It is interesting to contemplate photography website value from a reader’s perspective, and how individuals use specific websites. This is the 1,200th article that I’ve written that has appeared on this website since it was launched in January 2015. It feels like a good to contemplate the future.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge. Photographs have been added to serve as visual breaks.

Much has happened in the photography industry in the nearly 8 years that this website has been around. Numerous new products have been launched by a wide range of manufacturers. This caused many products to be discontinued as camera and lens manufacturers updated their product lines. There has been a general movement towards more mirrorless product use.

Some camera companies have changed ownership or quietly disappeared. As camera sales volumes have steadily declined over the past decade industry players have been battling over a shrinking market place. The profitability of many companies has suffered as they reorganized to deal with the new realities of a smaller market.

A number of professional photographers have struggled as some of their traditional revenue streams came under attack. In some cases photography has become a commodity with photo services becoming glutted with images. Prices have eroded over time.

Even some of the most respected photography websites have fallen prey to changes in the industry. Some others are struggling financially as their revenues streams based on ‘click through’ sales commissions have declined significantly. Photography website value evolves with the audiences served.

The image quality of cellphones has continued to evolve and improve over time. This has put more of a financial squeeze on camera companies, especially at the lower end of the product range. Some product lines are being trimmed or dropped completely.

Surviving in a sea of change is something that companies face in a wide range of industries… not just in the photography market. Where is the industry headed? How do consumers define value in today’s market. What core competencies should be the focus of the future?

All of this leads to some questions for readers in terms of photography website value.

• What photography related websites do you read, and most importantly why?
• How do photography websites create value for you as a reader?
• How are your information and/or entertainment needs changing in terms of photography?
• The most fundamental question from our perspective is why you choose to visit this website.

We appreciate that some readers are more comfortable responding via email, than posting on a public forum. So, please feel free to post your perspectives here… or send me a personal email to share your thoughts.

My wife and I recently decided to sell specific pieces of our extensive Nikon 1 kit. We’re pleased that we’ve been able to find good, new homes for those items. We’ve reviewed our Olympus kit and have decided that our needs are being very well met by the gear that we currently own. So, we have no plans to add or change any of the components in our M4/3 kit in the future.

If and when the E-M1X is updated by OM Systems we will be shooting with ‘older generation’ cameras (i.e. E-M1X and E-M1 Mark III). We understand that some photographers primary interest is in learning about how the newest camera models perform. Our decision to keep using our existing kit may be seen as a negative with some folks. C’est la vie!

We are contemplating a number of options for the future. Any input and feedback you can provide about photography website value will be helpful for us. None of the comments posted on this article will be shared publicly… so feel free to be totally honest.

Technical Note:

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were created from RAW files using my standard approach. Photographs were resized for web use. This is the 1,200 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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