Photography site
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- 18 Responses
- tesmith
My pictures. I have tried to learn from the criticisms of template sites here. I would appreciate your feedback. Thanks.
- bigtrick0
your site is well-constructed and works well.
you might consider a more interesting font for your nav - you can use typeface.js or cufon to put something nicer in there.
the lack of alignment between the top of the photos and the top of your logotype is a bit disharmonious - you might consider moving the pictures up a bit so that the picture nav lies above everything else.
i confess i'm not really a fan of your photos - the soft postprocessing effect you have is too much, and the subject matter doesn't interest me. however, it's your party and it's better to please yourself than to please others. keep shooting, mate (:
- 23kon0
Nice photos however i'd take those blurred ones out of the NY & Toronto folders for a much more exclusively considered looking folio.
- Projectile0
yeah ther soft focus ones are just too much.. use that effect by all means, but do it subtly. That looks like you used an iPhone app or something. Also.. that pic of your dog in the water? completely out of focus and nothing amazing to it.. 20 shots of the same barn... I think you need to shoot more pics and be more selective.
That being said, you're after interface crit. You interface is nice. Not much in terms of wow factor, for all we know you typed that logo onto a black square and spent 5 mins choosing a colour. Often that's a great way to go, but it's also a very safe way to go
- I'm not a designer, I intentionally kept it simple or safetesmith
- vaxorcist0
I agree with bigtrick about the logo alignment... minor tweek....
I love the skateboard kids as the first image.
Then I begin to wonder who you're aiming for as an audience... you've got a bunch of designers here, ideal clients for an ambitious photographer, so take note of the opportunity
The other images seem very different.... some are on the way to being pretty cool, but I'd edit much more tightly.... a portfolio with the feeling and attitude of the skateboarding kids would be very appealing to me, and seems to be more unique and interesting than most of the pix I see online....
I would really try to specialize in what makes you unique... there was a post recently about a study showing how stock-like images are essentially ignored by actual users...
I'd rather see 10-20 knockout unique images than 10 categories with 10 images each... unless you're aiming for stock sales....
- your "about" image is also cool, but I'd not say Nikon D80, rather Nikon DSLR, as it may change, and /or attract camera geeks too muchvaxorcist
- listing make/model of camera on a photographers website seems to attract the non-client croud... people ask you camera questions!vaxorcist
- I was really just doing it for fun, it's a pastime.tesmith
- gear listing is lame. it makes you come off as not focused on the work.mnmlst
- KR150
I like it, nice and simple, there's some nice shots on there too but some dont make the grade. Combine all into less categories (eg. put all places in one).
I'd move the arrows down beneath the images too.
- tesmith0
Thanks all. I agree with your comments. The blurry / soft ones are old and I have better Photoshop skills now. I am in the process of rescanning them and keeping them simple and proper. The top alignment bugs me too but haven't figured out how to fix it yet.
- tesmith0
I thought I would need a thicker skin on here.
- pressplay0
the site works well, I‘d rather spend more time on the selection of pictures... some are really great, some appear quite characterless or even amateurish... the sets have no consistency or flow, you should work that out by leaving pics out and change the sequence... keep in mind that the given sequence that you have there is quite a strong means of expression... almost like a movie... but, once you got that sorted, it could be really great...
- tesmith0
Thanks Utopian, I liked how simple the slideshow is. I get your point but struggled enough with the other template options with a mix of portrait and landscape orientations.
- Mr_Right0
"I thought I would need a thicker skin on here."
I believe people are being nice to you and may not want to comment too harshly. It's hard for me to comment on your site because I do not know what you want to accomplish. I think you may need to view some of the photography sites out there for some inspiration. Your photography is not inspired.
I will make one comment and I would like to be honest with you: If you are trying to make a living as a photographer and this is the work you're offering, you should seriously consider finding another career direction. If you are just a hobbyist then keep going and keep improving. One thing I would like to see is you site display the pictures larger (960px wide?) Just a thought.
- pressplay0
I think what disturbs me is the heterogeneity of you sets. even if you only see it as a hobby, try to achieve a flow in each series... whenever I click through, I think, ok, this might be a story but then comes something completely unrelated, either in style or motif. check out some different approaches to photography like conceptional (ed ruscha or bernd und hilla becher) or casual (I can't find a better word here... larry clark or nan goldin comes to my mind - this doesn‘t mean you have to photograph somebody shootin up heroin though)... you do not have to stick to some approach but I think you have a lot of potential if you stick to some conceptual consistency...
- tesmith0
Thanks pressplay, even though it is a hobby I take it seriously. I feel the same about the flow. I am currently working on "series" that hopefully achieve that.
- Mr_Fantastic0
Way too many photos. Bring it down to about 30 shots, and don't have as much repeating subject matter.No one wants to see a million shots of an old barn.
- tesmith0
Okay, I appreciate all the input. I have reduced the number of images and tried to create a better flow. Also lost the "gear" reference. Thanks for the time you have taken.