Web Design Blog - Web Designer Ramblings: October 2005

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo Of The Day

Here is the result of a photo opportunity I was privileged to witness in Santa Fe, New Mexico this past week. It lasted just a few seconds! This Native American woman was standing at an outdoor vendors stand, late in the afternoon. Upon seeing her, I instantly realized that the deeply shadowed character lines of her face and the warm colors of the late day sun made for a dramatic portrait. She held this pose for just a few seconds, lost in thought, then was suddenly called away. However, I think the portait captured is priceless! This is indeed one of my favorite photos of the year.

The photo was taken with a Panasonic Lumix FZ20 digital camera. The long telephoto lens and fast focus of this camera made this shot possible! I added a slight "brush effect" in Photoshop and adjusted the curves slightly. No other adjustments were made.

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo Of The Day

A scene from the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, October, 2005.

Marketing Web Design and Technical Skills . . .

For every web designer, and web technologies consultant, the following quote should be considered the gospel truth:

". . . geeks really need to learn how to explain their skills, the benefits of their skills, and the business advantages provided by those benefits. Knowing half a dozen programming languages won't help you if you can't communicate with the people who want to hire you. And your language/platform/development environment of choice won't succeed unless you do a great job of evangelizing it and promoting it to others, including non-technical people.

First, be an expert with a technology. Second, be even better at explaining the value of that technology. If you can do those things, it doesn't matter which of the items you pick off of the list above."

This quote, was taken from "Web Development Trends for 2006" by Anil Dash, the developer of the highly successful MovableType. It makes a world of sense, don't you think? When you are selling technically complex services to non-technical clients, effective communication and presentation (visual and verbal) makes the sale!

Is Web Design Making You Sick?

Web design is an unhealthy activity. You sit for hours at a time, making only the slightest movements with the wrist and fingers while staring at a computer monitor. Along comes the following news that confirms how unhealthy this and other sedentary occupations are:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - "Couch potatoes may quickly accumulate a type of deep abdominal fat that contributes to diabetes and other metabolic problems -- but regular exercise can prevent or even reverse the process, according to researchers. Their study of overweight, sedentary adults found that those who started working out on treadmills and stationary bikes tended to lose, or at least not add to, their stores of visceral fat -- fat that accumulates around the abdominal organs". . . Read more >

The bottom line? Get some exercise!

Web Designer Ramblings - Photo Of The Day

This photo was taken at the Rio Grande Botanic Garden in Albuquerque, New Mexico. See more at The Flowers of Albuquerque website.

A Close Landing . . .

This photo was taken during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta this past week. This is an incredible event with over 700 hot-air balloons from around the world being launched daily for an entire week.

I saw this balloon, unlike most that land in open fields, descending on a collision course with my car as I drove down this street. Like a fool, I parked directly in his path as he descended and jumped out of my car to take a photo. I was reminded rather loudly and urgently by the pilot that if I did not move my car, the balloon would land on its hood. Well, I quickly moved up, stopped and captured this shot as the balloon landing behind me!