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Syria is the cross roads of three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe, and between the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Nile. Historically, the Silk Road led from China to Palmyra and then to Syria’s coastal ports on the Mediterranean. Because of this, Syria became a center of trade and a melting-pot of ideas, beliefs and talents.
During the Greek and Roman eras, Syria was a center for culture and politics.
Several Roman emperors were natives of Syria.

Damascus is the world’s oldest inhabited city. When walking around one is constantly reminded of this fact by the ancient architecture that surrounds you.

In Aleppo (the second largest city in Syria) a fantastic fortress rises from the center of the city where in the year 2,000 BC, Abraham is said to have milked his cow, giving the city its name.
The bazaar of Aleppo is one of the most beautiful in the East where you can still find vendors selling silk, scarves, perfumes, soaps, rugs and jewelry.
Aleppo’s unique location enabled it to be the link in trade between Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent and Egypt.
This unique position also made it the subject of invasions from the Hittites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans which all left their mark and influence on the city.
During the Ottoman period, Aleppo was an important center of trade with Turkey, France, England and Holland which also influenced the architecture which can be seen today.
Sam’an is 50 to 60 km outside of Aleppo.
It was named after the hermit Saint Simon (Sam’an) who was a shepherd from northern Syria who became a monk after a dream. Following Saint Simon’s death in 459, the Emperor had a cathedral built where the saint used to pray.
The cathedral had a column from which Saint Simon used to preach. The only part left of the column is the stone in the picture below. The cathedral was later damaged severely by an earthquake.
Maaloula is a village nearby Damascus where the houses are carved out of the mountain stone. Its inhabitants still speak Aramaic which was the language from the time of Jesus Christ.

Hama is well known for its large waterwheels which date from the roman times.

Wherever you go in Syria, you can’t help but realize that you are in a very ancient and historically important place. You see it everywhere. There are live archaeological digs going on everywhere.

Every day, someone uncovers something that hasn’t been seen for thousands of years.
Your trip to Syria will be very exciting, get ready for an adventure!

Syria is one of the oldest continually inhabited places on earth. Syria is home to many of the world’s oldest civilizations dating back to the fourth millennium BC.
Agriculture first appeared in Syria thousands of years ago which made it possible for civilization, as we know it, to begin. Men began building houses and establishing settlements. They studied astronomy and began singing the earliest known songs. They were early painters and sculptors.
In ancient Syria people discovered metallurgy and began forming bronze and copper into tools that proved useful for domestic, military and aesthetic uses.
The kingdom of Ugarit (Ras Shamra) was where mankind’s first alphabet was formed.
At Ebla (Tel Merdikh) one of the largest and most comprehensive archives of the ancient world was found that covered matters of industry, diplomacy, trade, art and agriculture.
The first colored glass was invented in Syria 3,000 years ago. In the thirteenth century, two Italian brothers came to Syria to learn the skill of glass-blowing, which they took back to Venice, and started fashioning “Venetian” glass.

In 636 AD Muslim Arab tribes entered Syria and brought the Arabic language and Islam which are both used in Syria today.

Please see part 2 of this series to learn more about Syria including photographs.

I hope you have received some useful information about setting up a digital photo site of your own. I have covered a lot of material here and assumed a lot. I have assumed you are familiar with HTML and publishing information on the web. We covered setting up PayPal and PayLoadz. We also covered JAlbum, a great utility for automating the building of your stock photograph site whether you want to sell photos or give them away for free. You should now have enough information to create your own digital photography commerce site. Please be sure to check the sites of PayPal, PayLoadz and JAlbum for any additional documentation or help.

JAlbum does not automatically create the code for your buy buttons on your web pages, but you can easily modify a skin to add purchase buttons for all of your digital photos!

The only things that need to change in your Paypal code are the lines that contain the item name and item number. Everything else will stay the same. The change to the skin is pretty easy.
The steps are:
1. Install JAVA if its not currently installed on your computer. It can be found here.
2. Go to JAlbum and download and install JAlbum.
3. Spend some time looking over the skins and choose one you like. Screen shots are available for may of them in each skin directory. If you installed JAlbum on your C drive, the path most likely is “C:\Program Files\JAlbum”. The skins exist in the subdirectory called “skins”.
4. Make a backup copy of the skin you want to modify.
5. Make sure you have a valid PayPal Account and a PayLoadz account. If you need to signup its free. Click the following PayPal or PayLoadz for signup.
6. Assuming you want the purchase buttons to appear on the index page, open the file called “index.htt” in the skins directory. You can easily edit it using notepad.
7. Paste the above PayPal Code where ever you want the button to appear.
8. Change the two lines:

<input type=”hidden” name=”item_name” value=stockphoto name> <input type=”hidden” name=”item_number” value=151-5147_IMG.JPG> To <input type=”hidden” name=”item_name” value=$fileName> <input type=”hidden” name=”item_number” value=$label> Note that $fileName and $label are internal variables that JAlbum uses to keep track of the photograph name and the photograph filename.9. Save the skin.
10. Run JAlbum and make sure you select your modified skin.If you had JAlbum automatically place the files on your website, test it! You can also test the files it created on your local computer by opening the pages in your web browser.  You can download a sample skin with the above changes by clicking the following button:

Up to this point, keeping everything we have discussed in mind, adding many digital photographs to your web site and PayLoadz is still a tedious and long process. Everything we have discussed is useful and necessary, but it would be great if we could somehow automate the process of creating and adding the html purchase button code into our web site. It would be even greater if we could just generate the html for all those stock photos on our web site automatically. If we could just setup some sort of template and have some program generate everything for us.
Well, there is an application freely available that can do this for us. Its called JAlbum.
JAlbum was written by David Ekholm, Datadosen of Sweden and is available as freeware. With JAlbum, you can create a directory on your computer and arrange all your stock photography in as many subdirectories as you like. Once you have it all organized, startup JAlbum. You then specify the directory of your images, where you want the modified images to appear and a template (skin) from the list of templates that come with JAlbum. It will then create a new directory with index images and html files to display the images along with larger slides of your images along with watermarks and html files to display them as well! It even places photo information and navigation controls that work! It can even be configured to automatically place all the files on your website via FTP!
Be sure to spend some time browsing through the JAlbum web site.

In order to batch process the loading of digital photo information into PayLoadz, download this Excel file.

Once you load the file into Excel, you will notice that it has five columns: FilePath, Username, ItemName, ItemId and ItemPrice. Fill this spreadsheet and e-mail it to PayLoadz tech-support requesting (nicely) that they load this information into your account.
They are defined as follows:
FilePath = the absolute path to your stock photo files that will be downloaded by the user including the file name. Note that this is case sensitive! Case must match exactly!
Username = your PayLoadz username. This should be your e-mail address.
ItemName = the name of the item as it will appear on the download email messeage from PayLoadz sent to the customer.
ItemId = the Id number or catalog number of the item. It must be unique!
ItemPrice = the price to be charged for the item.

You probably have thousands of digital photographs and may now be wondering about the difficulty of typing all those filenames and paths accurately. Well, there is an easier way.
1. Setup your stock photographs on your computer in a directory structure that matches what you will setup on your web site. This can’t be exact because you have no drive letters on your web server (unless it is being hosted on Windows).
2. Start the Command Prompt from (in Windows xp) the menu “Start/All Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt”.
3. Change to the topmost directory of where only stock photos and directories of stock photographs are located. Some may refer to this as the “root” of your stock photo collection. In case you have forgotten, the command to change directories in DOS is “cd”. So, for instance, you need to change to the directory called “stock photos”. Simply enter “cd \stock photos”. If it is placed in something deeper then the top level, you may need something like “cd \photography\stock photos”. Finally, be sure that if you have multiple drives that you are on the correct drive.
4. Enter the command “dir /b /s /a-s > names.txt” and press the “Enter” key. When this completes, you will have a text file called “names.txt” that contains a listing of all your stock photo file names and their paths that you can import into Excel.
5. Import the file into Excel.
6. Use Excel’s find and replace feature to change the “c:” in all your paths to whatever you need to match what will be on your web site.
7. Fill in the rest of the spread sheet and save.
8. E-mail the spread sheet to PayLoadz tech-support at support@payloadz.com. Please be polite! They will e-mail you back when they have completed loading the data. This may take a do or so.

You are now ready to start selling!

As you were adding information about your stock photos into PayLoadz, the web page would create code for you to copy and paste into your HTML documents. If you paid close attention, you may have noticed a pattern.
Here is a typical piece of PayLoadz/PayPal generated code:

<form target=”paypal” action=“https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr” method=”post”> <input type=“hidden” name=”cmd” value=”_cart”> <input type=“hidden” name=”business” value=“emailaddress@mailhost.com”> <input type=“hidden” name=”item_name” value=stockphoto name> <input type=“hidden” name=”item_number” value=151-5147_IMG.JPG> <input type=”hidden” name=”amount” value=“9.99″> <input type=”hidden” name=”image_url” value=“”> <input type=”hidden”

Instead of copying and pasting for each of your stock photos, you could simply take the exact same code and paste it as many times as you like in your HTML documents. However, you will need to change 3 lines every time you paste this code.The first line that needs changing contains “name=”item_name” value=stockphoto name”. Simply change “stockphoto name” to the name for the stock photo file that you want to appear on the invoice.Second, change the line where “name=”item_number” value=151-5147_IMG.JPG” to the actual file name.Finally, you may need to change the price to match what was entered into PayLoadz. The price is in the line containing “name=”amount” value=”9.99″”.There is a fourth optional change here. You may decide that PayPal’s or PayLoadz standard “buy” buttons clash with the style and colors of your website. If so, you can change the button used by changing the line that contains “input type=”image” src=”../../res/x-click-but22.gif”, to the path and file name of the image you want to use. The example already has that change.How do these changes speed things up? This may seem like a difficult way of doing things, but after you read the next section on batch loading of PayLoadz information, you will see a need for this method. Also, in chapter 7, we will cover using a batch file utility to automate the process of preparing your images for your stock photo web site. In that section, we will cover how to modify things so that the utility will automatically place this code and make the required changes for you! This will save an incredible amount of your time!

Your PayPal and PayLoadz setup is complete. You can now setup products that you want to sell. This setup occurs at the PayLoadz web site. Use the PayLoadz product creation process for all of the items that are downloadable in your inventory so that both PayLoadz and PayPal can process those items. As you add each item, PayLoadz creates HTML code that you copy and place in your html documents. Place this code wherever you want a customer to select the item As you enter these inventory items in the PayLoadz system make sure you give each product a unique name and a unique item number.
Note that if this rule is not followed, you will not be able to process orders properly.
Testing
After adding at least one product to PayLoadz and setting up the PayPal shopping cart, test selling that product to make sure you understand the process and to make sure it all works. Have someone order a stock photograph or two from your web site.
Once this is all completed and working, and you start adding quantities of photos. You will start to wonder how you will possibly add all your stock photography into PayLoadz during this life time.
Well, its not obvious, but there is an easier way that is covered in Part 6.

Five Simple Steps
1. Get a PayLoadz Account
Visit PayLoadz. If you don’t need storage for your originals and will be using your current web site, you can sign up for a free account by clicking on “New Users”. If you need storage for your stock photograph files you can sign up for one of the available pricing schemes.

2. Get a PayPal Account Visit the PayPal homepage at PayPal.com and sign up for an account. The account is free but there is a minor fee for every transaction. You will need to sign up for either a Business or a Premiere Account. A normal personal PayPal account will not work with PayLoadz. If you already have a Personal PayPal Account, you can easily upgrade to a Premiere or Business Account at the PayPal web site.

3. Set up your PayPal IPN Preferences.
The PayLoadz system works in conjunction with the PayPal payment service by “talking” to each other through a web address after payments are made. This is an optional feature found at the PayPal web site, it is free to use, just follow the steps below:
a. Log into your PayLoadz account.
b. Click on the “Account” tab and copy the IPN URL that is specified on that page.
c. Log into your PayPal account.
d. Go to your “Profile” page by clicking on the “Profile” tab.
e. Click on the “Instant Payment Notification” link.
f. Follow along and activate the IPN in the account.
When the instructions ask for a URL, paste your PayLoadz URL that you copied from the “Account” tab when you were in your PayLoadz account (step b).
At this point your IPN is now activated and your PayPal account is configured to use the PayLoadz system.

4. Configure your PayLoadz Profile using your email address that you used when setting up your PayPal account. The email address is the “Username” at the PayPal web site.

5. Finally, Login to PayPal (if you are not logged in at this point). Copy the shopping cart code that PayPal generated for your account. You need to place this code in a webpage on your web site. Once this step is complete, you should have a fully working shopping cart on your web site ready for your customers use.
Note, the above process is also described in the document titled “Selling Digital Goods” on the PayLoadz website.

Your web site should be setup in a manner where small (hopefully useless) images (thumbnails) are displayed so a prospective customer has an idea of the image contents. There must also be some mechanism where the user can view a larger image if they are interested in the stock photograph. This larger image is usually rendered useless because of a watermark or some other semi-destructive methodology.
The user adds items they wish to purchase to the shopping cart provided by PayPal. Once the user is satisfied and has purchased the items, you owe that person the full un-adultered file for that image. An ideal way would be for that user to be able to get to the purchased stock photograph with out bothering you with requests or shipping and without having the ability to take any other files you may have.
PayLoadz offers this service. Signup is free and there are no monthly fees as long as you don’t qualify for one of their paying accounts.
PayLoadz works with PayPal to provide you the ability to sell and deliver digital items from your own website in a secure manner without your intervention!
The following steps describe how PayPal and PayLoadz work together transparently to make your website a “self serve” stock photo service station.

1. The customer, while browsing your web site, clicks “Buy Now” links to add items to their shopping cart. The “Buy Now” links are generated by PayLoadz and the shopping cart by PayPal. You simply added the links to your HTML.
2. When the customer has completed shopping, they click on the “Check Out” button to pay. Again, this html code was generated by PayPal and you also simply added this to your HTML code.
3. The customer is prompted by PayPal to pay by either using their PayPal username and password or by just using a credit card. The user is also given the chance to create a PayPal account at his time.
4. Once the payment process is complete, PayPal notifies PayLoadz of the transaction and what was purchased. This process is completely invisible.
5. PayLoadz emails the customer a thank you note that also contains a link to your product. Note that this link is not related to your website in any way. It is encoded so that the location of your original file is completely secure. Also, PayLoadz sends a copy of this thank you note and links to you the merchant.
6. The customer clicks on the link to download the file.
7. You receive an e-mail from PayPal letting you know that payment was received.

Over time you have spent many years working at your hobby of photography. During this time you have built a collection of photos that you are proud of. You think people might want them or even pay you for them. If you only had a way to distribute or securely sell them using the Internet in order to reach the broadest audience possible.
There is a way that is simple and quick for the prospective customer, but it does require some setup on your part. Here is one way to get it done.
First, you need that web site.
Assuming you have one and are able to navigate and view photos, you need to work out how payment for your stock photographs is handled. Two services on the internet combined will give you this ability.
The first is PayPal. PayPal enables any individual or business with an email address to securely, easily, quickly and cheaply send and receive payments online. PayPal will give your website the ability to accept all major credit cards without having to go to each credit card vendor individually and establish merchant accounts. PayPal also allows payment from bank accounts and money transfers. Paypal requires no special software, credit checks or any financial requirements and signing up is free!
Once you have PayPal setup, you still have one problem to solve. PayPal does not offer a delivery mechanism for your stock photos. It assumes you will be shipping purchased items in the traditional manner. The problem here is that you will not be shipping in the traditional manner, you are delivering files.

This is the first post in a series that will show you how to setup a website for the sale of your photographs. This technique can be applied to any digital content you wish to sell.

There are basically two ways of making great digital photographs.
1. You conceptualize an idea and then take a photograph to match.
2. Have fun by taking your camera where ever you go keeping your eyes and mind open for any interesting shots that you might encounter.

Get to know your digital camera
More important then the type, brand or quality of your camera is the knowledge of what the camera is capable of under different conditions. You’ll be surprised with the results you can get from a low end camera. The most important thing is to spend time playing with your camera under varied conditions. It is important to remember that you no longer have the constraints or costs of film. Force yourself to overcome your traditional feelings to conserve film. Try taking a picture of the subject several times at different F-stop settings. Try it again at different speed settings. If the camera has bracketing abilities, learn how to set this feature and practice with it extensively. Pay special attention to any odd effects you notice appearing under particular conditions and settings. See if you can reproduce them. Take the same pictures in the morning, mid-day, afternoon and night time and see what happens and how you can make the photograph work. Try odd angles and views. Try points of view that you would normally never use. The most important issue here is to have fun! After spending time and understanding your camera, you will begin to notice an increase in quality and interest of your photographs. You will soon notice images that you and others would want to use.

Smaller Cameras
One of the advantages of cheaper smaller cameras is that you can take them with you virtually anywhere you go. If you are walking around and see something that might make an interesting shot, you can easily take out your not so bulky camera and compose a fantastic photograph with it. Also, people don’t tend to take a small camera seriously when seen in public. You don’t look like a professional and you don’t get noticed. This allows you to take advantage of photographic situations as they arise. Small cameras lend themselves to natural subjects and situations. Large professional looking SLR cameras make people nervous and uncomfortable. Security guards are also less likely to expel you from a building or scene if they think you are photographing personal images.

Archiving digital images
After several weeks or months of experimentation, you will probably end up with a large collection of images that take up quite a large amount of disk space. It’s time to figure out some sort of a backup solution. You can try writing the images to CD, but if your digital camera is capable of 3 or more mega-pixels, the CD solution may be time consuming and restricting. DVD-Writers have drastically dropped in price and can store 7 to 8 times the data CDs are capable of. You may consider a tape backup unit or even another hard disk drive to copy and backup data. Hard disk drives have dropped in price and are very hard to beat.

Show the world
If you think you are ready to share your images with the rest of the world, try some of the on-line Stock Photo Web sites. Many of them accept digital photos from other photographers. You might even be able to recoup some of your initial costs. Another option is to create your own web site or use one of the major photo sharing sites such as Flickr Photobucket or Webshots to expose your works to the rest of the world.

This last summer, we decided to visit Mt Rainier for the first time.  See the mountain up close. Its not too far from Seattle, but is definitely a 1 day round trip with actual visitation time. We did not actually climb Mt Rainier, there is a peak right next to it that gets close to 8000 feet.  The place is stunning.  Here are a few photographs. Click on any to view the image at higher resolution.

The next two paragraphs come from Wikipedia. 

Mount Rainier is an active volcano located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is the highest peak in the Cascade Range at 14,411 feet (4,392 m). The mountain and the surrounding area are protected within Mount Rainier National Park.  Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states with 35 square miles (91 km²) of permanent snowfields and 26 major glaciers.  A small crater lake, the highest in North America, occupies the lowest portion of the west crater below more than 160 feet (50 m) of ice and is accessible only via the caves.

Mount Rainier has a topographic prominence of 13,210 feet (4,026 m), greater than that of K2. It dominates the southeastern horizon in most of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area to such an extent that residents sometimes refer to it simply as “the Mountain.” On days of exceptional clarity, it can also be seen from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Victoria, British Columbia.