So originally, when I first started this blog, I had every intention of producing a quality San Diego food blog, modeled off the fine mmm-yoso blog. They have a very prolific blog with a ton of pictures and generally do a great job with their reviews. I feel like I have two big things keeping me from being that kind of blog: infrequent posts and no pictures. Until recently, I considered them two things I needed to strive to get better at. I think we can all agree that there's no excuse for my slacking off on the posts. I need to be posting more often. With your encouragement (thanks to all who have left comments for me) and a little Firefox plugin called ScribeFire, I pledge to become a more frequent contributor to the San Diego food scene.
However, the wife and I had a discussion recently that changed my perspective on the photos issue. I've actually taken a number of pictures of food, but for whatever reason, they haven't made it onto any of my posts. I think one of the biggest problems for me was I couldn't figure out how to work them into the post in a natural way (especially those that I had taken after I wrote and posted the text). It's sort of like "oh and btw, here's a bunch of pics that have no tie-in to the text at all! My wife's comment was that she actually preferred to read a post without so many pictures because, she said, if there were pictures of the food, she wouldn't be paying attention to the text. Pictures have a funny way of turning us into lazy readers. I hadn't even considered that, but I tend to agree. When I'm on mmm-yoso I generally look at the pictures and then MAYBE read a bit of text if the pictures look good. The is especially tricky for eaters who are new to cuisines like Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, etc. where many of the dishes consist of stews or otherwise "goopy" looking dishes. That can be a big turn off for people. I can get someone's mouth watering more easily explaining the flavors rather than showing them pictures of the dish.
I think if I ever switch my position, I'll post very small pictures (compared to page real estate for text) that pop up larger versions. But for the time being, and especially since I want to get better about making more regular posts, I'll continue to avoid pictures of the food altogether.
Do you have any feedback for me? I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the pictures thing as well as any other pointers or generally wishes you have for my blog. In case you haven't gathered this yet, I try to focus on vegetarian dishes and places that have good, cheap food. Cheap is very important to me because I think good food should be accessible to everyone and I think we should be able to eat out regularly. I also try to tailor my posts on ethnic food to the newbie, easing them into trying it for the first time (or giving it a second chance if they've had a bad experience in the past).
That pretty much sums up my approach I think. Do I spend too much time on one thing and not enough on another? I'd love to hear your thoughts. By the way, I'm going to start posting about recipes as well. I'm deep in a love affair with Recipezaar and I'll be sharing some of my favorite dishes, many of which have meat in them, but I'll be giving you a guide on how to use mock meats or other substitutes with them.
However, the wife and I had a discussion recently that changed my perspective on the photos issue. I've actually taken a number of pictures of food, but for whatever reason, they haven't made it onto any of my posts. I think one of the biggest problems for me was I couldn't figure out how to work them into the post in a natural way (especially those that I had taken after I wrote and posted the text). It's sort of like "oh and btw, here's a bunch of pics that have no tie-in to the text at all! My wife's comment was that she actually preferred to read a post without so many pictures because, she said, if there were pictures of the food, she wouldn't be paying attention to the text. Pictures have a funny way of turning us into lazy readers. I hadn't even considered that, but I tend to agree. When I'm on mmm-yoso I generally look at the pictures and then MAYBE read a bit of text if the pictures look good. The is especially tricky for eaters who are new to cuisines like Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, etc. where many of the dishes consist of stews or otherwise "goopy" looking dishes. That can be a big turn off for people. I can get someone's mouth watering more easily explaining the flavors rather than showing them pictures of the dish.
I think if I ever switch my position, I'll post very small pictures (compared to page real estate for text) that pop up larger versions. But for the time being, and especially since I want to get better about making more regular posts, I'll continue to avoid pictures of the food altogether.
Do you have any feedback for me? I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the pictures thing as well as any other pointers or generally wishes you have for my blog. In case you haven't gathered this yet, I try to focus on vegetarian dishes and places that have good, cheap food. Cheap is very important to me because I think good food should be accessible to everyone and I think we should be able to eat out regularly. I also try to tailor my posts on ethnic food to the newbie, easing them into trying it for the first time (or giving it a second chance if they've had a bad experience in the past).
That pretty much sums up my approach I think. Do I spend too much time on one thing and not enough on another? I'd love to hear your thoughts. By the way, I'm going to start posting about recipes as well. I'm deep in a love affair with Recipezaar and I'll be sharing some of my favorite dishes, many of which have meat in them, but I'll be giving you a guide on how to use mock meats or other substitutes with them.
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