How Personal Photos Helped These Writers Land a Home Page Spot

Last week, we issued a challenge on the forum for all Writers on Zujava to keep tabs on their weekend activities by taking photos of what they did. Writers were then asked to create a leaf using those photos, and to chronicle their weekend experience. As a reward, they received home page placement for the weekend and a post on the Zujava Facebook page, not to mention an excellent leaf to add to their growing portfolio of quality content. 

Here are the leaves that were entered in the challenge:

Blowing Rock, North Carolina

The stunning beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway is one drive that you shouldn't miss, but this small town might be a little easier to miss. Writer Bonita has shared her personal photos from a visit to Blowing Rock, which visually details the mountaintop tourist attraction, the small town, shopping, dining, and attractions near Blowing Rock. The photos really make this leaf incredible. Next time you travel, even locally, keep in the back of your head which attractions you'd like to photograph for a leaf. 

How to Install a Lindby Multibar on a Victory Vegas

Some (okay, most) instructions that are given with furniture, electronics, and car parts are incomplete and hard to follow. The pictures are hard to see, they aren't labeled properly, and sometimes even lack text. This can be very discouraging when buying "assembly required" products, by Lewister6232 has taken the perfect approach to remedy this problem. If all instructions were like hers, there would never be a problem. The leaf she submitted for the Weekend Leaf Challenge offers step by step, fully annotated photos of the setup process. And, unlike manufacturer's instructions, she doesn't use vague black and white illustrations, she uses full color, real photos that have arrows pointing to where and how to assemble all of the pieces. Not only is this a great tutorial on setting up these crash rails, but she's done an amazing job of promoting one particular product. 

Angels vs. Dodgers

If this leaf doesn't make you want to go to a baseball game, nothing will. It looks the weather was perfect for this game, and the photos really paint a picture of how fun this must have been. Besides the game itself, there are photos of funny signs, funny people, parts of Anaheim Stadium, fireworks, the Angel Girls, and the overpriced $10 stadium beers. The leaf is full of information about the stadium, a synopsis of the game against the Dodgers that night, and the official Twitter feeds of the Angels and the Dodgers. As fun as it was to read this leaf, it would have only been half as fun if it weren't for the amazing photos that VarietyWriter added. If you're thinking of publishing a sports leaf on Zujava, this is how it should be done! 

Brant Rock, MA

This leaf was published by yours truly, and features photos that I've taken of Brant Rock, MA over the past few weeks. The area is north of Cape Cod, and south of Boston. I drive to this small seaside village just a few miles away at least once a week to go to the beach, the local restaurants, or to take a walk along the Atlantic facing sea wall. I was lucky enough to catch a passing thunderstorm, which you can see photos of in the image gallery section. In addition, I added YouTube videos of locals that shot amateur footage of crashing waves, sunrises, and hurricanes that have struck the Brant Rock area. Since I visit this area often, I'll be adding more photos and recommendations over the coming months, including some July 3rd fireworks photos that I took the other night. What I'm aiming for with this leaf is a one-page, current visual representation of Brant Rock that sprinkles in some history and recommendations. This should make it a unique page on the web for this town.

Owl Necklaces

Craftyville published one of her very recognizable tutorials on crafting homemade owl necklaces. As all of Craftyville's leaves do, it features photos of the design process. This helps narrate the creation process immensely. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and these photos clearly spell out what materials are needed and how to assemble the craft. 

Inspiration from the Blind Couple

There's no better title for this leaf than the one that Rochelle chose. Without spoiling too much, the story is about Rochelle's experience visiting a blind couple from Israel for the weekend, and how incredible it was to see how they not only managed to just "get by," but really excel at life in a number of ways. This was very motivating to hear

Three Great Things All of These Leaves Have in Common

1. They all tell a story, even if it's a tutorial. The story could be a visit to a town, a weekend getaway, or a visual story of how something is constructed.
2. Personal experience. Reading through all of these, it's a much better experience when it's personal and not just something that was created to fulfill some keyword term. This storytelling and quality of work can only help to improve the reputation of the Writer.
3. Personal photos. As was challenged, all of these leaves used personal photos. The difference in quality is amazing. Not only do they visually make the leaf look genuine, but they help with the flow of storytelling.