Posted by Scott Thomas Photography on January 2, 2009
Before going forward into 2009, I want to take a few minutes to reset the blog so I will remember where the blog finished in 2008.
Some quick stats:
Total views for 2008 came in at 10,643. Not bad considering I started the blog in February and got less than 10 hits a day for the first 3 months. For any new bloggers reading this, here are some tips: visit other blogs, leave comments, add links to your email and forum signatures, build a network using a blogroll and, as Michaela of The Daily Click reminded me, make sure your blog is visible to Search Engines. You’ll see your blog’s popularity grow as a result.
I posted 70 entries and received over 350 comments from visitors.
The most interesting statistic was reviewing the top 5 posts for 2008. I think you will get a kick out of the number one post, I did. 
Over the 2008 Memorial Day weekend, I wanted and got both a sunrise and sunset. For the sunset photo, a young couple was posing for their parent’s camera and made a lovely silhouetted foreground subject for the sunset part of the view. This entry garnered 150 views.
View 22: Sunrise, Sunset
Last summer, I vacationed with my family on the south New Jersey shore. While we stayed in Atlantic City, I much preferred the atmosphere of the Ocean City beach and boardwalk. 155 hits makes this the 4th popular view in 2008.
View 32: Ocean City (NJ) Beach
This was a surprising one for me at first. Then I realized many people were looking for information to be a vendor at the Regional Market or find directions to get there. For some reason, the CNY Regional Market does not have it’s own website. This blog entry made the first page of many a Google search and contributed 190 hits to the blog’s 2008 total.
View 20: Central New York Regional Market
This early November sunset over Onondaga Lake near Syracuse, New York got 208 hits. Over 100 hits occurred within a couple of days of me linking this entry in a comment to an article on the popular This Week In Photography (TWIP) blog (see link in the right sidebar).
View 45: November Sunset
Rarely a day goes by when I don’t see a hit to this entry featuring a Snowy Egret standing on one leg. In the article I found a couple of reasons why many birds stand on one leg. Little did I know that 313 other people would be just as interested in which is impressive as the post appeared on August 18, 2008. Making this Snowy Egret the most viewed photo on my blog last year.
View 34: Why do Birds stand on one Leg?
I’ll be back on Monday with the first View for 2009. Have a great weekend!
Posted in News | Tagged: 2008, beach, birds, blog, market, Photography, statistics, sunset, trees | 6 Comments »
Posted by Scott Thomas Photography on August 15, 2008
Waitin' on Women on the Ocean City (New Jersey) Boardwalk.
In this case, it’s WOMEN. A Grandfather, his Son and Grandchildren sitting on an Ocean City (New Jersey) Boardwalk bench overlooking the Atlantic ocean waiting for the women in their lives to return from the nearby shops. When I saw this, my mind went directly to a popular Brad Paisley song currently being played on Country radio. Here’s a link to the video: Waitin’ On A Woman.
Like I mentioned last time, I really liked the boardwalk at Ocean City (New Jersy) for it’s family atmosphere and fun. So much so, went back a couple of nights later when they were having a “Family Night” with bands and entertainment on each block.
Kids dancing to 1960's surfing tunes.
Parents have their little girls ready for the Olde Tyme photographer.
You can find rides, games, food and lots of fun along the entire 2.5 miles of the Ocean City (New Jersey) Boardwalk.
Editor’s Note: I am now back in sequence with the calendar. Come back on Monday for the my next view of 2008.
Posted in People, Weekly View | Tagged: beach, boardwalk, family, new jersey, ocean, ocean city, Photography | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Scott Thomas Photography on August 11, 2008
Later afternoon on the Ocean City (New Jersey) Beach
After visiting Washington, DC, the next stop on my vacation was Atlantic City, New Jersey. Atlantic City is known for casinos, the Steel Pier and it’s famous boardwalk. While I found Atlantic City interesting, there’s a another beach and boardwalk a few miles south. Ocean City, New Jersey features a 2.5 mile long boardwalk and 8 miles of pristine white sandy beaches I liked a lot.
It was late in the afternoon when I visited this Ocean City beach and many of the day’s beach goers had already left. This photo has a lot of the elements found on any New Jersey shore beach. A Lifeguard boat and stand, brightly colored beach umbrella, a seagull and a surfer.
With a hurricane spinning in the mid-Atlantic, surfers were taking advantage of the whipped up surf to get in some rides. Others were flying colorful kites, reading and napping in the cool ocean breeze after a hot day.
A surfer catching a wave on the Ocean City (New Jersey) Beach
A mother flys a kite with her son on the Ocean City (New Jersey) Beach
Posted in Weekly View | Tagged: beach, family, kite, lifeguard, new jersey, ocean city, Photography, play, surfing, umbrella | 4 Comments »
Posted by Scott Thomas Photography on June 30, 2008
School's Out for Summer
On a beach on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, these girls were jumping in celebration of the unoffical start of summer over the Memorial Day (US) weekend in May, 2008. One of the girls mother was trying to capture this with a small Point & Shot type of camera and wasn’t having too much luck. This was the sixth and last attempt which I did get as I had gotten in behind to see if I could do better with my Nikon D70. I think I did alright.
On a personal note, because of some issues this past week, I was not able to get out and get some photos for the blog.
Posted in People, Weekly View | Tagged: beach, fun, girls, joy, jump, Photography, silhouette, summer, sunset | 5 Comments »
Posted by Scott Thomas Photography on May 27, 2008
My goal was to capture a sunrise and sunset over the weekend. Turns out the location I selected for the sunrise really didn’t have a good view so I settled for something taken before sunrise. With the sunset, I did much better heading to a beach on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario.
Sunrise…
Sunset…
Both of these photographs were taken with the fabulous Nikon 18-200 VR Zoom lens. I have rarely taken this lens off my camera since I purchased it about a year ago. The range is perfect for travel photography, walking about your home town and keeps your camera bag small and lite. I highly recommend it!
For you Canon owners, Sigma sells an 18-200 OS Zoom Lens which has gotten good user reviews.
Posted in Nature, People, Weekly View | Tagged: beach, couple, lake, Lake Ontario, Onondaga Lake Park, Photography, sunrise, sunset | 12 Comments »
