It’s our Birthday!

12 months ago I thought I’d take my digital photography passion to a new level and start researching and writing up digital photography tips.

The last year here at DPS has been a blur and has exceeded all of my expectations. Here’s some of where we’ve come to so far:

• Here on the blog we’ve uploaded 257 tutorials, tips and articles in 13 categories
• We currently have a monthly readership of around 230,000 people
• DPS has an email newsletter subscription list of over 18000 subscribers
• The DPS forum has a membership of around 2500
• We have an RSS feed subscriber count of just under 15,000

Ok – enough self congratulation – the main reason I started DPS was that I wanted to improve my digital photography and wanted to create an online community where together we could learn more about our hobby.

Highlights from the Past Year

So on celebratory days like today I like to look back and reminisce a little so for today’s post I’m going to post a list of some of the most popular tutorials and tips that we’ve featured here at DPS over the last year (based upon traffic). Here’s the Top 20:

1. The Rule of Thirds – an early post on a basic compositional ‘Rule’
2. Working the Lines in your Photography – a mini series on different ways of seeing and using lines in your photography
3. 11 Tips for Better Candid Photography – tips on one of my favorite styles of photography
4. How to Photograph Pets – cute animal photography!
5. How to Photograph People When Traveling – 7 tips for getting great people shots on your next trip
6. 10 Beach Photography Tips – one of the most popular tutorials we’ve had
7. How to Photograph Sunrises and Sunsets – sunsets and sunrises are a bit of a cliche shot – but it’s still fun to learn how to photograph them
8. How to Make Digital Photos Look Like Lomo Photography – the first photoshop tutorial on DPS and one that got ALOT of traffic
9. How to Take Great Group Photos – another common shot and how to take them
10. 10 Questions to Ask When Taking a Digital Photo – a mental check list
11. Introduction to White Balance – learn to play with this basic camera setting
12. Learning about Exposure – The Exposure Triangle – the start to a series designed to help you get out of ‘Auto Mode’
13. 10 Tips for Photographing Babies – did I mention that I became a Dad this year? Here’s what I’ve learned about photographing our baby
14. 7 Digital Camera Predators and How to Keep them at Bay – keep your camera safe from these predators
15. How to Take Sharp Digital Images – some basic tips on getting clear images
16. How to Choose a DSLR Camera – DSLRs are getting cheaper and I was getting more and more questions about how to choose one (also see how to buy a digital camera – a 9 step guide)
17. How to Be a Curious Photographer – one out of left field that seemed to connect with people
18. 13 Tips for Improving Camera Phone Photos – one of my old articles from another blog updated
19. Slow Sync Flash – a fun and effective technique
20. 5 Black and White Photography Tips – from our Black and White Photography Series

Lastly – let me say thank you to DPS readers. Every day I get emails from readers asking questions, giving feedback and suggestions and encouraging me with stories of how their photography has been improving. I’m learning a lot from you and appreciate you being a part of the DPS community.

Thanks also to those of you actively promoting Digital Photography School. The word of mouth growth that we’ve experienced this year has been quite massive – so thanks for writing about us on your blogs, emailing your friends and promoting us in your photography clubs, to local magazines and all of the other things you’re doing.

So here’s to our first year. I’m looking forward to many more!