The importance of Hashtags

So why are hashtags so important when posting something online?

From Wikipedia; what a Hashtag is:

Hashtags are words or phrases prefixed with the symbol #, a form of metadata tag. Short messages on microblogging social networking services such as Twitter, identi.ca or Google+ may be tagged by including one or more with multiple words concatenated, such as those in:
#Wikipedia is my favourite kind of #encyclopedia
Then, a person can search for the string #Wikipedia and this tagged word will appear in the search engine results. Such tags are case-insensitive.

Wikipedia

Basically it makes it easier for anyone online to find posts related to what they want to see/read about. And it's something I haven't thought much about until now. When Google+ first started out and everyone shared and commented on everyone else's posts the stream didn't seem so "full", and getting attention wasn't really a problem. However, now that G+ is open to everyone and the best photographers have over 100 000 followers and people are posting all over the place, getting noticed is actually getting harder and harder.

I haven't been all too active lately because of my health, but I have noticed that my posts weren't really getting any attention. Not like they used to a while ago anyways. But then I remembered hashtags. I've been seeing posts about it here and there (and being on Twitter have made me quite used to how it works), but I haven't been any good at keeping my posts updated with hashtags.

So after today's urban exploration I was going to publish a photograph (below) and thought to myself "I have to remember hashtags THIS time!", and I added a few (#urban #exploration #decay #ruin etc).

You can see the G+ post here.

Then: WHAM! the +1's and comments started raining in almost immediately!

Of course, it must be said that the published work needs to have quality too, otherwise all the hashtags in the world won't make you noticable, but you catch my drift.

So for my conclusion: Remember hashtags so you don't drown in the endless stream of information that just rushes by!

Being a Photographer and dealing with Bad Health.

You might ask yourself why I would choose to be a nature photographer when all odds are against me in such a line of work. I have had severe asthma and allergies (food, pollen etc) since I was born. I also have hip dysplasia and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Combined this results in quite the cocktail of health problems, and the actual reach I have of going anywhere is short (and random) at best.

It should be mentioned that I have some wonderful members in my family, and friends, and a boyfriend, who help me a great deal with all of these challenges. My mother was so wonderful to take me on a trip to Iceland this autumn. Paid for and arranged everything so I could just tag along and see the sights and take photos. (With being sick all the time I haven't had the chance to have an actual job, so my income is extremely limited). That is to say; photography is a job and a career, but it's one I can't pursue at more than a randomly part time sort of level. I can't live off of it.

In addition to my mom, my boyfriend is usually both my driver and my sherpa ;) I don't know what I'd do without him :) My sister is also wonderful, and buys a lot of my photos to have in her home. It's cool to see all my art on her walls. And last but not least there's also Gøran, my step dad, who keeps letting me "inherit" some of his camera equipment when he buys something new, and buys me the most amazing birthday gifts (which I never expect). This year I got a Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 :D

But just this year I've had the flue, a severe cold (after my trip to Iceland), I got way more sick than expected after taking the seasonal flue-shot, and then finally pneumonia that had to be taken care of by antibiotics. And all within a 4 month period. With all that ravaging my body, it's pretty hard to do anything except sitting in front of the tv being a vegetable and taking triple of the usual medications (doc's orders) :P

Getting back to the point though. It might not seem like a logical choice to become a professional nature photographer of all things with this going on (and considering professional means a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee, I think of myself as a professional photographer, even though my rates of sale are still low). But after a lifetime of trying to figure out who I am and what I love (I tried painting, drawing, sculpting etc) photography was where I found my calling and fell in love.

And like most other things you can't choose what you love. It's just something you discover and that makes your heart sing, and takes you away from all the other crap that exists in life.

It often depresses me how little I actually get to do on any given day/week to pursue this love of mine, but the reality is what it is, and there's not really anything I can do about it. At least not yet.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that when you find something you really love, you'll do what it takes to stick with it. Even though abilities, economy and situations might be limited it's always better to do something wonderful a little bit every now and then, than not at all. And it can give an otherwise meaningless existence meaning and purpose.

And as you can see in the photo I posted at the top of this blog post, even parent's backyards can hold exciting and wonderful things to capture :)