WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: PHOTOS EXPLAINED

Happy 2nd Anniversary EarnedRuns! This past weekend marked the official second full year of operation of EarnedRuns. Onward into our 3rd year! This is an opportunity to explain the principle behind the photos posted on Facebook and the BLOG page.

Many running-related articles and information pages of other businesses and online blogs will feature images of people running or exercising, their legs, or shoes. Early on in the EarnedRuns website construction phase, running shoes and racing bibs were the only subjects of pictures because those were the only objects i could find that were related to running. Purchasing photos from stock galleries would have been expensive, and the pictures weren't always very interesting or of good quality. It was difficult to show people running...those few I asked weren't excited about the prospect; they did not consider themselves to be fitness models. However, It was soon becoming apparent that images added interest and attracted attention to online information, so many more were needed, regularly. The only "subjects" available to me were scenes from my runs.

Since I had a cell phone with me, it was natural to stop and snap a photo when a pretty scene presented itself. Mostly I run early or later in the day, and the light is soft and beautiful at these times, especially just before or after sunrise/sunset. When the sun is not high overhead it adds a golden glow. When there's no sun, colors can look richer, so pictures of colorful decorations or architectural features can be improved by overcast skies. People aren't included in the photos because using their images would require obtaining formal permission.  Asking would be somewhat weird for me to do and it would interrupt my runs, ugh!

I realized, as the need to take pictures "developed" (pun intended), that no matter what the location of my run,  whether i was in a neighborhood or in a park, on vacation in the sunshine, or on a business trip to the city, there were so many interesting sights that the task of finding and shooting pictures was easy.  Perhaps by seeing my photos, runners will begin to better appreciate the possibly unrecognized beauty in their runs. Your scenery photos can be posted as comments on Facebook; and in a gallery on the BLOG, if your wish to share. Please send!

RUN HAPPY!