I’ve been poking the photo blog over at gurufoto a lot recently, but most of the changes aren’t really visible. And that’s on purpose. I’m trying to clean up image handling, CSS options, and work better on larger and smaller screens.

The first major change is adding 3000px+ wide versions of all images going forwards. This allows me to scale up to the largest regular screens available today (2560×1440 or so) and still offer a sharp image, no matter the window size. I’m also using Adaptive Images to serve out dynamically sized images based on screen sizes – so an iPhone will get 768px wide version, a laptop will get a 1599px wide version, and and 27″ iMac will get the full size image. This keep bandwidth costs down for mobile users, and also helps with loading speeds.

The image element itself is setup with a width and a max-width setting, so it will expand to almost fill the window, no matter the size, and I’m trying to be better about properly screening and sharpening the images before they hit the blog. I’m working to get the number of external HTTP requests down – which means deciding between WordPress JetPack and Google Analytics. I’m keeping my eyes open for one that I can host myself. Ideas?