On1 Photo RAW 2024 is Coming This Week!
On1 Photo RAW 2024 is getting released this week, and I have a preview video to share!
On1 Photo RAW 2024 is Coming This Week!
I have used On1 Photo RAW for several years now, and of course I make tutorials about it on my YouTube channel as well. For a while now they have been providing teaser videos about upcoming changes and feature additions to the product. I have been testing this new version for a while and it’s really solid. And, it’s going to be available this week!
If you don’t have it yet, you can get it here (aff link): https://on1.sjv.io/3PRvYd
There are a lot of things to talk about with this new version, but here are a few that I think everyone will be really pleased with:
Brilliance AI
User Interface improvements
Fast performance all around
Enhanced Layers panel
Enhancements to Keyword AI
Text can be added as a Layer
I just released a video showing off some of this cool new stuff, which you can find below. In particular, I cover Brilliance AI in the video and demonstrate how it works. It’s really a great idea and it is well-implemented as well.
Brilliance AI automatically adjusts a photo based on what it detects the image needs. In addition, it creates Local Adjustments with masks for each region of the image it identifies. This simplifies the editing process and speeds it up as well.
I think everyone is going to be really pleased with On1 Photo RAW 2024 and I will be making additional tutorials covering the product. Thanks!
Luminar Neo 1 Year Anniversary! (Plus my Favorite Updates)
Luminar Neo is celebrating its 1 year anniversary, and I am sharing my top 5 updates to the app that came in the last year. So many great things were added, but these 5 are tops for me.
Luminar Neo 1 Year Anniversary!
Hello friends! As you probably know, I use Luminar Neo all the time and absolutely love it. I can quickly and easily get a beautiful result with my edits, and have fun doing it. It’s an amazing product and that is why I make so many videos about it.
Skylum Software is celebrating the 1 year anniversary of Luminar Neo, and they have an amazing special offer which I will outline below. If you don’t yet have this app, now is a great time to pick it up! Plus, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel and get a TON of free training on Luminar Neo.
If you want to click through and check out the offer, click here: https://bit.ly/3K3RMEM or just see the details below.
Luminar Neo also picked up two major industry awards this past year:
TIPA Award: Best Imaging Software Enthusiast
Red Dot Award: Interface and User Experience Design
Luminar Neo has clearly had an amazing year since launch, and I truly believe the best is yet to come!
Luminar Neo Special Offer: check it out here https://bit.ly/3K3RMEM
Start: February 15, 2023
End: February 28, 2023
❯ Annual Explore subscription - $99 (119)/year + 1 year free + Creative Anniversary Collection
❯ Monthly Explore subscription - $9.95/month + 1 month free + Creative Anniversary Collection
❯ Annual Pro subscription - $119 (149)/year + 1 year free + Creative Anniversary Collection
❯ Monthly Pro subscription - $14.95/month + 1 month free + Creative Anniversary Collection
❯ Luminar Neo Lifetime purchase - $149 (199) + Magic Light extension for free + Creative Anniversary Collection
My Favorite 2022 Updates to Luminar Neo
I also wanted to share some thoughts on the evolution of this product. It has grown and matured considerably in the past year, adding new capabilities and features that continue to expand the power of this amazing platform. They delivered 29 updates and added 7 professional extensions. This alone is exceptional, but when you consider that they are based in Ukraine and having to deal with all of that, it is truly amazing. I have so much respect for their commitment to Luminar under these circumstances. And of course I am super happy that they all continue to remain safe.
For me, there were 5 updates/adds to the platform that really got me excited. It was hard to narrow the list down this much, but these really stick out to me as exceptional, useful, and very powerful. (Also note that throughout the year, there were many improvements to performance, new camera support added, updates to tools, etc.) While all updates are great to have and always welcome, I find that these 5 are the ones that have been most useful for me.
My Top 5 Updates:
Mask AI - this amazing masking tool uses AI to identify up to 9 different objects in a scene, and automatically create a mask for it. This gives you fantastic control over your edits so you can be targeted and specific in achieving your creative vision. Talk about a time saver! I love this feature and use it all the time.
Unlocked presets - when Neo first came out, the presets were a “black box”, meaning it would just apply all the edits in the preset to the photo without allowing us to see the filters/tools that were in the preset (or be able to adjust them). When they unlocked presets, this all changed in a hugely positive way. Now you can refine presets for better overall results, as well as customize and save your own. This was huge for me, and probably you as well. And as you may know, I do like presets quite a bit. Check out my Luminar Neo Preset MegaPack if you are interested!
HDR Merge - it’s no secret that I love HDR photography, and HDR Merge is my favorite extension. It’s one I use all the time and I absolutely love the results. I will be sharing a lot more about what I am doing with HDR Merge soon. Stay tuned for news coming to your mailbox soon! If you haven’t yet subscribed to my newsletter, you can do that here. You also get a free Luminar Neo preset pack for subscribing!
Sync adjustments - this allows you to edit one photo and then copy those adjustments to another photo. This is super handy when you come back from a shoot and want to ensure your edits stay aligned to your vision for the shoot. Makes it easy to keep things consistent!
Additional extensions: Focus Stacking, Noiseless AI, Supersharp AI - I have and use all the extensions, but these three are quite popular and useful and allow you to save money by doing all of this inside of Luminar Neo, instead of having to go to another tool. This also lets you focus your time and effort on going deep with Luminar so you can really master it and get fantastic results.
I have covered a LOT of things in my Luminar Neo videos, but if you have a specific request, please let me know. I can add it to the list of possibilities and perhaps it will get turned into a future training video!
It was an amazing 2022 for the Skylum team, and I look forward to more growth of the Luminar Neo platform in 2023. Thanks to the Skylum team for all their focus, determination, courage, resourcefulness, bravery and commitment to us. I know it has been a challenging year for them and I am quite inspired by them!
Join Me at the Visual Storytelling Conference!
Join me at the Visual Storytelling Conference on March 13! Check out all the details and register for FREE!
Check out the Visual Storytelling Conference!
Hi Friends! I have the distinct pleasure of presenting at the upcoming Visual Storytelling Conference, which runs March 10-13, 2022. My session is entitled “Luminar Neo: Everything You Need to Know for Powerful Photo Edits”. My session is scheduled for 6pm EDT on Sunday, March 13, 2022.
I will be diving into several photo edits in this session (landscape, cityscape, portrait) and showing how you can take advantage of the powerful tools in Luminar Neo to make really impactful photos.
The best part? The conference is FREE to attend! Yes, free.
You can register at this link: https://visualstorytellingconference.com/jim-nix/
There are going to be a LOT of really fantastic sessions hosted by well-known photographers such as Elia Locardi, Rich Harrington, Frederick Van Johnson, Nicole S. Young, and more! Check it out!
While the conference is free to attend, there are also VIP Packages available that give you even more creative options with some really interesting and fun photography and videography tools.
The VIP Pass includes the following:
Streaming access to all VSC 2022 session recordings
Exclusive VIP raffle opportunities
Choice of 1 Product:
Beauty Box (value $199)
ON1 Effects 2022 (value $69)
Mylio Premium 1-year subscription (value $99)
AfterShoot 1-year subscription (value $120)
Boris FX Collection (includes Sapphire, Continuum, Mocha Pro, Silhouette and Optics) 3-month subscription (value $500)
Want the full VIP Bundle? Become a VIP+ Pass Holder!
I look forward to seeing you there!
Luminar Neo is Here!
Luminar Neo is finally here! Here’s a few quick thoughts about it, and some great video resources to help you get up and running with it quickly. Thanks for following along!
The day is finally here - Luminar Neo is publicly available!
Yes, the original announcement and pre-order period started in September 2021, which feels like a really long time ago (well, it is 5+ months, so yeah). But the day is upon us, and Luminar Neo is now generally available. As you might expect, I created a First Look video on my YouTube channel, which I will link to below. In the video, I cover what’s new, what’s coming but not yet in the product, what’s different from Luminar AI, and also what’s missing (in my opinion). Yes, I do think there are some things that are missing from this initial launch version. I do think they will be added, but I do not know when.
Don’t have Luminar Neo yet? You can get it here.
I have been using the beta of Luminar Neo for a few months now, and have found it to be both quick and stable (I am on a Mac). Considering all the new stuff that is still to come (Mask AI and Portrait Background Removal, most notably), I think it is and will continue to be an amazing product. But it’s not perfect.
Once all of the remaining, promised features make it into the product, I think this will be a very formidable one. I already use it all the time, and have no reason to expect that to change.
I have already been sharing a lot of videos about Luminar Neo, which you can find in this playlist on YouTube.
Some of the more popular videos include:
Hopefully those give you some ideas about how to get the most out of Luminar Neo!
And oh yeah, I have a TON of Luminar Neo videos that I am planning. So if it’s of interest to you, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel to stay up to date on all these things.
I’ll be there every week making tutorials for ya!
Luminar Black Friday Deals + News on Neo!
Skylum has announced their Black Friday deals, and they are awesome! Oh yeah, and I have more to share about Luminar Neo. Dive into today’s post and see, or check out the video I did covering these topics.
Hey friends, thanks for stopping by. Today Skylum announced a lot of Black Friday deals, which are outlined below. I also received some news on Luminar Neo. I will share all that below, or you can watch my video about it instead. Thanks for stopping by!
If you are interested in purchasing any of these BF specials, you can use the links below:
Preorder Luminar Neo - CLICK HERE
Get Luminar AI or a Bundle - CLICK HERE
As you can see, there are some GREAT deals on Skylum products.
If you are unsure about Luminar Neo, I have a full playlist about it on YouTube, which should answer a lot of questions. But keep in mind that although it isn’t out yet, you have a 30 day money back guarantee from the date of release. So you can buy now, and then decide later.
Also, there are some new visuals about Luminar Neo, which are exciting because they give us a good idea about what’s coming.
Relight AI is going to be awesome, methinks.
I imagine that automatic dust spot removal is going to be SUPER popular. It will be used on every image I edit, that’s for sure!
And of course, automatic removal of power lines will be amazing, too!
Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you have any questions!
Luminar Neo: A Few More Insights
Skylum is back with more news on Luminar Neo. Dive into this post and accompanying video to see what it’s all about!
Skylum is out with another press release today, detailing a few more insights into the upcoming Luminar Neo. Let’s dive in and see what they are talking about!
Today’s press release adds a little more color to 4 upcoming features, which I will detail down below.
Dust Removal AI
Line Removal AI
Overlays
Luminar Share
If you have’t yet placed your preorder, you can do that here: https://bit.ly/3hbDXEP
And of course, I made a video about all of these features as well, which is below:
Dust Removal AI
This feature looks amazing, and it certainly going to be a time saver for me (and probably everyone else, too). It will automatically remove dust and lens spots from your photos for you. I can’t tell you how great of a use of AI this will be. I think of AI as being a useful way to do complex things more quickly, and honestly removing dust spots is menial and boring. The fact that it will be automated is amazing!
Line Removal AI
Add this to the same category as Dust Removal AI - it will automatically remove power lines from your photos. Once again, an amazing and creative use of AI. You can now quickly and easily clean up those annoying powerlines in your city photos, and get back to the fun part of editing photos. This is another big one for me, as I am always shooting in cities, and frankly sometimes powerlines are just difficult to remove. I can’t wait to try this!
Overlays
Taking advantage of the Layers capability, Luminar Neo will include a library of overlay content so you can quickly and easily make your own creative vision for an image come to life. This is a welcome addition to Luminar, especially for those of us that like to experiment with various creative outcomes.
Luminar Share
This mobile companion app will allow us to quickly sync images from our mobile device to Neo, and then sync back the edited image for social sharing. This will save me a lot of time for sure, because today I have to email a photo to myself, download it from email, add to Luminar, edit, then email back to myself, save on my mobile, and then share on Instagram (for instance). This automates that process and it sounds fantastic. I can’t wait to try it!
That sums it up for now. If you have any questions, just let me know, and thanks!
4 New Features Coming to Luminar Neo
Luminar Neo will include these 4 new features, and this post outlines all the details. Relight AI, Layers, Mask AI, and Portrait Background Removal AI are all coming - check it out!
Luminar Neo Will Include Layers, Relight AI, Mask AI, and Portrait Background Removal AI
If you have seen my previous videos about Luminar Neo, then you already know that I am excited about what is coming. But today Skylum put out a press release, detailing 4 new features that are coming in this new product, and it’s really exciting stuff.
Preorder Luminar Neo: https://bit.ly/3hbDXEP
Here is my video outlining all these features:
Relight AI
This new lighting tool uses 3D depth mapping to identify both planes (foreground and background) as well as elements (people, buildings, skies, etc) in a photo. Then you can creatively adjust the light in a photo. You can position the light as needed, adjusting the foreground and background separately. Effectively we are now going to be able to fix problematic light in any image, blend it seamlessly between foreground and background, and get amazing results.
Layers
The layers function in Neo will allow you to combine multiple images, even raw files, for endless creative outcomes. Take advantage of blend modes, opacity, masking and more to get the results you want. They will include built in overlays and an object library to give us some creative options right at our fingertips. It will accept textures, PNG with transparency, and more. Plus it will be easy to move, rotate, flip, transform and even reorder the layers as needed.
Mask AI
Now THIS is going to be awesome! This is AI-powered, context-aware masking. So it will automagically identify lots of different items in your photos: people skies, water, mountains, and more. That way you can target specifically where your edits will go without having go through any manual masking processes, which are tedious and prone to error. Note that this capability will not be available at launch this winter, but rather it is coming in a free update in early 2022.
Portrait Background Removal AI
This will isolate your subject and remove the background with one click. Pretty amazing, and certainly very useful as well. Initially this is focused on portraits, but they are also exploring other uses for this tool. And like Mask AI, it will not be available at launch but instead will come in a free update in early 2022.
Thanks for checking this out, and hope this information is helpful. Be back soon with more info, as soon as I have it!
On1 Announces Photo RAW 2022!
On1 Announces Photo RAW 2022 - and it looks amazing! Check out these new features!
This product looks like it’s going to be amazing!
I have been using On1 Photo RAW 2021 throughout this entire year, and have really grown to both appreciate all of its advanced capabilities, and just plain love the use of it. It gives me so much power and flexibility in my editing. Now, On1 has just announced the latest version which is coming soon - and I am really excited about all the new tools it will have!
Preorder On1 Photo RAW 2022 here: https://bit.ly/3BC1BlS
It will be available around the end of September, and will sell for $99.99 for a perpetual license (new user), and if you have an older version the upgrade cost is $79.99. They will also offer a free 14 day trial at launch.
The product is not out yet, so I don’t yet have a copy. But when I get it, you can rest assured that I will be sharing some tips and tricks on my YouTube channel, showing it in action. Until then, let’s take a quick look at all the new stuff that is coming!
Sky Swap AI - automatic sky replacement, including giving you full access to the mask that is automatically created, so you can reuse it for other parts of your edit
Time-Lapse Creation - quickly create time-lapse videos from still photo sequences
Integration of NoNoise AI - their amazing noise reduction is now integrated into your raw workflow
Photoshop Plugin Host - run your other plugins inside of Photo RAW
Line Masking - quickly create masks using straight lines
And more, such as a retooled Export menu, backup and restore options, Apple Silicon support and the list goes on!
Click the link above to reserve your copy! Demo videos are coming soon!
And of course, I prepared a pre-release analysis video talking about this release as well. Check it out below!
Here are some screenshots that they provided me, showing the UI of some of these new tools. I really think this is going to be a fantastic product, and continue to be a powerful and flexible all-in-one editor.
Skylum Announces Luminar Neo!
Skylum just announced Luminar Neo, a new app coming late this year. Check out all the details and my video in this exclusive preview!
My good friends over at Skylum Software have just announced that their newest product is coming later this year. It’s called Luminar Neo, and preorders start today!
Preorders start today - use this link to save some serious $: https://bit.ly/3tfOmnL
No, I do not yet have the product. This is what I describe as a pre-announcement. The product is coming, but an exact date is not yet available. It is expected later this year, so I would estimate that it will be a winter release. As soon as I have it, and can share some more details, you can rest assured that I will do so. The best way to stay up to date on this is via my Newsletter (sign up here), and on my YouTube channel.
I am busy trying to get all the details for you, and this blog post and my accompanying video contain just about everything I know so far.
Preorder Pricing: Starts: September 9 (8am New York Time) - Ends: September 19 (8am New York Time)
Preorder today and get the best deal: https://bit.ly/3tfOmnL
For old Skylum app users:
$34 for 1-seat license for Luminar Neo
$49 for 2-seats license for Luminar Neo
$63 for 1-seat license for Luminar AI+Neo
$88 for 2-seats license for Luminar AI+Neo
For new users:
$54 for 1-seat license for Luminar Neo
$59 for 2-seats license for Luminar Neo
$83 for 1-seat license for Luminar AI+Neo
$98 for 2-seats license for Luminar AI+Neo
Remember: you have a 30 day money back guarantee, from the date you receive it. So you can order now, get the very best price, and then decide later if you are going to keep it or not. It’s completely risk free!
Be sure and check out my preview analysis video about Luminar Neo. In the video I provide a bit more background and context for this release than I do here on the blog.
New Features
Now, let’s get into some of the amazing new features that are coming, along with some screenshots that Skylum was kind enough to provide for my readers. Here are the key new features that I am currently aware of:
Image layers!
Apply any tool, to any layer, in any order, even multiple times
Unique masking, per layer and per tool
Portrait background replacement
Remove distracting elements: dust spots, power lines
Advanced image relight, with a single slider
I will be back with more information, as soon as I have it. Sign up for my newsletter to make sure you are in the loop on everything that I share about this exciting new product!
Introducing Memorable Moments - my Luminar AI Signature Template Pack!
I have just released my first Signature Template pack for Luminar AI. Entitled “Memorable Moments”, it’s a dozen templates for making quick and powerful adjustments to your photos, in Luminar AI. Read the details in this article, see the demo video, and check out some sample before & after photos, too!
Now available in the Skylum Marketplace - Memorable Moments - my new Signature Template Pack for Luminar AI!
Ever since Luminar AI first came out about a year ago, I have been asked if I was going to create a template pack for it. After all, Luminar AI is my favorite product, I use it all the time and make countless videos about it, and I made similar things for previous Luminar versions. But for various reasons, I was distracted and never put a lot of time into actually crafting something for the marketplace. Sure, I made some templates that I used, but I never really dug in, refined them, and crafted something of value that was worth sharing with a broad audience. Until now.
Now that I have refined and tested these on a lot of images, they are available in the Luminar Marketplace, right here: https://skylum.com/luminar/marketplace/signature-presets/memorable-moments
It is a set of 12 templates that sells for $19. There are 10 templates for color work, and 2 pretty dramatic monochrome templates as well.
These templates were inspired by my travels, and the feelings that I encounter when I am out shooting in some foreign place. They were built and tested on various cityscapes and landscapes, so I wanted to be clear that they were not made with portrait photos in mind.
I recently released a demo video, showing some of these templates at work on some of my photos. Check it out for a good look at what these templates do to my images. They work great across various times of day and lighting conditions, and of course as is typical of my style, they involve some good degree of light and color adjustment.
And if the video isn’t enough, feel free to check out the sample photos below, showing a comparison of the original photo and the photo with the template applied. I hope this gives you a good idea of what these templates can do. If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email by clicking CONTACT on the upper right sidebar here on my website.
Thank you!
Luminar AI Update 4 - now with Portrait Bokeh AI!
Luminar AI just got a free update to include Portrait Bokeh AI. It automatically creates a mask for any human in the photo and then allows you to control how much blur the background gets. It’s amazing! Check out my summary here and my First Look video on YouTube.
Well friends, we finally get the long-awaited bokeh AI tool in Luminar AI, which was first promised when the product was originally launched, late last year. Was it worth the wait? See sample screenshots below, and check out my full demo video as well!
My opinion? It’s quite good, and it will be really useful too!
Now, when it was first announced last year, it was just called Bokeh AI. But now it is Portrait Bokeh AI. So keep that in mind. In other words, it is designed for portraits, and not just any photo. It uses AI to recognize humans in an image - even groups of them - and automatically creates a mask over them. Then you can adjust the bokeh for the background, as well as quite a few other things: brightness, temperature and more!
I love when new products or new features come out, and even though this isn’t exactly something I need all the time (if you follow my work, you know that taking portraits is not my thing). But I do feel that with this update, they have done the impossible - they’ve made me interested in portraits! LOL
Honestly though, I am having a lot of fun with it and think you will too.
Check out my full First Look video here:
Here are some sample screenshots, showing how the mask looks over this photo. Keep in mind, this mask was AUTOMATIC and was done in a couple of seconds. It’s amazingly fast and accurate too. Of course, if you need to adjust the mask, you can do so with the brush in the Portrait Bokeh AI tool. You can paint over parts of the photo to either add focus to them, or blur them. It’s quite ingenious and of course all you portrait photographers out there are going to love it.
Unedited photo on the left. Photo showing mask in the middle. Final edit (with new sky, too!) on the right.
Click any image to enlarge.
Now here is the other thing I want to point out about this tool. This is the FIRST TIME that Skylum has actually shown us the mask with their AI tools. Take Sky AI (automatic sky replacement) for example. Sure, the sky goes in automatically and looks great, but you never actually see the mask. It’s not hard to figure out, of course, but I think this is a big deal because in the past these things have been obscured. So I think this is a positive development.
And as I said, it will also handle group portraits with ease. Here is a sample group shot. You can see the mask, which is 95%+ accurate. I think that is pretty amazing all around.
If you want to see more of this tool in action, I recommend watching my YouTube video about it. I will also be back soon with even more videos about this tool.
And just to make sure that Portrait Bokeh AI doesn’t overshadow the other big updates, I wanted to share them here. The Sky AI tool has been improved and simplified. A new on-screen tool makes it even easier to get a new sky in the right position. They replace 3 separate sliders with a new Horizon Position tool, which operates a little like an adjustable gradient. It’s quick and easy, and I cover that in the video too.
And lastly, the Texture tool was updated to include visual previews of textures. This is great because many times the name of the texture might not be very clear, so this visual preview helps a lot! There are two new sets of textures included, and you can even load your own folders of textures and get a visual preview of them, too. It’s awesome!
There are also a lot of bug fixes and performance updates to round out Luminar AI Update 4. Keep in mind this is a FREE UPDATE for current customers, so it’s no cost to you my friends. Get it and have fun editing!
On1 Releases NoNoise AI - and it's AMAZING!
On1 has just released NoNoise AI and it is amazing. Check out these sample shots and my first look video too!
On1 has just released their new, AI-based noise reduction software, called NoNoise AI. I have had the pleasure of using it for a few days now, and have to say it is pretty amazing.
I have been a fan of On1 for a long time, and in the last few months have really dove deep into using it and trying to get my skills with it much higher. I’m getting there, and having fun along the way. Recently On1 announced that they were going to release NoNoise AI, a new AI-powered noise reduction software product, which of course piqued my interest. I was eager to try it out, and was lucky enough that they sent me a copy of it prior to release.
You can watch my First Look and demo video below.
While the video covers it pretty well, and in more depth than I can do here, I did want to share a few screenshots of it in action. You can see really clearly just how powerful NoNoise AI really is. It has done a wonderful job removing the noise in these images, without sacrificing any detail whatsoever. In fact, in all of my tests, I was able to actually recover better detail after using it!
You can get your copy of NoNoise AI at the On1 website here: https://bit.ly/2xy9Ss2 and use coupon code JIMNIX to save 20%!
Luminar AI Update 3 - Now Available!
Luminar AI Update 3 is out today! Check out my video preview and all the new features and enhancements!
My friends over at Skylum have done it again. This time, they have updated Luminar AI with some great new features and enhancements. Check out my full video summary below!
Here are the top new features and enhancements:
Better sky detection
Better reflections
Better relighting
Apple M1 Support
HEIC Support
Augmented Sky enhanced
Dodge & Burn enhanced
Check the video out to see these in action!
Want a copy of Luminar AI? Get it here: https://bit.ly/3lKOZl7 ( and use Coupon code JIMNIX to saves $10)
Skylum Announces Luminar AI - my Exclusive Deep Dive Preview!
Skylum preannounces Luminar AI, coming this holiday season. Check out my preview video and all the details inside this post. Thanks!
My favorite editing tool is going to get a massive overhaul later this year, and I’m excited about it!
Pre-order Luminar AI here
Check out my preview video below, and feel free to browse these summary slides as well. This is a completely redesigned product with AI at its core. The capability that this will bring appears to be pretty amazing and powerful, without any added complexity. Check the video for details!
Let me know if you have any questions, and thanks for stopping by!
Goodbye NomadicPursuits.com - hello JimNix.com!
I have changed my blog name after 10 years. Here are some mad ramblings about why, along with a look back over the years and what got me to this point.
What’s In A Name?
I started this blog about 10 years ago, give or take. I had just recently started photography, and “everyone was doing it”, so I started a blog as well. I had no idea what I was doing, only that I was starting to love photography and wanted to have a blog. It was what I was “supposed” to do. And truthfully, I have really enjoyed having a blog. It’s been awesome. And as I said in my previous post here, I am going to keep it, even though it is no longer something that I will post to every day/week. Additionally I am changing the look, feel and content around here to some degree. It’s a work in process, that is for sure.
Venice, Italy at sunset - wandering somewhere in a back canal
When I was formulating my idea for this blog all those years ago, I wanted to name it something that implied travel, but wasn’t specific to photography. You see, at the time I thought the blog would be about travel, photography and several other topics that I am/was interested in (books, maps, personal finance, inspirational quotes, working out, writing, poetry and more). I thought it would become sort of a digital representation of my interests, and I was excited to work on it and try and grow it.
In some ways, I envisioned it being what is now called a “lifestyle blog”, although I don’t believe such a thing was a thing back then. Maybe it was, I have no idea. But at the time, I could not predict the extent to which I was going to love photography, and dive into it head first. It was a new subject to me then, and I had very little experience with cameras, photography, editing and the like. It was like learning a new language. (And I am still learning.)
Of course naming a blog is hard, and although I settled on Nomadic Pursuits, I never really loved the name and obviously it does not just roll off the tongue. I always felt like I had to spell it out for people, and clarify what it meant, and all that sort of stuff. And although I was Jim Nix on all the social media sites, I didn’t think to just name my blog after me, because other than some friends and family, no one knew who I was.
Evening in London, England
And back then, I don’t remember people using their name for their blog or website name. I am sure some did, but I don’t recall that other than photographers using their first name and last name with “photography” or “photo” at the end. And as I said above, I never even considered that because I thought the site would be about more than photography.
In retrospect I realize I was trying to create a brand, even though I didn't realize that at the time. I guess “brand” is the right word. I’m not really sure, but it was some “entity” that I was crafting, to the extent I was capable of such a thing. It wasn’t about me, per se, but about my interests, and sharing them with anyone who showed up (though admittedly, not many people did).
When I started this blog I was fresh off meeting Trey Ratcliff here in Austin and learning about his blog (I met him through work). I saw his photos, and read his blog, and literally decided on the spot that this was what I wanted to do with my life. That’s how I got started.
The thing was, I basically just followed his lead and started trying to post a photo here every day. It was tough, and frankly a lot of the photos were crap. I had no background in photography, and of course no background in photo editing, so I was mostly just using iPhoto to drag the saturation to the right. Real smart, Jim. :-) Oh, and I knew nothing about trying to build an online presence via social media, SEO, blogging, etc. (And frankly, I still don’t know a lot about that stuff, I’m just sort of hacking my way as I go.) And even worse, I really had no idea what I WANTED to do. I had no plan, other than to just put out photos. So this sort of became a photography blog, because I found myself spending more and more time just on photography, and not the other interests that I initially envisioned including here on the site.
Just before sunrise in Prague - a stunningly beautiful city.
But as time passed I learned more about post-processing and got more comfortable with a few editing programs, and my photos improved. I kept trying to post nearly every day. But over time I realized I didn’t HAVE to post every day. I was just doing it that way because that is what Trey did, and many others as well, so it seemed like the thing to do. I was just following everyone else’s lead. It never occurred to me that having a blog means you can basically do whatever it is you want to do. There are no rules. And by the way, I wasn’t exactly getting a lot of traffic, so it’s not like people were waiting around for me to post a new photo. But regardless, I made it my mission and I did a fairly consistent job of adding things here.
And of course photography became more and more important to me as I learned more about it, and got deeper into the subject. I just sort of “fell in love” with the whole creative process around it.
One thing I started doing somewhat early was adding a lot of content to the blog that I thought people might be searching for. A lot of this was based on questions I would get. One question I got from time to time was about the best places in Austin for taking photos. So I made a list and populated it with my photos. This was just something that was done primarily so I didn’t have to write it each time I got an email about it, but over time it has become the most viewed page on my blog. I even wrote an ebook about it.
The Loop 360 Bridge here in Austin - an iconic symbol of the city and a great place for a sunset shoot!
I also got questions about tips, tricks and things you can do with various software products, because as I posted photos I sometimes would mention what I did to the photo. This led me to writing up reviews of these software products, which also became some of the more popular pages here on the blog (at least at the time). They are no longer popular though because they were all older products that have long since been upgraded/changed. And (perhaps obviously) I do all my product review/instruction on YouTube nowadays. That’s just a much better way to do it. So I quit writing software tutorials and reviews here, mostly because I know that I will never go back and rewrite it when a new version comes out, or the current version gets updates, or whatever. And in fact, I have deleted nearly all of them from this site.
And of course I had some positions in the corporate world that sent me to various places around the globe for work (I work in the technology business still to this day, and still enjoy it, and we travel a lot as a family on our holidays). This allowed me to take photos in whatever free time I had while traveling, which led me to creating more lists of the best places to take photos in X (insert city name here). If I went somewhere and learned enough about it, had enough photos, and saw enough to make a list - then I made a list. I now have 20+ of these lists on the blog. Some get a lot of views each month, some not so much. But they are there to help people just in case. And of course I captured a LOT of photos, making mistakes along the way and learning and growing my craft.
But all this time the name of this site just didn’t feel right. Sure, I got some views and still get decent traffic. But a few years ago I decided to purchase jimnix.com because I wanted to own my own name as a domain, just in case. I didn’t really have any plans for it, other than to make sure another Jim Nix out there in the world didn’t have it.
An evening shot from London, dragging the shutter to capture a passing bus.
So at first I had that domain point to my Facebook business page for the blog, but a couple of years ago I deleted that page. It was a waste of time and effort to maintain it. Then I had that domain point to my personal Facebook page, and then I had it point to my portfolio site on SmugMug. Eventually, a year or so ago, I decided to make it a secondary domain here, meaning that it would bring anyone who typed it in to this blog. I didn’t really advertise the name, but since it was my name I figured it may as well point to my blog.
And now here I sit, having decided to make jimnix.com the main domain for my blog, and to reduce NomadicPursuits.com to the secondary position. I think it just makes sense. Nomadic Pursuits is harder to spell and harder to remember, and there is absolutely nothing about it that really tells you who or what it is about. Of course, if you have never heard my name then using jimnix.com doesn’t tell you what this is about either, but it does tell you WHO it is about. And this blog is about me - any personal blog should be. And while I am nowhere near being a well-known name, there is some awareness of me in the broader photographic community and it just makes sense to convert the name of the blog to my name. It’s cleaner, simpler, and much easier to remember, methinks. Plus a lot of search traffic that ends up on my blog comes from those searching out my name.
So the other day I did the swap from NomadicPursuits.com to JimNix.com as the primary domain. Going forward, I am only going to use the JimNix.com domain and although I will keep the other one alive, I do not plan to mention it anywhere. So now I am trying to go through all my social media sites and update my blog listing to jimnix.com and thus far I think I got them all. :-)
Strasbourg, France
I want to be clear about one thing - this is not about ego to me. I am using my name for my blog because this is my site, and this is about my photography. I am just making it simple. I’m not really actively trying to drive a lot of traffic to this blog. What I am doing is simplifying the discovery process for those who want to follow my work, my photography, or my mad ramblings here on the blog.
During this process, I have also removed a lot of old content from the blog. I completely deleted all of my old software tutorials and reviews that were here. As I mentioned previously, these were all done a long time ago and the products have all long since been upgraded and changed. Going back in to rewrite a full tutorial is a MAJOR time commitment, and frankly I am just too lazy. Plus, they do not get nearly as many views as they would on YouTube. Plus YouTube is just much easier for me. I can make a tutorial or review and get it published all in the same day whereas writing out a long-form article about a product and including a bunch of screenshots can take several days. It’s a LOT of work, trust me.
And personally, I am a visual learner when it comes to this stuff, so making a video seems better to me anyways, and I suspect a lot of people would just much rather see it than read about it.
So that is it my friends. This was a long article, and I am sorry about that, but I do enjoy writing more than I remember, and it is sort of fun to put my thoughts on paper (or on the web, in this case).
I have more work to do around here in terms of simplification but I have been deleting old content at a rapid pace and will continue to refine this blog over time. I feel that a blog is a living creation, and as such it will continue to evolve over time. What will this blog eventually look like? I do not know, but I am keeping the main idea of simplification top of mind. There is a lot of content here already (I have been doing this for 10 years now) but my hope is to continue to refine and simplify the site so that those visiting will clearly and easily find what they are looking for. We will have to see how that shakes out.
Thanks for following along, I appreciate it.
Cannon Beach, Oregon - my favorite place in the US.