Updating the Alt Text Tutorial

June 15th, 2011 - ANOTHER UPDATE TO THE ALT TEXT!

It seems that each time blogger tries to make something better - like the dashboard and image uploading functions, they change something else. The newer blogger interfaces and image uploaders will create a problem now if you don't place your alt text for images in the exact spot it should be in. I discovered by accident that if I placed my Alt Text tags anywhere else in the image codes, my images would disappear when I switched back to the "Compose" view.

Below is an image code from this week (June 2011) - in this example you'll see the alt text code I've added marked in white text. It must be placed directly before the "img border" code, and you must add all of the code for the alt text tags yourself (ie: img alt="the description of your image"). Blogger's code currently doesn't give you this - at least not in any of my recent images.

I don't know why blogger can't get this simple thing right. Why can't they give us a place to add the alt text during the upload function? Most other blog platforms already have this. Blogger is way behind in providing user functionality when it comes to images and video uploads.

They also aren't so great at complying with current web standards, and the move to html5 might make them fall behind even worse than they are.

Currently, blogger also doesn't comply with Section 508 Standards (accessibility) and things that have been deprecated a long time ago, are still being used in blogger - such as "bold" instead of "strong".

---------------END OF UPDATE-----------------

A while back I wrote an article on how to use ALT TEXT tags for your images on blogger. Recently I've received a couple of comments about the updated blogger dashboard - the new dashboard uses a different method for image uploads, and the empty "alt text" tags are no longer showing in the html portion of the image uploads.

One such question:

Lindsey said...

I don't know how it's possible, but in html mode, my images don't have the alt section in order to add text! What do you suggest?

How it's possible is probably because you are using the new dashboard, as opposed to the old style one. There are two ways to get around this - add the alt text tags yourself into the html of the image code yourself, or switch back to the old method. You can switch back to the old method by accessing your "settings" tab, and scrolling down the page to "global settings" - there should be a radio button to select the old or new dashboard.

Putting the required code into your new image code isn't that tough though. Simply click the edit html tab on your dashboard and find the code for your image.

Your image code will have two parts - the first one will look something like the following code, so simply insert the code alt="" as indicated in the sample below:

A Photographer's Wedding Kit

Most photographer's have a "kit" that they use whenever they go out to shoot - things mostly related to photography equipment: cameras, lenses, filters, extra camera batteries, a flash unit, lens hoods, cleaners, a tripod or monopod and other related things. None of this would be new the photographer.

For those who don't normally "do weddings", it's a good idea to have another kind of kit - the wedding kit.

Some of the things I've discovered that come in handy when you are shooting someone's big day aren't related to photography equipment at all, but are just as essential at times. Even one of these things than can turn you into "hero of the day".

Sunglasses: essential for shooting the wedding party outdoors on a sunny day. You need lots of sunglasses. Buy them at a dollar shop, and buy all the same kind - a dozen or more. Almost every recent wedding party we've done & seen has used sunglasses for a couple of the shots...but in a few, not everyone had their sunglasses with them. Besides that, when the couple wants shots in the full sun you'll get a lot of scrunched up faces without them. And anyways, they look cool (if you get the right kind).

Face powder and lipsticks: Yes, I know brides and bridesmaids all have their faces already done up very nicely, but the fact is on a warm day you'll get some whose faces are so shiny you'll have a tough time avoiding bright spots on their faces even without a flash. Three shades of facepowder (light, medium, dark) and three small (samples if you can get them) lipsticks in different shades come in handy for photo-shoot touch ups.

Small bottle of clear nailpolish: for a lot of uses, but mostly to stop stocking runs.

Wipes: handwipes in small packets. These are pretty much self-explanatory and very useful for wiping chocolate or dirt off children's faces before the photos.

Tide Pen or Small container of Powdered Oxyclean: also very handy and is generally put to use at almost every wedding. Accidents happen, so if you're prepared with an instant fix, the couple will remember you for life.

Pantyhose: packet of 3 pairs should do it, and a single packet of white ones. And for women, that one will be self-explanatory too. Stockings are generally not very hardy and it's easy to get a run or tear. The bride will thank you if she needs to make use of them.

Corsage pins and Safety Pins: put a few of each into a small container to add to your kit. There's gazillions of uses for these and a corsage pin won't come amiss if the Groom's boutineer needs extra support.

Sewing Kit: head to the dollar store and pick up a small sewing kit. These come with a few colours of thread (white, black, red, navy and yellow), a tiny pair of (useless) scissors, a few needles and a needle threader. Some have a few small buttons in them. If the one you get doesn't, buy a small card of shirt buttons. Also, discard the flaky scissors and buy a small pair of folding scissors that will actually cut something, like thread. You can usually get them at the dollar shop too. And yes, you can probably imagine the uses this will be put to.

A Small First Aid Kit : everyone should have one of these in their cars, but not everyone does. Put together some bandaids, a small bottle of saline (comes in a squeeze bottle) for cleaning, a small tube of antibiotic ointment, some aspirin/advil/tylenol, a couple of packets of alkaselter or tums, a packet of tic-tacs (not medical, but handy), and if you can your hands on an epi-pen that would be great too.

Tape: duct tape and scotch tape, for all kinds of things.

I suppose if you wanted to, you could put tons of things into a kit like this, and as you get experience with weddings you'll find yourself adding things to your kit you would never have thought of...until you needed it.

I can hear a lot of you thinking..."but this is not the job of the photographer, is it?" Generally, no it's not. But the photographer's job is to produce beautiful pictures of the wedding day, and no matter how great your pictures are, if the bride has a blob of dirt on her dress, or her maid of honour has a shiny face, or the groom's missing a couple of buttons, the bride is not going to be a happy camper when she looks at her photos. It's not your fault any of that happened, but if it takes nothing more than being prepared to keep the day joyful, your photos are going to be the best thing the couple ever saw.

Whether you do a kit or not is up to you of course, but remember that word of mouth advertising is far more effective than any other advertising campaign you can dream up. Wouldn't you love the bride to tell her friends how great you were, or that you're the best photographer in the world because you were prepared for everything?

Anyway, that's some thoughts and tips from a photographer who really doesn't want to do weddings, but will when pushed.



Credits:

First Aid Kit: wallyir @ morguefile

Wedding Photography & Photographers

Over the last few months you'll probably remember the 3 part tutorial series I did on wedding photography for the non-professional.

If so, you'll probably remember that I harped a lot on the importance of getting things in writing. There was a reason for that - and today's little tale illustrates that very well (names changed, but the story is true, and a person we know).

Jane and John got married almost a year ago and hired someone to take their wedding photos (probably not a professional from the sounds of it - likely a family friend or someone they know). Like most people, you figure if you know someone you don't need these contracts and signed agreements. So, they paid their photographer for the service they expected to get.

Here it is, almost a year later and we discover this poor couple who will soon be celebrating their first wedding anniversary have yet to see a single photograph...not even a proof.

My recommendation is head for small claims court. I can't think of a photographer I know who would take a year to produce even the proofs.

This is such a perfect illustration of how the contract or agreement can help - in this case it would certainly have helped the couple. It might not help them get their photos (particularly if they didn't turn out), but it would put the facts on the table at small claims court in writing. And that would count a lot more than "he said-she said".

So once again...do the contract or agreement. It doesn't matter if it's formally worded or just a page from a notebook, as long as it describes the what's and wherefore's of the services and cost and what each party should expect. Goodness...it takes a few moments to complete and will provide both the photographer and the couple with a modicum of security.

You can download a simple sample contract from here (password to open is notheft) - remember to put your own name or your small business name in the right place, and adjust the contract the suit your needs. This is a very "simple" and more casual type of agreement, so it might not suit you if you run a pro business, but it's good for starters and contains a simple receipt as well.

Though it mentions a model release, I haven't included one. You will find a sample (you may need to amend it) here from NYIP online.