Registration is for Security not to get you to “Join My Club”

I want to assure everyone that the purpose of requiring registration for both the blog comments and gallery is simply one of security.

I did not require registration for the first couple of weeks and then I was “discovered” by at least one spam-bot. I really had no choice but to require registration, it was either that or shut down the blog and I don’t give up that easily.

But please rest assured that your e-mail address will not be visible to anyone on the blog and I’m an architectural photographer in the heart of the San Francisco Bay technology corridor I don’t do spam.  I do send out once monthly notices to all of my client’s about the photograph of the month but other than that any e-mails I send are strictly related to your needs and the projects you ask me to help you with.

As far as the registration at the gallery is concerned that is a different matter entirely. Proofs must remain confidential until after you have used them because my clients have first usage rights to the images I create for them. This is an industry standard “Best practice” and because of that I must password protect the proof galleries until after you take delivery of the files and use them.

By registering I can assign you to view galleries by group rather than by project, in example if your firm is ABC Design I can allow you to see all projects that i shoot for abc design and you only have to log in once. However, if I password protect each gallery individually you will have to enter your password each time you view another project. And I will have to expend considerable time and energy attempting to keep track of all the passwords manually.

I hope you understand that the registration procedures are intended to provide an acceptable level of professional security with a minimum amount of inconvenience. My goal for these upgrades is to help my clients by improving the customer service I give them. I will never send you unsolicited e-mails, or allow anyone else to gain access to the confidential, information you entrust to me.

Photographers directories

I signed up with a bunch of photographers directories and they asked for a reciprocal link. I’m happy to do link backs, really. I’ve never liked the idea of putting them on my web pages because it looks cheesy and cheap. The blog gives me a good place to put them and if any impress me I can always put them on the permanent link list.

In my studies on SEO everyone says the same thing – sign up and link back but don’t pay because unless they’re a Google or Yahoo the pay-off will be minimal. And the idea is to “get the word out” about your business, not get nickle and dimed to death.

THE PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTORY

Photography links directory at FreePhotoGallery

PhotoClicksPro-Photography Directory

PhotoDirectory

ProsPhotos – Photography Website Directory

• Photography Blog Directory

Got my first spam post

Woo Hoo! I just got my first spam post.

It was just random characters with links that didn’t go anywhere, but I’m sure they’ll be back selling viagra, or easy credit home loans soon.

On Posting Comments

I have been advised to allow comments to be posted without prior registration for two reasons: registered posting is annoying for the person posting and it will complicate my life and consume vast amounts of time for me to have to authorize each registrant.

So, with great trepidation I am going to allow unregistered users to comment, until I am given reason to change this policy.

I trust my clients, colleagues and associates to conduct themselves in a professional manner, it’s the odd surfer than stumbles upon the blog I am worried about. I can always delete offensive posts after the fact. And I will do so at the drop of a hat, after all this is my place of business.