May Studio Notes

Monthly Recap
Written By Megan Crist

Wow. April was a surprising month. All of my new clients cited Google for their referral source and it was one of those times that I über-appreciated my past self for going that extra mile when I optimize my images for search engines. SEO is a crucial digital marketing tactic that photographers usually don’t consider to be part of their scope. But my ranking first on Google for my preferred keywords is not an accident. Yes there are other factors and it does require consistency over time, but especially if you have an image heavy website with small amounts of text and/or have lots of photos shared around online, SEO for image assets is v. important.

I consider SEO for images to be part of my job for myself as well as part of our standard service to our clients at Range Creative, whether the project is a photography production or a website design. Our work is marketing-oriented from the inside out.

In other news…

[TLDR - I planted lots of flowers. I am very excited about this -as you can see lots of words, but you can totally skip ahead to the next heading WHAT WE LOVED IN APRIL for our favorite artists, books, shows, and articles of last month.]

Our daffodils passed their prime. I dug them up, divided the clumps and dispersed them through my front and back yards. There were so many that I gave away 3 (THREE!) Trader Joe’s flower buckets full of bulbs to community friends in my Buy Nothing group. I also shared some with our neighbor up the street, who gave me some irises in return.

Someone -I still have no idea who because the doorbell camera was out of battery juice- left me 3 varieties of tomato plants on my porch. I texted my plant friends asking if they left me a surprise on my porch. No. Nobody dropped off plant babies. I posted on Facebook inquiring about who may have left these plants, still no one claimed credit for the thought and generosity. Now I suspect it may have been the neighbor who had previously gifted me the irises. I still need to verify this theory.

I sowed a decent amount of flower seeds for my summer flower project. It’s very exciting to watch them sprout. Tiny wonders of the world. Just fascinating. Sunflowers, poppies, cosmos, chamomile, chickory, rudbeckia, aster, and echinacea. Most of these came with 50-500 seeds per pack. Well, imagine my shock when the Black Magic cosmos pack came with 4 (FOUR) seeds in the package. No, this was not a mistake. They are apparently a designer variety and as a novice flower gardener, I had neglected to notice the seed count. Too late to order more now, but I know for next year. And I’m all the more excited for them to grow!

We wrangled our forever-a-rebel blackberry bush, adopted some quiet and understated green and white helebores, GORGEOUS color popping double peach and firey orange hibiscus, and two varieties of lavender. Our herb garden grew to include dill, sage, chives, and cilantro in addition to basil, rosemary, and oregano left from last year.

So April turned out to be a startling and productive month in the yard as well as at work.

What I loved in APRIL:

NEWS FEATURES & ESSAYS

MOVIES & SHOWS

BOOKS

  • The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo. 2021. The ABCs of interesting fruits with a memoir-style narrative and including an array of recipes (none of which I have made yet, but I love the writing).

  • Hot Sheet: Sweet & Savory Sheet Pan Recipes from Cake Zine’s recipe editor Sanaë Lemoine and Olga Massov [Harper Collins, March 2024]

  • Change by Édouard Louis. 2024. An autobiographical novel exploring individual origins and the idea of personal revolution. Eddy’s metamorphosis is driven by his desire to become an alternate version of himself (Édouard) in direct contrast to the life he was born into. In the process, the reader finds a critical picture of society in addition to his experience of it as a human. Have not quite finished this one, but that is the gist. Highly recommend. I hope you find it more insightful than relatable.

ARTISTS

  • Ellis Parrinder - Posters now available on Wallbaby! Completely not my personal style of photography, but we share a mutual love of a good color punch. I have been enamored with his work since I first found him on Instagram. A joyful and creative mix of modernity and nostalgia. I never tire of his vision. Follow Ellis on Instagram.

  • Anna Valdez: The Nature of Things. Bold maximalist ceramics, paintings, and murals that will dazzle you with an abundance of graphics, plants, and animals. I saw this show at CAM Raleigh in December 2023 and I am still musing over it.

  • Meghann Riepenhoff Ice. Interaction of nature with the photographic process in cyanotypes. The formation of the ice structures on the paper is fascinating.

  • Deborah Turbeville - New Book: Photocollage

Megan Crist

Megan Crist is a personal brand and website designer. You can find her in the studio, on the greenway, or reading a book (probably about flowers, science, or art history).

https://www.rangecreative.studio
Previous

The Marketing Buzzword of Our Times - Authentic
Next

FAQ: What Is The Value of Professional Product Photography?