carbonmade

After Pinterest and Scoop.It, another fun toy I have been playing with is carbonmade. Does it make it less of an online toy if it actually serves a professional purpose?

Carbonmade is an online portfolio service for photography, illustrations, video and other imagery. For free, one can make a portfolio with up to 5 projects and 35 images (but no video). For $12 a month, though, you can have up to 50 projects, 500 images and 10 videos.

For now and the foreseeable future, I have the free version. See my carbonmade photo portfolio here! But even with its limitations, it absolutely did the trick.

I had to create an online portfolio for work. I recently made a big career change from being a primarily freelance and contract copywriter to being a full-time lead copywriter at a marketing agency in the Twin Cities metro. During a team-building exercise, one of my co-workers proposed that I, being an amateur photographer with some published photos, create custom images for some of our clients. The stock service we use doesn’t always cut it.

Of course I loved the idea and went about creating an online portfolio to prove that I could do it. And 5 projects with 35 photos were more than enough to make my point. It was easy to customize my portfolio's appearance to make the images look their best. I'm a little disappointed with how the resolution looks, but that's probably because I'm using the free version.

Now it is up to me to determine how to best start this project and create an action plan for how to implement it. So yeah, the easy part is done, now comes the hard part. But I can see the value for having original imagery as part of an online content marketing plan. Everyone has the same stock photos, it’s the online marketing campaigns that create their own imagery that tend to stand out because it more closely aligns with their brand values and standards.

I'm going to help with that to the best of my ability! And probably expand my ability while I'm at it!

For the moment, my portfolio will remain as is. If I have to create another portfolio in the future for a different purpose, at least I will have a start. This served its purpose for now and isn’t needed at the moment, but one may never know when opportunities will arrive!

Pinterest

One of my new favorite online toys for photography and inspiration is Pinterest.

Pinterest is a tool that allows users to organize and share all the beautiful images and videos they find on the web. It is like a virtual pinboard or collage to which one can continuously add.

Some of the suggestions for its use are to plan weddings, decorate a home, organize recipes or plan crafting projects.

Of course, I'm using it for my own ends. I have nine pinboards on Pinterest so far, mostly for inspiration or aspirations, including:

• Fun
• Mmm
• People
• Dream Home
• Landscapes & Cityscapes

I've actually already made a recipe off of the "Mmm" pinboard, too! Sweet potato casserole! And it was delicious, I'll be making it again. I also have plans to create the Flower Power eggs in the future. The Dream Home will be a little harder to make, though.

Users can also browse pinboards created by other people and follow their creators so you can see how they evolve in the future. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to find images and inspiration from other people who share your interests.

It isn't yet completely open to the public. To get started, one must ask for an invite. It doesn't seem to take long for approval though, I was pinning within a few hours of my request.

For me, it is just a fun new online toy to share some of the interesting things I find on the internet. :)

Do you use a content curation tool that you particularly like? Share it in the comments.

See also: Scoop.It!

Day in the Life ~ 11-11-11

I may be done with my 365 project for the year, but I'm not done taking photos. I am easing myself back into regularly taking photos again so that come January when I start 365, I'm not out of practice. My first project to this end is this post, Day in the Life ~ 11-11-11. I spent most of it at work, so its pretty standard. My personal favorite, though, is the third photo down.

Breakfast

Lunch

Stop - Hammer Time

Walk Like an Egyptian

Exit

Finally done with work! Was the last one out of the building for the first time since I started my new job.

365 Project 2011 ~ Admitting Defeat

I tried, so hard, to continue my 365 project this year. I think I made it two weeks longer than 2010 as far as taking photos and uploading, but I still faltered: I started missing days, then I put off uploading, then it was a snowball effect. Because it was so hard to admit defeat, I still took random photos, knowing full well my 365 project had been broken. Now its been two weeks since I even took the camera out of the case. So as my finale and farewell to my 365 project for 2011, here are the best ones that hadn't previously uploaded since July.

Last Sunflower ~ 242/365 ~ 2011

Party Planning ~ 245/365 ~ 2011

Unhappy Child with Balloons ~ 252/365 ~ 2011

Pretty Paisley Dress ~ 261/365 ~ 2011

Cruel Summer ~ 265/365 ~ 2011

Pink Ribbon Railing ~ 276/365 ~  2011

Monarch Butterfly ~ 285/365 ~ 2011

Thus concludes my 365 project for 2011. I will try again next year! Perhaps the third time is the charm? I certainly hope so.

Minnesota Renaissance Festival ~ 2011

Haven't had a lot of time to blog or upload photos lately. Part of it is being busy with work, for which I am grateful because being a freelance writer can result in unpredictable income flow! Another part of it, though, is that the Minnesota Renaissance Festival is in full swing and I am a participant, which means my usually-productive weekends are spent in revelry throughout the day and then a pile of tired on the couch at night.

Royal Guard

For the curious, I am an alto with a madrigal choir called the Elizabethan Syngers, which is currently celebrating its 40th year as an organization and participation at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

Elizabethan Syngers

No, I'm not in the photo, silly. I'm behind the camera. If you want to see me perform, you'll have to come to the festival! I'll be there performing with the group on Saturday, September 17, and Sunday, September 25.

Fair Tortoise

You can't see it in this photo, but this tortoise pulls a little carriage with a little driver and a relatively big beer barrel. I just like this picture because I think tortoises have cute, contented-looking faces.

Little Fairies

Fairies like to have tea time, too!

The Fiddler

If you haven't been to the Minnesota Rennaissance Festival, I do highly recommend that you visit at least once in your life time. It is an amazing experience, filled with music, entertainment, fun and even a little naughtiness. Who knows, you could end up liking it so much, you find your own way to be a part of it, just like I did.

Minnesota Renaissance Festival 2011 Photo Set
Minnesota Renaissance Festival 2009 Photo Set

Sara Duane-Gladden is a freelance writer and photographer in the Twin Cities area of the great state of Minnesota.