Podcasting

OK, this isn’t actually about digital photography … ah … isn’t about any kind of photography, but it’s still pretty cool. Come to think of it, you might be able to come up with some ways to incorporate into your photography. It’s called podcasting (and no, you don’t need an iPod).

What is podcasting? Well, basically, it’s a recorded audio or video broadcast that you can either play online or download for listening to or watching later. There are thousands of podcasts on the internet. Some of them are about photography, especially digital photography.

So – how do you get started?

First, decide what your podcast is going to be about. Have a specific topic. Get your ideas together. It’s not much different than writing an article. Once you have the points you want to cover laid out in some logical manner, you are ready to start.

What equipment do you need?

You don’t need any kind of studio – you just need a way to capture your audio (or video – or even screen captures if you want to demonstrate how to use software). But that’s for a different post, at another time. There is a free audio capture program called Audacity. If you are a MAC user, you’ll go with GarageBand.

Next, you’ll need a microphone (and web cam, if doing video). Sit down and record your podcast. When you are happy with it, save it as a .mp3 file.

You can host your new podcast on your own website, or use a hosting service. Check out www.ipodder.org. Upload the .mp3 file.

That’s it – you are now a podcaster! If you are going to make podcasting a regular event, you can offer automatic notifications to your listeners. If you offer a feed – RSS or XML – listeners can subscribe to it and get the latest.