Your first photo jot should feel effortless. Not because you're a photography expert, but because the tool should get out of your way.
I built Jottings to make this true. And I want to walk you through it—from picking the image to hitting publish.
Before You Upload
You don't need a fancy camera. You don't need professional editing software. You don't need a perfect moment.
Your iPhone. Your dog. Your lunch. A screenshot of something that made you laugh. These are all valid photo jot material.
The only thing you need to think about: is this image saying something you want to share?
If yes, keep reading.
The Upload Process (It's Super Simple)
Here's the honest truth: uploading a photo to a photo jot in Jottings takes about 30 seconds, and most of that is waiting.
- Click "New Jot" and select "Photo Jot"
- Click the upload area and pick an image from your computer (or phone, if you're on the dashboard in your browser)
- Wait about 5 seconds while we optimize your image on your device
- See the preview and decide if you want to adjust anything
That's it. You don't manage file sizes. You don't worry about compression. You don't need to know the difference between JPEG and PNG (though we support both, plus WebP and animated GIFs).
What Happens Behind the Scenes
Here's something I'm genuinely proud of: we resize your image to exactly what your readers need.
When you upload a photo, Jottings automatically:
Resizes to 1200px: This is the perfect size for a 600px-wide container on a Retina display. Your photo will look crisp on phones, tablets, and desktops. No blurry scaling. No pixelated mess. Just sharp, clear images.
Compresses intelligently: A 6MB JPEG from your camera becomes a 200KB optimized version. We drop the quality to 85%—a number where your eye can't see the difference, but your reader's bandwidth absolutely can. PNG files stay lossless if you need transparency. WebP gets 80% quality. Your upload time drops from 30 seconds to 5.
Preserves animated media: Love GIFs? Uploading an animated photo or WebP? We keep it animated. We don't convert it. We just optimize it. (Up to 15MB, so go wild with your memes.)
Delivers from a global CDN: Once uploaded, your photo lives on Cloudflare R2 and gets served from the nearest server to your reader. Someone viewing your site from Tokyo gets the image from a Tokyo server. Someone in Toronto gets it from there. This is invisible to you—but it's why your photos load instantly for your global audience.
You literally just... upload. Everything else happens automatically.
Adding the Caption
A photo jot isn't just a photo. It's a photo plus a thought.
This is where your voice comes in.
Your caption can be:
- A single sentence: "Golden hour in the Peloponnese."
- A question: "Should I commit to the beard?"
- A story snippet: "Found this pressed flower in a book from 1987. No idea where it came from."
- A reflection: "Three years ago I was afraid to do this. Today it feels natural."
- Nothing at all: Sometimes the photo is enough.
The caption is optional, but it's powerful. It transforms a photo from "something I saw" into "something I want you to think about."
Keep it honest. Keep it short. This is a jot, not an essay.
The Alt Text Conversation
Here's something most blogging platforms ignore but I think is essential: alt text.
Alt text is a short description of your image that appears if the photo doesn't load, or for someone using a screen reader. It's how blind and low-vision users experience your photo jot.
Writing good alt text is easier than you think:
Don't start with "image of": "Image of a sunset" is lazy. Just say "sunset over the Mediterranean, orange and purple sky."
Be specific: Instead of "coffee," try "cold brew in a ceramic mug, steam rising."
Include context if helpful: "Screenshot showing the new dark mode toggle in the dashboard settings."
Be natural: Write like you're describing it to a friend, not a search engine.
Keep it concise: 100-125 characters is ideal. Not a novel.
Here are some examples from actual photo jots:
- "Mountain cabin covered in fresh snow, pine trees silhouetted against white sky"
- "My daughter's first time ice skating, holding my hand, laughing"
- "Code editor showing TypeScript compilation error, red underline on line 42"
- "Sourdough loaf with dark golden crust, steam escaping from the cut"
Notice they're specific, visual, and honest. They paint a picture.
Why does this matter? Search engines use alt text. If someone's searching for "mountain snow photography," your photo might show up if you've written good alt text. But more importantly: it's kind. It makes your site accessible to everyone.
And that feels right.
Best Practices for Photo Jots
Over the months of watching people use Jottings, I've noticed what works:
Match the Photo to Your Message
A photo of yourself coding? Perfect with: "Finally shipped that feature."
A beautiful landscape? Works with: "Needed this today."
A screenshot of a funny tweet? "This made me laugh out loud."
The photo and caption should feel like they belong together. They're a team.
Use Series When It Makes Sense
Photo jots are perfect for series. A week-long trip? Daily photos with captions. Building something? Progress shots. Reading a book? Cover photo, then photos of passages that moved you.
Your readers will see them all on your home timeline, creating a visual narrative.
Mix Photo Jots with Text and Link Jots
Don't go all-in on photos. Your best content mix is:
- Photo jots for moments and visuals (30-40%)
- Text jots for thoughts and reflections (30-40%)
- Link jots for interesting things you found (20-30%)
This rhythm keeps your blog fresh and gives readers different ways to engage with your ideas.
Quality Over Quantity
A great photo taken with your phone beats a mediocre "professional" photo. Authenticity matters. It shows you're here, sharing real life, not performing.
When Photo Jots Shine
Photo jots are best for:
Travel: Instead of a 3,000-word travel blog, share 30 photos with one-line captions. This is how people actually experience your trip.
Work-in-progress: Developers, designers, makers—visual progress is motivating. Screenshot your work, ship it, post it.
Daily life: A photo of your desk. Your cat. Your morning coffee. These small moments, collected over time, tell the story of who you are.
Photography as art: If photography is your medium, Jottings is your gallery. No clunky lightbox. No JavaScript slowdown. Just your photos, beautifully rendered.
Community: Food, fashion, fitness—any visual community loves to see real examples. Photo jots are how you contribute.
Publishing Your First Photo Jot
By now you've:
- Picked an image you want to share
- Uploaded it (Jottings handled the optimization)
- Written a caption that feels true
- Added thoughtful alt text
Now you just hit "Publish".
Your photo jot goes live on your Jottings site immediately. It appears in your RSS feed. It gets tagged if you added tags. It's discoverable.
And here's the beautiful part: you can create another one tomorrow, or next week, or whenever the mood strikes. There's no pressure. No publishing schedule. Just... sharing.
The Joy of Simplicity
I built Jottings because I was tired of tools that made sharing feel complicated.
Photo jots are the purest expression of that philosophy. You upload. We optimize. You publish. Done.
No batch image resizing. No file size anxiety. No wondering if your photo will look crushed on mobile.
Just you, your moment, and your readers.
Ready to try it? Sign up for Jottings and create your first photo jot today. I think you'll find it feels good.
New to Jottings? Photo jots are one of three jot types we support. You can also create text jots for longer thoughts and link jots for interesting things you find online. Mix them together to build a microblog that's uniquely yours.