Hello Bloggers. My name is Carolyn aka Skip; I live in northeast Ohio about a mile south of Lake Erie and 20 miles east of Cleveland, Ohio, and I will begin this introduction with a confession. I am both a Blipper and a Blogger, and Seen along the trail is NOT a new blog. I created it several years ago when I began to accumulate a large collection of photos from my daily photowalks. For those not familiar with the term Blipper, I will explain. A blipper is a person who takes pictures and maintains a photo journal on Blipfoto.com where s/he posts a picture-a-day…Not every day in my case, just most days. I have been blipping for seven years, and I just posted my 2500th Blip. My blog hasn’t been around that long. It includes entries going back to October 2011.
Recently I signed up for Blogging 101, a WordPress course that helps bloggers improve their blogs. You might wonder why I signed up for Blogging 101 at this late date. The answer is really simple: I just discovered it, and it looked like something I really need to do. When I first began blogging and blipping, I had three pretty straightforward goals: to improve my photography skills; to improve my writing; and to find a way to share some of the huge backlog of images on my hard drive (Currently there are 51,000 of them sitting there. I take lots of photo walks). I have learned a lot about blogging and blipping over the years, but there is still much to learn. Although up to now, I haven’t been a very good blogger, I am persistent…most of the time. However, several years after starting this blog, it began to feel stale to me, so over the next six months, I want to learn how to liven it up a little lot and make it a blog where people will be able to connect…through images, comments, and even by posting blogs of their own that relate to something I’ve blogged about.
I believe that connecting with people and being present for them (even virtually) is a gift, and for me blogging and blipping are all about connecting. Nature, especially the birds, critters, and people I encounter in my regular photo walks will continue to be an important focus of Seen Along the Trail. I am also looking for ways to be more invitational, to make people feel more welcome so they will hopefully want to join me on my daily photowalks. Although I am not exactly sure yet how to do that, I’m looking forward to learning and improving my blog in the process.
Carolyn aka Skip
P S: If you want to know more about why I blog and how I got started, check out my “About Skip page.”
SEEN ALONG THE TRAIL 
Love your picture on the merry-go-round! I just started my blog and have been pleasantly surprised by the how much I am enjoying the community of bloggers. Thanks for being part of the community.
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I’m enjoying it also, Beatriz. And I have already learned much more than I expected. The merry-go-round picture is a favorite of mine. The man in charge of running it borrowed my camera so he could take a picture of me on the ride. This is the result of his kindness.
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As a fellow blogger/blipper your post resonated with me. I started my blog this year as another ‘discipline’ of sorts, I planned to post once weekly. My post starts with an image and I find as I sit down to write that most weeks it just writes itself. I enjoy taking a walk with you and look forward to seeing how your blog takes direction! I find the connection between photography and writing to be a very natural one.
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I have not taken the Blogging 101 course, it sounds very interesting!
I think blogging is often a journey just like life. You start off maybe not having a real direction, or you think you are heading one way, and then you make a turn and change and grow as time passes. I am an author and originally was encouraged to start a blog by a fellow author at my church. I had NO idea what I was doing and thought I would blog about writing, but soon found I had nothing worth while to say on the subject! 🙂 After following several other blogs, I started to get a feel for what I wanted to do. I actually wasn’t that in to photography until I started blogging and following others blogs, then I realized how important photography was! I had pretty much given up on my writing career, but I have found blogging to be a great creative outlet and I can use some of my writing skills and improve my photography skills. (Well, that has been a slow process! haha) I even ended up changing the name of my blog once I found the true direction I wanted to head.
I think the most important thing is that we enjoy the journey. And yes, I find that the aspect of relationship in blogging is also very important. I love making new friends – even virtual ones! Have fun and I look forward to reading about what you learn!
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I believe you can do anything you want. Your photos at Blip and your Blog are an enjoyment to me!! Looking forward to seeing more!
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