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Favorite photographer's website and why

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bmcent1

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Okay, not a Dxx topic exactly, although we could limit it to photographers who use these cameras if we really need to keep it OT :-)

I'm reworking my website. It started out as a scanning business but I want to put more emphasis on portrait and event photography. I'm looking for ideas.

Some of the things I've seen and liked in photographer's websites are clean designs, ample white space, and neutral colors so any photos used stand out.

Do you all have pet peaves/favorite things about photography website designs and can you post links to your favorite examples? Content is king, but for this case, I'm interested in layout/design ideas.
 
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Here are my two pet peeves for sites that have groups of photos to scan through:

1. White background - it's blinding which makes it hard to see the photo, especially if the photo itself is dark. I much prefer a darker neutral color background. Try black, or a darker gray.

2. Sites that don't have handy forward and back arrows for scaning through the photos.

It's also nice to have some info on the photograph's content. What it is, where it was taken, the date or event. etc. and also some info on the photographer.

Good luck,
RLD
 
I prefer grey background, the pictures will pop more. My site had white background originally, but it looked awful, so I switched to grey and I like it since.

You need to design the page the way that even a complete idiot can work himself through. People do not read instructions and have hard time finding what they want, so you need to design the page the way that people can reach every content with minimum number of clicks.

Also stay away from flash, most people rarely have the patience to wait for the content even on broadband connection.

--
Zalan Szabo
http://www.szabozalan.hu
 
I dislike fussy home pages which require a lot of looking around the page to find what one wants to see. Make it easy to navigate.
Peter Del
http://www.peterdelehar.com
 
1. Navigation; should be "circular", one can get to any page from any page;

2. Design; low contrast, grey background (a setting like #555 or #666 will do fine); get as much from CSS and HTML as possible, avoid graphics / slicing as much as you can;

3. No flash or other fancy animation; what's the use ? you want to impress as a photographer not as a webdesigner;
4. Broad offering of information; to atract visitors;
...

miancu
bmcent1 said:
Okay, not a Dxx topic exactly, although we could limit it to
photographers who use these cameras if we really need to keep it OT
:-)

I'm reworking my website. It started out as a scanning business but
I want to put more emphasis on portrait and event photography. I'm
looking for ideas.

Some of the things I've seen and liked in photographer's websites
are clean designs, ample white space, and neutral colors so any
photos used stand out.

Do you all have pet peaves/favorite things about photography
website designs and can you post links to your favorite examples?
Content is king, but for this case, I'm interested in layout/design
ideas.
Click to expand...
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikonion/
Nikon D80
Nikkor 28-200mm f / 3.5-5.6D IF
Pentax ZX-M
smc PENTAX-M 50mm f/1.4
Zenit TTL
Helios 58mm f/2
Meyer Oreston Pentacon 50mm f/1.8
Meyer Orestegor Pentacon 200mm f/4
 
Thanks for the replies. Good advice.

If anyone else has a favorite design/layout example for a photography site, please post a link, it's nice to see how other photographers are designing their sites. One thing I notice is a photography layout is very different from a blog/articles type layout or online store designs.
 
bmcent1 said:
Okay, not a Dxx topic exactly, although we could limit it to
photographers who use these cameras if we really need to keep it OT
:-)

I'm reworking my website. It started out as a scanning business but
I want to put more emphasis on portrait and event photography. I'm
looking for ideas.

Some of the things I've seen and liked in photographer's websites
are clean designs, ample white space, and neutral colors so any
photos used stand out.

Do you all have pet peaves/favorite things about photography
website designs and can you post links to your favorite examples?
Content is king, but for this case, I'm interested in layout/design
ideas.
Click to expand...
spelling is always a "I turn and walk away" point for me ...
lacks professionalism i guess
peaves = peeves :D

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin
.photoholic. - incurable -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
some pics: http://www.rootminus1.com/freepics/index.php?cat=10032
more pics: http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/theronfamily/
 
Hello,

It's not easy getting it right and you'll never please everyone with your site.

I looked around and in the end opted for no flash and simple navigation on a soft neutral coloured background. I found white to be to stark. However my site is just an extension on my hobby and not for business.

--



http://www.antonyward.com
 
I have been tweaking mine lately and find keep it simple layout the best and I agree with others about black or dark grey background...I may upgrade my site to power user so I can cutomize it more

--



Ed in Arizona
D70s
http://arizonadaze.smugmug.com
 
Thanks again for the input.

If anyone is curious, you can see what I came up with here:
http://highdpi.com

Everything is updated except for the Scanning part which will get updated later; for now that section gives a good idea of the site before and after.

BTW, I ended up using a free (open source) web template from http://oswd.org ... have to say I am pleased with the result. It's a more professional look than I could have done with limited time.
 
Brian,

The site looks good, easy on the eye, easy navigation and looks slick and pro.

The only thing is when you hit the Fine Arts > online gallery section

http://gallery.highdpi.com/

the change of appearance is a bit... blah. Personally I would go for something that feels the same as the rest of the site, keep the grey/ blue/ white happening. Even if you kept the same format in the gallery section but just changed the colours, that would make a big differance.

Also the logo changes when you hit the gallery section.

BTW, I think white is a fine background colour for photos online, my opinion anyway.

:-)
 
There's nothing worse than "click, click, click, click" too many clicks.

The lay out looks good. Might want to use something else for the gallery.
--
Mick
NPPA #52591
 
I appreciate the feedback. There are a few things I still want to fix but I was used to the gallery and hadn't notice it was a jarring transition in styles. I'll put that on my todo list.

Thanks again!
 
No flash, simple design, clear menu, readable font...Nothing to detract from the photos. Simplicity is key.
But that's just MHO.
 
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