Yesterday’s post, Taking Basketball Photos: A Detailed Guide was an interesting, at least to me, confluence of events. I happened to be looking at Google Analytics one day and noticed that the original version of the document, or post, was still accounting for about 10% of my traffic, no matter what time period I looked at: 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years.
I was talking to Debra about this and she did some quick keyword searches, a small bit of analysis, and found out that I was about the only one out there in cyberland, if you can believe it, supplying this information, at least by those particular keyword searches. Interesting.
A couple of weeks ago, I set up the most popular posts widget, in the right side column, and right away, the basketball post outpaced every other post and made it right to the top.
A few days later, I got an email from someone and they wrote to tell me how great the article was and how much that it had helped them improve their basketball photography:
Just wanted to let you know that I tried your tips for the last two games and the photos were SO much better! My only problem was they are not real sharp, but that may be because when I hand focus, it’s hard for me to see when things are truly in focus through the viewfinder. Can’t use my glasses or it’s totally screwed up, and without my glasses, even with the diopter adjusted it’s difficult. But really the photos this time are great — no blurriness at ALL! I’m totally amazed by that! I’ll have to spend more time fooling around with manual controls, I can see that.
We are usually not in town for the kids’ basketball games, so this is the first year I’ve tried taking pictures of them. The parents are thrilled with them and so are the kids, so I guess I’ve achieved my goal, thanks to your help.
Thanks again!
Norma
Debra encouraged me to rewrite it, update it, and put it into PDF format, available for download. She’s also helping me track it on Google Analytics, too see how many downloads I get. So, I did, or should I say, I am. I’m still working on it, but it is looking pretty good. I just need a coversheet and an appendix for some other information that I still need to research, but it was a fun venture. That’s what I did with my New Year’s Day. I stayed home and worked on the basketball guide! 
I was thinking of doing one for martial arts, but the keyword search tool indicates that not many people are interested in that, so perhaps that particular article will lie dormant for a bit. It’s nice to get feedback, though.
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I guess it’s rather rewarding to see that one’s efforts are appreciated… And although I’m not into sports photography, I have to admit, that your Basketball shots are spot on. I enjoy the dynamics and concentrated facial expressions most.
I’m a bit confused (as usual), but isn’t there one post missing (“The great forest”)? Can see it in my reader, but not on the site…?
Yes, Thomas it is rewarding. Most people just come and take and leave no traces, other than a blip on Google Analytics. It’s nice to hear someone say that it was helpful! As for the other post, that was an accidental post. Man, it gets to the reader quickly. I had it taken down within about 2 minutes.
This may be the first step towards publishing more of your writing. Go Paul! Starting off 2012 with a bang!
I’m trying, Monte! I’m trying.
Even though I’m not much of a sports fan, I read your post with great interest. While you singled out basketball, the advice you gave is suitable to a few other sports that I can think of. It pays to know the game well enough to anticipate the action. That can lead to some terrific shots when all the other pieces of advice are followed. There is a real need for this kind of instruction and you have the ability to convey it in a way that is easily understood.
Thanks, Ken. I hope that you get an opportunity to try it out.