A BIG Thank You! 2 million hits in 6 months!

May 18, 2010 News 45

2,000,000

THANK YOU!

Just wanted to say how incredibly thrilled I am that this site has received over TWO MILLION hits in the last 6 months which averages out to about 11,000 visits per day (today the site averages about 17,000 per day). Amazing! I also wanted to say that I am very happy with the way it has been going lately around here. Love the little community that is growing along with all of the regulars like Max, Ashwin, Elaine, Harald, Eric, Frank, Richard, Black-Rooster and EVERYONE else who comes here and shares their thoughts, comments and knowledge.

Some of you come back daily, some weekly, but it is ALWAYS great to see that this site is remaining true to what it started out as. A site dedicated to photo enthusiasts who LOVE and are very passionate about photography. Those who could really care less about all of the technical BS like charts, graphs, and nitpicking every little flaw with a camera or lens. It is my belief a camera was made to take photos. Memories. Slices of life. NOT to be dissected and put through torture tests with text, charts, and brick walls.

I also want to throw a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who have written guest articles. This is what is so cool about this site as well…I am running this site to not only share my  passion for photography, but YOURS as well! It’s so cool to share our ideas, tips, tricks, and knowledge. We can ALL learn from each other and that is pretty nice.

Wether it is Max with an awesome film article or Ashwin with one of his great travel articles, the variety that is happening here has been wonderful.

I also want to thank all of you who have submitted images to the Daily Inspiration. I love waking up to an inbox with images inside but the only problem is picking the ones to feature! I get way more than I can post, but it’s awesome. I have some from 5 months ago that were sent in that I may post this week, so there is no “expiration” date on your submissions. Keep them coming!

I hope to keep chugging along here every day with something new, something useful, and something fun. I will continue to test and review the cameras and lenses that I think are worth talking about and I will continue to keep this site active with digital AND film discussions. More film reviews, more scanner reviews, and maybe even a MF camera or two down the road.

But most importantly,

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU! TWO MILLION VISITS IN 6 MONTHS! WOO HOO!

Finally, I want to thank all of those who have helped support the site by making purchases through my sponsor links. Without that there is no way I could keep this going, so again, I thank you!

Let’s keep the passion of photography alive on this site and keep it simple, keep it fun, and keep it REAL! May the next six be better than the first! The cool thing is that the site is now up to about 17,000-19,000 visits per day!

Steve

A film shot from last weekend with the Leica  MP, 35 Cron and Fuji Pro 400H – CVS Drugstore scan.

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45 Comments

  1. That is excellent, congratulations Steve!

    I now make all my Leica purchases based on your site reviews!

    Satya

  2. Hi Steve!

    Congrats on all the website hits! You’ve definitely earned it. I can say I’m definitely a fan of this site and was considering getting the E-PL1 for a while… it was your review of it that finally sent me over the edge to order it! 🙂

    It’s worked like a dream so far, and the out of camera JPEGs are truly something to behold – even better than my E-620 (I had to fine tune the settings though, as far as gradation/ saturation/ contrast were concerned)! Even got the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 lens to go with it!

    I meant to contact you about this a lot sooner, but I actually ended up doing an entire photo shoot with just the E-PL1/ 20mm combo!

    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=174321&id=107759551241

    Probably couldn’t have pulled that shoot off as soon as I did without your review tempting me to finally get the E-PL1 in the first place! Thanks again!

    Dan

  4. Thanks Steve for all your hard work. Love the spirit of the site. Seeing everybody’s passion helps inspire me.

  6. I’m visiting your site every day. Because of you and your photos i begun taking pictures with more fun and more soul. Every photo of you is an inspiration. I’m glad that i found this site in the World Wide Web. Thank you so much. And keep up the great work. 🙂
    Greetings Ole

  7. Congratulations!! I am not surprised, it’s easy to see why people keep coming back! 🙂

  8. @David – LOL! Congrats! How about naming her Jacqueline and then you can call her Jack, for my favorite TV character Jack Bauer? 🙂

  9. Congratulations, Steve!

    I try to visit your site every day and I’m always pleased to do so.

    I’ve yet to get my first Leica but looking forward so much!

    You’ve made me a bit crazy though… My first doughter was born on Friday and I almost named her ‘Huff’!
    But her mother didn’t like it that much, don’t know why…. 

    Thank you for everything you do here!

  10. Congrats Steve! Your great review stele and quality photography make it easy to see why your site is a hit. Keep up the great work!

  11. Steve, it is well deserved. Ever since I learned about your site, I sold all if my nikon gears and got myself a leica m8, a m6, 3 crons and a lux. Too much money spent, but I enjoyed every second with them. Once again, like many of them before me have already said, congrats!

  12. Steve, your website is a great celebration of the photographic art. Glad to see quite a few thousand who think so too!

    You’re leading the charge back to film, making it cool again for those of us who spent the last few years caught up with ISO elevator charts and learning how to set two dozen custom functions.

    For me, your website is a reminder of why I wanted to take pictures in the first place. It helps me (and, clearly, many others) remember the passion involved in capturing a moment. We’re all better photographers for it. Thank you and keep up the awesome work!

  14. Steve, congrats on the site, as has been said before, your’s is the “go to” photography site for me, period. I completely disagree with Jeremy though, for me, the more film articles the better. Digital of course has it’s place, and I shoot digital too, but news on digital is much easier to come by and not in need of an evangelist like film does.

    Jeremy is right, digital vs. film arguments are largely pointless but coverage of film topics certainly are not, and more difficult to come by these days.

  15. Steve, well done and thanks for the site. I think you are great and I really applaud you for doing this. I love your enthusiasm and your willingness to open up your life (and family) to complete strangers. Your wife seems to have endless patience while your son (at least from some of the pictures) looks long suffering and probably thinks you are mad (hey he is an adolescent – he will grow out of the phase before discovering that he was probably right first time!). For me (and it is me only – after all I am visiting YOUR site) I particularly like the digital side and your love of the M9 (which in part got me to spend £5,000 on one). The film stuff is less relevant to me. Photography is photography and each should do their own thing using whatever works – it is an art and there should be few, if any, rules. But the eulogy for film and the argument that it is enjoying a renaissance just seems a little tired. It reminds me of the vinyl v cd debate – sterile and pointless. Leica is a special brand but let’s look forward rather than focus (no pun intended) on the past.

    But back to you. Thanks for doing this. I like loads of your stuff and you just seem a regular nice guy doing something that you love. (In fact, I think I am a little bit jealous.) You have become a regular part of my day and I really appreciate that. Keep up the good work.

    Jeremy

  16. Best regards for the first and all the best for the next 2 million from Germany, too 🙂 and my personal “Huff-effect” is to press “cmd + D” to add another photographer of Steve´s community to my favorite list every day … thanks for all your inspiring work!

    Franz-Georg

  18. Congrats, Steve! Well deserved and good on you, man. For me, this is the best site about photography on the web – PERIOD!

    I just got the Leica X1, my first Leica and also my first digital camera (else been shouting Nikon FE2 and Nikkor AIS lenses – and still do as well). Your reviews, advice and take on photography in general has helped tremendously. 🙂 I love the X1 and dream of one day owning a Leica M and a couple of M lenses as well. 🙂

    Being new to digital, getting started on post processing can be quite confusing. I’m using Lightroom 2, which came along with the X1. I would love to see an article about post processing and how to “keep it simple”. So, the basics of adjusting (RAW) images and advoiding spending all your time behind the computer and instead most of the time out shooting – that’s what photography is all about. 🙂

    Thanks and looking forward to keep following this great site,
    Mads

  19. C’est nous qui te remercions pour ton travail quotidien !

    Thank for your daily work !

  20. Thank you Steve… I love your site, the pictures and the articles.

    Best regards from Germany

    Andy

  21. Hi Steve, from across the pond. Congrats on your great site, it`s my first, and no.1, hit of the day. Your site is informative and FUN, you`re also responsible for getting me back to film, I go out with my Nikon F6 and D700 sharing my pack now, (:-)), pity Reala is now no more (:-((, at least we`ve still got Tri-X. What would be your replacement for Reala ?

    Keep up the great work, and thanx for your efforts.

  22. Congratulations Steve!
    Glad to see your work is appreciated so widely, I would have hated to see this website closed down due to lack of visitors. Let’s hope you can keep up with the growth of the site and that you and your family can benefit from everything you have invested.

  23. Hi,

    although I’m not a Leica user, I’ve always been attracted to the brand and its quality. If only I had the cash … 🙂 Nevertheless, I enjoy very much your site, simple, clear and visit it every day or so … Keep going and posting !

    Thanks for sharing your passion !

  24. Hi, Steve just wanted to thank you for your site (I visit it daily), and just wanted to say that You made me bought a Leica M8 and an M6 that I´m now starting to use even in Studio.

    So if you ever come to Portugal give me a call and I´ll be glad do take on a trip around.

    Best regards and keep it coming…

  25. Well done, Steve. Many congratulations!

    I’m sure it must have been a scary ‘leap in the dark’ to get the site up and running. It’s just great to see how it’s developed and progressed to become a wonderful camera club for those more interested in taking photos than navel-gazing at technical charts. Thank you.

    Leica should make you president of world-wide PR… they owe you big-time!

  26. Actually I hated this site. Steve made me bought GF1, then M9, 35 Cron, 50 Lux, …, …. please show hand Steve, what else up your sleeves?

    And please tell Jack I am his big fan. I just love the way he laughs, so carefree, so happy, and got a liitle of that cunning look 🙂

  27. Congratulations Steve! Just one question/comment: Could you place some more Amazon ‘quick links’ for the UK/Germany/(big country of your choice)? I think people would be happy to use them. You could check where the traffic is coming from and, based on that information, whether it makes sense or not… So, and now I’m switching off Adblock for your awesome/inspiring site… 😉

  28. Is there a “Huff effect”?
    You bet! You guys should have seen me huffing and puffing when the 3rd eBay auction I participated in to get myself a Summitar lens ended finally in my favour.
    Time and money well spend. What an amazing lens!

    Hip, hip, hurray! Congratulations Steve. That’s bloody amazing!
    Although not that much of a big surprise considering that good people like Ashwin, Max and Emily are doing all the work for you.

    Just kidding … 🙂

  29. I add the fine folks at Visa, Vistek, Nikon, and Kodak to your list Armanius. Also like you I read this site a lot, it comes up along with a few others as part of my home page and is in my favs tab, kinda hard to forget to check it for the latest update.

  30. Congrats Steve! I strongly believe there is a “Huff effect”! I am a living testimony of it. Like we discussed before, Leica, BH, Adorama, Zeiss, Voigtlander, Ken and (last but not least) Capital One Master Card can thank you BIG TIME!! Between my desktop at work (shhh …), my netbook, my iPhone and my iPad, I probably visit this site 8-10 times daily. I read and re-read articles and comments like a child at a candy store. Congrats again and let’s gun for 5 million before the end of the year!!

  31. Thanks Steve, some of your articles have served me well to define me “look” that a lot of my friends deeply respect. It’s articles like your M9 review that really got me thinking about photography, more than the “child” photographer at my high school who think they really got photography…

    and sorry, I linked the wrong photo for the second link but it’s okay hah you can put it up,

  33. Well, it’s been a while since I started photography now. I’ve gone through various phases as a beginner and have refined my technique. Here’s some links to albums I’ve done:

    Band Concert:
    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=169228&id=714444430&l=42aea1c1a0

    [img]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3778663&l=e08ea5d560&id=714444430[/img]

    Friend’s Bday:
    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=168145&id=714444430&l=a02aefe193

    [img]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3746519&l=7502d4e0e4&id=714444430[/img]

  34. This is by far the best site of its kind anywhere. Great reviews, insight and most of all photography. Keep up the great work and thank you!

  35. Elaine, Steve is helping film in general in a huge way, that many hits even if a few percent go out and buy film that wouldnt otherwise have (i did) that is big numbers for Adorama and BnH. Long live film.

  37. Congrats, Steve. I love this site. Thanks for the mention. I agree with Ashwin Rao. You brought in a lot of money via this website to the Leica company, or it’s resellers. When you mention a Leica lens or camera for sale, by the time I see it, it’s sold! LOL! BH Photo and Adorama should be paying you better money. I love visiting this website. It’s like coming home to my kind of photography.

  38. BIG TIME congrats, Steve! It’s a pleasure being part of this community and share the passion. May you enjoy more success every day and keep up the great work.

    All the best,

    Max

  39. Next on the docket from me is a Leica/Canon travel journal of New Mexico and the Four Corners! you have inspired me to go home and do some typing tonight….

  40. Hey Steve,
    Thank you! Your site is unique in the world of Leica photography. There’s a passion here that is often stifled on forums that shines through, and the collective sharing of information and knowledge/tips is remarkable. I make your site a daily (if not multiple times/daily) visit, and always learn something new. I love reading the other guest articles as well as all of the articles that you compose, and find myself more excited about photography than ever before (I hardly find a time when I am without my beloved Leicas). Also, writing for your site has expanded the audience for my own photography, and I thank you for that. I also thank your readers for staying in touch. Some of you have gone through my ENTIRE flickr set (all 9,000 images), which is amazing and humbling at the same time.

    Finally, I know that Leica should thank you, but they have no idea how many people that you have brought, with your passion alone, into the world of Leica and rangefinder photography. I have noted that since your site went up, used lenses at sites like B&H and KEH are scarce. I think this is the “Huff Effect” in play. An article from you on Summitars, and suddenly, Summitars are scarce. Another article on the MP and film, and suddenly, film sales skyrocket. That’s important, and you created this. Sorry to go on, but I am proud of you and look forward to continuing my contributions in the months and years to come!

    And for all of the rest of you out there, don’t be shy. Write a guest article! It’s fun!

  42. Eric: more like, “forget the technical charts and they will still come.”

  43. Wow! Congrats Steve! I love checking for updates, and your site initially helped me in deciding to switch to Leica. It’s a great place!

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