A year ago yesterday, the very first post appeared on Photography Bay. As fate would have it, my second child, Emma was born yesterday as well. I would’ve made this post yesterday but I was a little preoccupied. Things have calmed down a bit now (mom and baby are sleeping) and I thought I’d finish up this post.

All in all, my expectations for this blog have been surpassed by quite a margin. Over the past year there have been:

514 posts

676,022 hits (now, an avg. of about 100k per month)

817 comments

100 photos of the day

2619 spam comments blocked

The most popular post has been the Nikon D3 page.

The biggest referrer has been Google with over 175,000 hits.

Photography Bay’s page rank is now 3, and its Technorati authority rating is now 158, putting Photography Bay’s Technorati blog ranking at 38,755.

What’s more, I have personally learned so much more about photography as an art, hobby and business over the past year. I’ve learned about off-camera lighting because fellow blogger David Hobby’s site, Strobist, is now a daily must-read. I’m still digesting Lighting 101 as I follow the daily Strobist posts (thanks for the .pdf version David). I bought some Cactus V2s a few weeks ago and will continue to learn. I’ve learned that Nikon and Canon users think their cameras are either the best or worst (depending on who you ask) from the DPReview.com forums. I’ve learned that stock photography can be a viable business model from Rich Legg. Finally, I’ve learned that Scott Kelby is the numero uno authority on Photoshop. (I’ve actually learned much more, but I won’t bore you with a ridiculous list here.)

What’s more, I’m just scratching the surface of this photography and blogging thing. I’m looking forward to this coming year and what it holds for Photography Bay, my personal photography and, of course, the latest addition to my family.

Thanks to all the readers over the past year for making Photography Bay worthwhile and for all the feedback (good and bad) that you’ve sent my way.  I welcome your comments and criticisms and promise to work hard to make sure this blog is worth coming back to.

Here’s to next year.  Cheers!