Of all the choices of Photo Gallery plugins available to photo bloggers using WordPress, NextGEN Gallery is a spectacular way to begin using WordPress as the simplest CMS to show off your work in an efficient and easy-to-use method.

NextGEN Gallery installs as a plugin, is frequently updated, has numerous plugins to adapt and alter how the original works and a very good support system of bloggers who are happy to answer questions about its use.

Of course, we’ll be happy to answer any questions you  have.

The gallery below is created by NextGEN Gallery using nearly its default configuration. The major changes are the default sizes for thumbnails and how original images are processed during the upload.

The photo at the top of this post is also from a NextGEN Gallery, embedded as a singlepic shortcode.

Getting started – - -

In your admin page click on Plugins > Add New.

Use NextGEN Gallery as the search term. It should be the top choice although sometimes it moves down one line for reasons I can’t understand. I have theories but no good answers.  The author is Alex Rabe. make sure his name is at then end of the description paragraph.

Click on Install Now and choose  Activate from the resulting page. You’re ready to go.

Added to the Admin menu, toward the bottom, is a Gallery tab. Choose Options to make some immediate changes.

Across the top of the admin page are seven tabs.

The first is General Options.  Best to leave as is for now. Unless you want to activate CoolIris/PicLens which I don’t recommend at this point.

The next tab is Thumbnails. You will want to make changes in this tab. The default setting is 100×75 pixels. That might have been great when screen resolutions were 640×480 but they are way to small today and I can be sure won’t meet your needs.

This can be a little tricky, Depending upon your theme, how it’s configured or you chose it to be configured, you will need to determine how many columns of thumbnails you want in a post and how wide each one needs to be.

I changed my setting to 275×200 selecting the ” Ignore the aspect ratio, no portrait thumbnails” checkbox to eliminate portrait thumbnails. That’s my choice. you can make that decision for yourself.

I also increased thumbnail quality to 100%.

In the Images tab type in the width of your photos displayed in the main column on a post. This should be the same as the sizes you set in Media Settings. For this blog, I set the width to 580 and leave the height blank. The danger here is a deep vertical photo wider than 580 pixels wide will be resized to 580 wide and the proportionate size deep.  Depending upon your blog design and whether or not you want to adhere to a rule that says don’t make your readers scroll too much you may want to enter a value her. That will be the maximum depth a vertical can be sized to.

For the moment leave the Gallery and Watermark tabs as they are.

In the SlideShow tab change the dimension to match the post column. This should be the same as  what you set in Images.

Now you’re ready to add a Gallery. Give it a try for yourself from the Admin Tab at left. We’ll come back tomorrow with some hints and tips.

[Show as slideshow]

But, there can be a few hurdles that you must cross before beginning the new look.

Watch our video to see a few tricks of the trade that will make your theme change go smoother.

Most modern themes permit modifying the menu system to change the order of listed items, to add specific menu items and to remove pages from the default method for displaying page menus.

Some themes also include a space for a second menu and the menu system allows you to create a menu that better matches  what is usually categories and tags.

Watch our video to see for yourself how an efficient menu will make it easy for your blog readers to see what’s important.

Copyright 2011 - Gary Gardiner

I recently updated the Copyright and Usage Permissions for photos displayed at GaryGardiner.com and WestervilleLife.com.

Each page now displays the following set of rules and requirements for using my photos.

I’ve decided it is near impossible to prevent personal use on Facebook and personal Web sites. What I can try to prevent is commercial use without proper compensation.

My photos are licensed for use by individuals and businesses.

The rules are easy to understand.

Personal Use – If you like the photo I shot of you, you are welcome to use it on your personal Facebook page or personal Web site. Keep my copyright notice and include a link to my Web site. Use the photo as an avatar or a profile photo at Linkedin or Twitter. Let me know that you are using the photo so I can keep accurate records of its locations.  If you any advertisements on your page use the business license information below.

Business Use – If you’re a business with a Facebook Page, you must obtain a license. I you want to use them on your Web site, you must obtain a license. Using my photos without a license is not Fair Use. It is commercial usage. If the intent is to use my photos to help draw traffic to a Web site which has  advertising or to proclaim a product or process that may enhance a personal or business bank account, the photo needs properly licensing. Commercial use also requires a model release for publicity and privacy rights for any persons appearing in the photo.

If you’re not in the photo you want to use you still need to get permission from the photographer to use it in any way this includes a personal  Web site. There is a fee for usage.

Prints – Printing requires a license. You may not make prints of any of the photos, either for personal or business use. Printing requires a very specific license, even for personal use.

These photos fall under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license. Creative Commons licensing does not mean you have freedom to do as you want with these photos.

Copyright and Usage Permissions

“The photos on this Web site are available for limited personal, non-commercial use by anyone who appears in them. Use  limited to Web only. Use in printed materials is prohibited. Commercial use or use by any others without proper licensing is prohibited and protected by US Copyright law. That means you must obtain a license for their use and pay a commensurate fee. Photos are property of Gary Gardiner who must be credited for any usage and a link to his Web site included in the use. Removal of the copyright notice on the photo or removal of metadata is a violation of federal law and punishable with fees and fines”

Related articles

• Understanding Copyright And Licenses (smashingmagazine.com)
• IPTC, EXIF and your photos (newdigitalphoto.gs)
• Copyright Information: FAQ (library.pitt.edu)
• The 10 Rules Of US Copyright Infringement (jeremynicholl.com)
• Website Legal Issues: Copyright Infringement and Protection (iplawforstartups.com)
• What Everyone Should Know about Copyright Laws: Internet Tips & Guides (brighthub.com)

Photo Copyright Gary Gardiner - SmallTown Stock

Several discussions took place this week between myself and a few friends. Not all were professional photographers. Nor were they artists or designers. All called themselves photographers because they owned digital SLRs and had sold some of their photos which they thought placed them among those of us who make our livings from photography.

Scientific America, in a 2006 article, used a California State University, Fullerton professor’s anthropological study of chess to help explain how experts are created.

Chess has its own criteria for determining a player’s placement in the hierarchy of experts. A major factor in the rating system is assessing expertise on performance rather than reputation. The results are remarkably accurate according to the magazine with winners easily predetermined by comparing their rating scores. However, one player’s progress to a higher rating came from stronger structural knowledge of the game and less analysis of each possible move.

Owning a digital SLR instead of a film camera automatically removes barriers that prevented most people from acquiring more knowledge about photographic craft. Instant results viewable on a small LCD screen instead of waiting for processed slide film can accelerate the learning curve making it easier to gain the structural knowledge necessary for creative success. Failure becomes immediately measurable and correctable without additional monetary cost. On-screen analysis of technique and results quickly advances the body of skills necessary to advance to a better understanding of the craft. It doesn’t guarantee success, just more knowledge.

Photo Copyright Gary Gardiner - SmallTown Stock

Moore’s Law that computer power doubling every 18 months has proven quite accurate. Especially when each successive high-end computer-driven digital camera has faster processors, more memory, better ergonomics, and greater resolution. Just as stronger, faster, and cheaper computers has rapidly changed how society communicates, works, and learns, digital camera advancements will continue to make it easier for people to become photographers.

Precocity among this new group of “creatives” undercuts the value of photographic masters who’ve accumulated much greater structural knowledge of the skills and techniques required for creative and business success. Owning and using the greatest in technology doesn’t make one an expert or allow them to excel at the craft. My #2 pencil, among the lowest example of technological achievements, is nothing more than wood and charcoal in my hands. In the hands of David Meyer, an artist friend, it is a tool for artistic success.

Herbert A. Simon’s psychological law that it takes ten years of study to become expert in a field strengthens the argument. Studies of Mozart’s designation as a child prodigy indicate that his earliest works were heavily corrected by his father, himself a composer, and that even his earliest serious works were derivative, not original.

Determining success may be measured by a variety of factors from financial to artistic. For professional photographers, that measure has become financial as advanced amateurs and semi-pros gather extended knowledge and experience.

The challenge for pro photographers becomes how to separate themselves from this new group of talented, expressive, creative people who are quickly accumulating the skills to challenge our business.

“Without a demonstrably immense superiority in skill over the novice, there can be no true experts, only laypeople with imposing credentials. Such, alas, are all too common.” – Scientific America