I have been blogging since 2003, and I still have the passion for it.

When I first started blogging, my posts were purely just text … like almost everyone else’s. I soon realised, though, that the “daily reports” can be much more interesting if we know what to add on to the post, and also how we manage the whole thing. It’s like adding salt and sugar to a tasteless dish to whet the appetite, and maybe even get people to keep coming back for more.

Well-taken pictures certainly enhance a blogpost. I started off in photography as an enthusiast, someone who likes nice pictures. I didn’t know anything about photography then; terms like slow shutter, portraits, macro and bokeh were all unfamiliar to me.

All I wanted to do was to mimic the professionals and take pictures just like them. But when I first started adding pictures to my blogposts way back in 2003, the images were average-looking ones taken with a RM500 compact camera.

I used that camera for a year before I became interested in taking macro shots. I tried taking close-up pictures of ants with the compact camera, but every image was blurry.

I then began to do more research on photography, and learned from friends who knew what they were doing. They helped me understand the wonders of photography, and what you can learn from it like lens variation, manual controls, compositions and picture editing.

After a few years, I bought my first digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, and started getting a lot more serious about photography. I was able to capture moments, expressions, events and beautiful scenes, which were what I think drew my readers to my blog.

A blogpost about celebrating Thaipusam is enlivened by photographs that capture the vibrancy of the occasion.

The blog is about sharing experiences through my pictures. Some call it photoblogging, while others call it “blogging with pictures”. Both sound the same but mean different things.

I categorise my pictures into “nice photos”, “happy photos” and “discouraging photos”.

For my blog, I only post two types of pictures: the nice and happy ones, as these will delight readers.

Nice photos are images captured with the right settings, compostition, subject and reasons. It does not matter what the subject is; be it a Thaipusam celebration or food or a pile of garbage. A well-taken picture attracts attention, and appeals to the audience’s senses.

Happy photos, on the other hand, are images like wedding shots, birthdays, friends and family outings doing things together, It’s basically pictures about people having fun or going through a delightful event. These pictures are basically unplanned or candid shots or just images of a group of friends cheering at a celebration. I would say it’s easier to get happy pictures than getting nice ones.

Discouraging photos are basically pictures that were taken poorly – “handshake” resulting in blurry shots, exposure problems, bad composition and not forgetting shots of people in unhappy situations like funerals, accidents, etc.

As a blogger, I have learnt how to plan and take my pictures to complement my blogposts. I do need to think about what pictures I need at a particular event or for the story I’d like to tell.

However, the best thing to do is to shoot more because then you will have more options to pick from.

Blogging is an interest, or job for some. It has different purposes and styles depending on the individual. Photography is a big part of my blog and I am still learning a lot more on new techniques, styles and directions. Of course, I have a lot of ugly and discouraging pictures in my collection, too.

I hope everyone can dive into this hobby as it’s fun and it will be more meaningful when you blog them and share with others. Starting off with a compact camera is the great way to master some fundamentals, before upgrading to a better camera when you think you are more capable and want to do more.

Let’s all take nice and happy pictures together!

* Check out more of Jason Goh aka smashpOp’s photographs at http://smashpop.net/.