Introduction to Photoblogs and MoBlogs

Photoblogs and MoBlogs are continuing to grow in popularity. I've had a number of emails in the past week asking for information on how to start your own photoblog or moblog so I thought I'd put together a central resource page on the topic of photoblogging and moblogging.

What are Photoblogs and MoBlogs?

Whilst a photoblog can be a Moblog (and visa versa) they are not neccessarily one in the same thing. Lets looks to a couple of definitions from the 'experts'.

'A photoblog is a type of blog that is regularly updated with photos. Some photoblogs focus only on photography, while others have photos in addition to other content. All photoblogs, however, consider photos to be an important part of their chronological blogging structure.' Source - Photoblogs.org FAQs

'Moblogging is a blanket term that covers a variety of related practices. At its simplest, moblogging (from "mobile web logging") is merely the use of a phone or other mobile device to publish content to the World Wide Web, whether that content be text, images, media files, or some combination of the above.'Source - First International Moblogging Conference (yes there is an international moblog conference!)

An increasing amount of photobloggers update their sites by moblogging technology, however many of the most serious photobloggers don't - mainly due to image quality issues as camera phones have relatively low megapixel ratings (although they are climbing) and transferring large files via such technology is not really feasible.

It is difficult to get a grasp on how many photoblogs and moblogs are currently active however more and more services are being offered and many 'traditional '(I never thought I'd use that term) text based bloggers are increasingly utilizing moblog technology or are running parallel photoblogs to their main blogs.

Photoblogs.org is one popular resource designed to help people find all kinds of photoblogs. You can post details of your photoblog there and have it listed with a growing collection of over 3,511 photoblogs in 56 countries and 26 languages. It is a great starting place to go and promote your blog.

How to start and promote a Photoblog or MoBlog
Most blogging tools will enable you to incorporate photos into your blog if you know a little html code. However there are an increasing amount of services specifically designed for this purpose. Many of them automate the process of uploading and hosting photos and resizing thumbnails which can be difficult with some blogging services. Following are some of the more popular photoblogging and Moblogging tools and services. Also remember that a lot of blogging tips written for 'normal blogs' will also be helpful in starting and promoting your new photoblog or moblog.

Photoblogging/Moblogging Services and Tools

Buzznet - Photologs and MoBlogs - Buzznet offers a free service that gives you a personal photogallery and allows you to update from your camera phone or email. This free service allows users to post up to 10 images per day and up to 200 images per month. Premium services will be made available in the month ahead. They also offer community galleries, private password protected galleries, RSS and Comments.

Fotolog - This very popular photologing system has recently been so overwhelmed by demand that they have temporarily closed registrations of new members. It should be back up soon. It is a community orientated site that relies upon the donations of its users to survive. In comparison to some of the other services Fotolog is just as easy to use, but not as visually pleasing and does not allow too much customization of your site. It does allow email (and therefore camera phone) updates and has a guest book function. When it first came out fotolog was a leader in its class but unfortunately it has become a little dated and has been overtaken by some of the more commercial service - but its an original and authentic photo blogging experience.

Expressions - A Visual Blogging System - 'Expressions is a hosted visual blogging system that makes it easy for anyone to create and maintain their very own photo or visual blog. It has been designed and developed by fellow photographers, artists and bloggers to meet your specific needs.' It allows users to use pre made templates or to design their own, automatic thumbnailing, multiple users accounts, multilingual photo blogging and site stats. The cost of Expressions is $2.50 per month (first month free) which gives the user 100MB of hosting space in up to 3 separate photo blogs.

Fotopages - Because a Photo is Worth a Thousand Words - Fotopages has a growing community of photobloggers from all over the world. It allows Moblogging (from your phone), captions, text entries, profile and commenting. They plan to release new options shortly including individual domain names, skins and CD-ROM versions of your photo blog.

Phlog - Moblie Photo Blogging - Phlog is a free service (kept alive by donations) targeted at Mobloggers wanting to add photos from their camera phones via MMS or email. Pages can be customized using CSS. They currently have over 2200 users.

Text America - Camera Phone Moblog Community - Text America is another Moblogging service that allows users to upload photos from their phones for free. Registered users can post comments, vote for their favorite photos and moblogs and start their own moblog.

Moblog UK - Unlike Text America, Moblog UK do not take any control or copyright over your images - they operate under a creative commons agreement. They also support multiple image posting (up to 10 images at a time) and you can post in a wide variety of formats including video formats. Lastly they give real freedom in the design of your moblog using CSS.
PhotoBlog - This is a Belgian service that is still in BETA. It seems to have had a few hiccups in the last month with some regions, however looks to be a well designed service. It is free and will be a service to watch in the months ahead.

AirBlogging - Airblogging handles your journal or blog posts from your mobile phone, via email or sms. It is free, and it lets you post pictures or text entries to your blog or journal. Airblogging currently supports users of Live Journal, Blogger, and Movable Type software, regardless of your hosting situation.

TypePad - Whilst not designed solely as a photoblog tool - TypePad offers an excellent service that will meet the needs of most wanting to have a quality photoblog. It offers a variety of pricing structures (starting at $4.95 per month) with different levels of features and customization. The middle level allows full access to Moblogging and photo-album features. TypePad offers a free 30 day trial. Those interested in exploring this option might be interested in this interview with TypePads creator on photoblogging

Moveable Type - MT is the big brother to Typepad - again it is designed as a blog tool (this blog is run using MT) but can be customized relatively easily as a photoblog. MT is a free option, however you need to arrange your own hosting and domains and it is the most complex option listed here to set up. However having said that some of my favorite and most stunning photoblogs use this tool. For tutorials on how to use MT as a photo blogging tool check out:
- A Photolog in Five Easy Steps
- Quixotic Pixels - MT photoblog tutorial
- Photoblog Tutorial
- Blogstyles - Photoblog Information
- MT Photoblog Plugin

Also check out:
- Snaplog - a Windows XP/2000/98 application that provides an easy interface to share photos on your website. A Photo Blog with one click publishing- required FTP.
- Gallery - a free php app that makes creating and updating a photo gallery very easy. Not a photolog, but easily integrated within MovableType.
- Mfop2 - a free service that allows you to post photos from your camera phone to a blog.

Other interesting articles, essays and posts about Photoblogs and Photoblogging:
- Picture Pages - Web sites for people who hate to read
- Photobloggies - 2003 Photoblog Awards
- Is photoblogging good for photography?
- Photoblogging - An Essay
- Some of My Favorite Photoblogs
- The Best of 2003 Photoblogs
- Dear Diary - Guardian Article
- Weblogs get upwardly mobile
- picturephoning.com
- BlueHereNow
- Setting up a Moblog
- PC World Camera Phones Fuel Mobile Diaries
- Will 'moblogs' mean mo' money
- Moblogs changing how life is recorded
- Photoblogging Tips from the creator of Shutterfly

Photoblogging and MoBlogging technology is continuing to develop and grow. If you know of other services, articles or resources or would like to review one of the above tools please feel free to add your comments and suggestions below so that we can continue to grow this resource.

Check out some of our other Digital Camera Tips:
- Digital Photography Composition 101
- Night and Low Light Digital Photography Tips
- Macro Digital Photography Tips
- Taking Images with Camera Phones Tips
- Depth of Field Tips
- How to Choose a Digital Camera
- Digital Camera Care Tips
- Cleaning your Digital Camera Image Sensor

Posted by Darren in our Photoblogs category on April 06, 2004

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