Blog101

When it comes to photography, one of the most popular camera models currently out there is the Sony a6000 mirrorless camera.

After my initial hesitation of buying yet another Sony camera, I came around and haven’t regretted my decision in the slightest (read our full Sony a6000 review here for more on that).

After working with the kit lens for quite some time, I made the decision to take the leap into buying more lenses for my arsenal. I was then left with one rather challenging question: what are the best lenses for Sony a6000?

As someone who primarily shoots landscape and macro photography, this led me into the world of prime lenses- something I think most photographers know little about but would be greatly interested in.

During my investigation of prime lenses I found that most of the articles were bit confusing- not so much for the technical nature of them, but more because I wasn’t sure if they would suit my needs when it came to photography.

To accommodate this gap and help out fellow travelers in this same situation, this non-technical guide was born.

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It should go without saying that you shouldn’t steal from people. I’m an adult. You’re probably an adult. I don’t steal from you, you don’t steal from me. It is not very hard.

Sadly, in the realm of content and new media, theft, specifically image theft, is rampant.

Fellow “bloggers” have stolen from us. My city’s tourist office has stolen from us. My state’s tourist office has stolen from us. So many people in new media and destination marketing cannot be bothered to learn what copyright infringement is, and real content creators (specifically, real bloggers- without quotes) are the victims.

This has to stop. 

As I have no patience for this kind of, please excuse me, bullshit, I’m airing out some grievances today.

Notes: All photos featured in this article have been stolen from us at one point in time with the exception of the response letter sent to us by our state. I am also not a lawyer and this article does not constitute legal advice.

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If you’re like me, you’re probably obsessive about your site speed. It doesn’t matter the service, I want to do whatever I can to get the best possible scores, load times, and ratings- even if some don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Out of all of the services that are out there, one that is the holy grail is Google’s Page Speed Insights (PSI) as it is one of the few tools provided by the search giant that gives clues on how website owners can improve. (Plus non-Google tools like WebpageTest at GTMetrix to round out further analyses.)

Naturally, we latched on to it and made it our quest to top out in the highest category on our sites.

Unfortunately, our site on our old theme (Elegant Themes) only took us so far, and we knew it was time to upgrade. We switched to GeneratePress, made some customizations, and both our desktop and mobile scores jumped (with mobile scores in the high 80s and desktop flirting with 100 most days).

Today, I wanted to share the techniques I used to make this happen as it won’t come out of the box.

Note: Before we begin it is worth pointing out that at the end of the day site speed is king. Google PSI scores are mainly a suggestion. Although we’re in the weeds with it you can have a fast site without a high score, and no one is really certain if a high score provides an SEO benefit like a fast site. Our interest in this is purely because we can optimize it over a more practical reason. This could change in the future and we’ll update accordingly.

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2018 marks the ten year anniversary of my first international trip (solo at least). This whirlwind tour of Europe was my college graduation present to myself and, unbeknownst to me at the time, would spark my wanderlust and put me on a path to become a travel writer, blogger, and professional photographer.

Since that fateful journey I’ve explored over 70 countries, on five continents, totaling over two solid years on the road, and shot well over 200,000 photos of the world’s beauty along the way.

When looking back at my photos (something I do quite often), I’ve noticed an interesting evolution in my becoming a photographer.

From the style and composition, to the equipment I use and other post-processing techniques picked up along the way, my photography journey has been one that has only gotten better with age.

Today I wanted to share a glimpse into my journey over the last ten years as a travel photographer and the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way.

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