I just read a post called 11 Reasons Every Photographer Needs a Website or Blog. Most of the reasons had to do with self-promotion or making money. Rather obvious, I think. I did come up with a 12th reason, though. Depending on how much you talk about photography and into what areas you delve, it can be an interesting account of your life … somewhat autobiographical.
On all of my posts, I have a plugin that generates a list of 5 posts that might be similar in nature to the current post based on keyword occurrence. I find that I really like this feature. I don’t know if anyone who reads this blog uses it, but I find it very useful. 
Regularly, I go back and read older posts that I’ve made and am, in some cases, quite amazed at how much I’ve changed my opinion about things, or it sparks memories of things that I had forgotten…
Perhaps a 13th reason would be because, it’s about sharing. It’s cool, I think, to share your vision of the world and visit others to see what there vision is. I like to have new visitors. I always follow their links to see what they are talking about. If I find it interesting, which I do quite a bit, I’ll add their feed to my list and see if I still like what I see over time.
I’m sure that there are plenty more reasons … other than for profit and to make a name for yourself.
If you have a blog, what are your reasons? If you don’t have one, why not?
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Of the 11 reasons only one seemed to be on the spot for me: “To have fun!” The others were not really my thing.
Your two reasons are good also, so how I have three reasons for having a blog.
Perhaps another would be “To commit to developing my skills”, because having the blog record makes it possible to see how the photography evolves, and there is also a positive pressure to make each day a mark of progress. One step (or blog post) at a time…
I have considered a blog for over a year. I even created two on blogger.com but never did anything. My excuse, I cannot come up with anything worth posting; but again that was my excuse for not doing SOFOBOMO last year. I have also wanted my own web presence but do not have a valid reason for having one. I am not a professional photographer nor do I want to be one. Photography is how I relax, it’s my hobby. If I did it professionally, it would become work and I would have to find something else for relaxation. Of the reasons to have a blog, only the Have Fun and your two apply to me. Thanks for the post, you have me thinking again.
@Rick: Do we really “need” a reason to have a blog? As JH says, it could be for fun. As for the worthiness of a post, just post what you feel like writing about. You could have written about various ideas that you came up with for SoFoBoMo, or about your struggles of coming up with a topic. We all did that to some degree, for sure!
If writing is not your thing, then perhaps a photo blog. This blog is for me, really. I write about what I like to write about or whatever strikes my fancy.
Even though the title says: “Paul Lester Photography”, there are certain times when my posts are not photography related.
I won’t let a title constrain me. Certainly, were I a professional photographer and targeted a certain audience, then I’d have a different blog that stayed the course.
I’ve not counted, but I’m sure that there are hundreds of thousands of blogs, if not into the millions. Not every one of them has a ‘valid’ reason for being there. Valid, I assume, means a commercially viable reason. Validity has nothing to do with it.
I’m sure that there are people who would like to read your point of view, or stop by for a glance at your photos. Even if that isn’t true, you have one fan! That’s you!
My blog is mainly to share my photos with my friends. I started out posting on Flickr, but after a while decided that I like neither the overcrowded presentation nor the possibility of unauthorized use. My university library runs a blog system, so that’s easy and free to use. Aside from sharing with friends, I find it enjoyable to find evocative pairs of photos. As “Here and There” is intended to indicate (and is explained on the first blog, about 102 days ago) I try to pair photos taken near home—either in Minnesota or New Mexico— with those taken on travels around the USA or the world. Only rarely do I feel that words are needed. The discipline of one post per day keeps me going.
Reasons I’ve got a blog, written quickly, not a lot of examination:
To connect to people.
To share my goals and dreams in the hope it might help them happen.
To share my experiences and maybe help some people.
An unexamined life is not worth living – inspecting and writing about my process and approach really makes me think about my processs
FWIW – the 11 reasons other than the last one and slightly the second last one, didn’t really hit home for me. There’s also the aurora of authenticity it can provide – justification for ‘who you are’ and why you might want to take a picture/ get access/ get involved etc. I suppose that is a marketing angle, but for financial reasons.
It’s important to distinguish between photo-only blogs and text-blogs. Probably somewhat different motivations. My blog is photos only, and my motivation is partly to share, but also to gather and view a portfolio of day-to-day work assembled in one location.
I started my first blog because I needed some feedback on my work and to “network” with folks interested in the same thing I was interested in.
I started my new blog to help folks out who are trying to make a living at photography. I want to help them out by teaching them what I’m learning along this slow process. Hopefully I’ll have much to post, but I’m just getting started.
Paul, I have no idea how I missed this post, but I let it slip by. I suppose from now on, I will have to scroll back through old posts periodically and be certain that this hasn’t happened again.
Your thoughts on blogging, along with the ideas from those who commmented, resonate far more with me than the reasons in the article. While the heavy emphasis on using a blog for promotion is certainly valid, the reasons listed here are, in my mind, more compelling.
I blog to clarify my thinking; to create a journal that allows me to review the ups and downs in my creative journey; and, perhaps most of all, to connect with others and to remind myself that I am not “in this alone”.
The creative process dictates a certain amount of being lost—floundering about in the dark looking for perhaps we aren’t even certain what. I find it enormously comforting to come up for air periodically and connect with others who are engaged in the same search.
Definitely sharing is good. But then we need at least a screen sized image.