about the same, with the exception to my personal projects.  I’m trying hard to be more “creative,” and the only way to do that fairly is to do it on your dime.

11 Have you had to changed anything to adjust in current economic times?
No.  I stuck to my guns and promoted more.

12 Describe your shooting style?
Totally freeform:  I don’t follow the rules.  I have fun & laugh constantly.   I interact with my clients all the time.

Past Featured Photographers
2009
February :: March :: April :: May :: June :: July :: August :: September :: October  ::  November

What is It?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (“organic”) search results as opposed to paid search engine placement.

There are a number of factors that impact search engine optimization.  The most key thing to remember is that the search engines want pages with useful, relevant content that will be easy for a human reader to use.  You may have read some books or attended a seminar about SEO and heard about different things you can do to increase your page ranking.  We want to help you develop a good SEO Strategy – and equally important, avoid a bad one.
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