My New Website - A Still Mind

[hschnee]

I am very excited to announce the launch of my brand new website, "A Still Mind" (www.astillmind.net - that's .net, not .com). The site is hosted on Zenfolio, which features beautiful photo galleries that can be configured in many ways and allow visitors to view the photos in several different sizes and formats (for the largest view, go into each gallery and click "Slideshow"). It also allows visitors to share their favorite images via facebook and other social media, and includes an integrated shopping cart for the purchase of prints, canvas gallery wraps, and other photo-printed products. A premium account allows you to set your own prices for all products.

Zenfolio now has blogging capability and the (somewhat rudimentary) ability to create custom pages for any other information you want to display. I've taken advantage of this by giving my music a big section of the site, with information about the bands I'm playing with (and videos of recent shows), and upcoming performances. There are also pages for the chants I wrote a few years ago, and other writings of interest. As the title of the site implies, the true focus of the site is the stillness that one can find through meditation. There is a new blog, which I will use to share insights and wisdom found though meditation practice, and through an understanding of life experiences informed by meditation.

I'm hoping that the site will be somewhat interactive. The galleries and blog have buttons to sign up for RSS feeds which will inform you of new content. There is a guestbook, and the opportunity to leave comments on photos and blog posts. Most of all, you can register on the site to be added to my e-mail list; just click the "Login/Register" link at the bottom of any page. I plan to send out periodic e-mails announcing updates to the photo galleries, new blog posts, and upcoming musical performances that you may want to attend. (If you're interested in only some of this information, send me an e-mail and I will do my best to accommodate you.) The home page lists an incentive for registering that will probably be of less interest to photographers such as yourselves, but the offer is open to everyone.

Please take a look if you have a chance. I would love to get comments and feedback on the site from my great Four-Thirds friends and community. I hope you enjoy it, and f you know anyone who might be interested in the photos, music, blog, or anything else, please share.

Thank you!

- Hal -

[fluffy]

Very nice site Hal! Well worth a visit by everyone. There's a lot of work invested there. I do love the parrot (?) head shot in the slideshow. Keep it up. BZ

[hschnee]

Thank you, Steve. Yes, the bird in the slideshow is an Eclectus Parrot (male). It's unusual in the bird world in that the female of the species is more colorful than the male (bright red with purple, yellow, and blue markings on the wings and tail). This one was posing nicely for me at the North Carolina Zoo.

- Hal -

[John Perriment]

A great new venture, Hal, very diverse and well presented. You have obviously worked very hard on this. Congratulations and wishing you every success. A visit is highly recommended.

[West Arm Rider]

I've seen a lot of your photography Hal and here was a chance to see your music... which I did, your string Bass and even your hands moving... but I didn't hear anything. Make them give you a microphone next time you play

Great website by the way...

[Barr1e]

Thanks Hal - I enjoyed visiting.

Regards. Barr1e

[hschnee]

Originally Posted by West Arm Rider

I've seen a lot of your photography Hal and here was a chance to see your music... which I did, your string Bass and even your hands moving... but I didn't hear anything. Make them give you a microphone next time you play

Great website by the way...

Thanks, Stef. I'll have to see what I can do about the sound on future videos. For now, you can hear music samples from our CD here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/freylach. I'm not very satisfied with the final mix of this recording, which makes the bass (and accordion) sound dull, but you can hear it!

- Hal -