I'd like to introduce Lisa

nt

I enjoyed checking out your friends site. As some people have commented the site may be a little annoying but I prefer to look at the content. Some of the photos of the kids are fantastic. I hope your friend achieves her goals.

Cheers
Kim

Here's a quote, "Her portfolio is for a national competition. She put up the site just for the competion. Pretty impressive I think. What do you think? I think that while equipment is nice, there is just no substitute for talent."

If the web site is put up for some sort of competition, then presentation becomes VERY important and the presentation is weak. Certainly, it gets in the way of the photos. Most of us have already complimented the photographs and they are pretty good.

Maybe instead of us being grumpy old men, perhaps you are some adolescent who confuses excessive complexity with depth of thought.

--
STOP Global Stasis! Change is good!

Now that you've judged the quality of my typing, take a look at my photos. . .
http://www.photo.net/photos/GlenBarrington

And my non Photo blog:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-Qe0Iq3g2d6ML3IynXl.Q2i5CPe6UaA--?cq=1

I trust all you naysayers have taken note of Lisa's other accomplishment?

Taekwondo.

Better watch the old niagraras ;-.

)

Jules, you do realize you've been critiquing the posts here and have not said one word about the photographs, don't you?

She has natural talent and a great eye. My only complaint is too many where the heads are chopped. She can frame the face tightly without cutting so much out and if she does too much of that, it becomes gimmicky, in my opinion (which isn't worth much).

Since her audience will surely not be on dial up and will have the appropriate equipment to view her site, I have no complaint about that. My business website is flash but my audience consists of Fortune 1000 companies and large marketing firms and I've never gotten a complaint about it. I actually like her website and layout.

Good luck to her.

Definitely very good photography.

She should ask herself: is the first image one that most people will like? I like it, but the composition may not be to the taste of many. Maybe it shouldn't be the first.

Just sharing a thought for her site. You're right: she's very talented.
--
Thierry

I think the photos are extremely good. There's no substitute for great natural lighting and knowing how to place your subject just right.

For the website, i have to agree with others. It would not load for me in Firefox so I had to move back to Explorer. It was not easy to navigate and a little too confusing to remember where I was... I left quickly because of that which is not a great site retention strategy

Flash in websites to me is like Post Processing, sometimes you can go too far and spoil things. Complicated bells and whistles do not impress me. Simple impresses me because simple is really quite difficult to execute well.

Just my two cents though.

Cheers!

I absolutely love those photos! Well done, Lisa!

Mared. It was short and precise and without the waffle of most posts on this thread but since you missed it here it is again......

" Some portrait photographers have 'it' and some don't and never realise that they don't. She has it.

Nice site too. "

Jules

Mareda said:

Jules, you do realize you've been critiquing the posts here and have
not said one word about the photographs, don't you?

Click to expand...

--

A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. Arbus.

--If only Scavullo had a site like that he might have made it.

Good photos but annoying site. If she if trying to make it and wants to learn she and her friends should be open to all opinions including what is said about a website being annoying. Learn from feedback rather than attack it !

I like the BW children's photos, not so much the rest of the portfolio. Site is a little confusing.
--



http://www.pbase.com/jfinite

You are speaking of a pariticular philisophical point of view that suggests the truth may have to be put in the background in order to not hurt someone's feelings. There are many times that feelings must be ignored in order for clear communication to occur.

JulesJ said:

What we do on this and every forum is have an opinion. What you are
complaining about is that my opinion doesn't match yours. Even the
greatest works of art, films, sculptures, photographs, whatever may
have small faults, but surely it is best to FIRST talk about the
positives. Later maybe mention the lesser negative aspects. the
poster i complained about was like many on this forum, only seeing
the negative when there was so much positive to comment on.
Jules

Click to expand...

The way the information is presented IS as important as the content. I personally dislike the use of flash on websites, as it is often, as this particular case, a huge show-stopper. The site is extremely slow to load - there is no reason for this. The interface is not at all user-friendly. An example is that the 'Menu' should be on the front page, not a click away.

The photographer may be very talented, and have a great gallery, but the website is so bad that it would turn many people (including me) off - they would close the site as a waste of time rather than wait for it to load. There is no reason that the content should not be all loaded and available inside 3 seconds (arbitrary, but true).

I would like to say that I saw lots of good photos there, but the truth is that after waiting over a minute on a broadband connection, I gave up. This is unacceptable to me, and I would not visit the site again.

that's the way it is. if you don't like it, move along.
S.
--
beam me up captain, there's no intelligent life down here!

Thanks for you thoughts, I'm not bothered by any of this, it's just interesting, good feedback.

Funny thing is, when I just looked at Lisa's site, I didn't like it either. But a few days ago, when I looked at it at work, it looked fine.

So, I don't know. Does the internet speed make a big difference? Are the updating the Flash and software stuff?

You'll notice that some people hated the site, other people thought it was pretty good. At first I thought it was the viewer, now I'm wondering if it's the site?

Anyway, Lisa appreciates everyone's comments. Thanks!

--
http://ktophoto.blogspot.com/
http://la-photos.blogspot.com/

All I can say is that i too sometimes fin flash a pain. But this site is not slow, it's relatively fast on my Mac and that I find the menus intuative and easy to navigate. Easier than the average photo website.
We shall have to agree to disagree.
Jules

ScottyNV said:

JulesJ said:

What we do on this and every forum is have an opinion. What you are
complaining about is that my opinion doesn't match yours. Even the
greatest works of art, films, sculptures, photographs, whatever may
have small faults, but surely it is best to FIRST talk about the
positives. Later maybe mention the lesser negative aspects. the
poster i complained about was like many on this forum, only seeing
the negative when there was so much positive to comment on.
Jules

Click to expand...

The way the information is presented IS as important as the content.
I personally dislike the use of flash on websites, as it is often, as
this particular case, a huge show-stopper. The site is extremely
slow to load - there is no reason for this. The interface is not
at all user-friendly. An example is that the 'Menu' should be on the
front page, not a click away.

The photographer may be very talented, and have a great gallery, but
the website is so bad that it would turn many people (including me)
off - they would close the site as a waste of time rather than wait
for it to load. There is no reason that the content should not be all
loaded and available inside 3 seconds (arbitrary, but true).

I would like to say that I saw lots of good photos there, but the
truth is that after waiting over a minute on a broadband connection,
I gave up. This is unacceptable to me, and I would not visit the
site again.

that's the way it is. if you don't like it, move along.
S.
--
beam me up captain, there's no intelligent life down here!

Click to expand...

--

A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. Arbus.

--

hi everyone!!!! I had no idea that these posts were here, I recieved an email from a guy in New Zealand, talking about my website. Wow I love how passionate everyone is and the comments and suggestions are GREAT!!! thank you so much.

I would like to say though that my website has been up for 2 years, I did not design it JUST for the competition I entered. I have been shooting for 5 years and truly enjoy what I do. It has been a joy and always challenging. My website is designed for artists, makeup artists and photographers, if it is slow loading for some, that is my doing by uploading images that are larger in file size, for better quality....if your system is slower, it is a bit of a wait, so sorry for that. I do enjoy foliolink as my website host, they are fantastic with excellent customer service. I love that I can change anything at a moments notice, myself without paying a web designer. I am actually in the process of updating my website, next week check back if you have time......thank you from my heart for your well wishes and suggestions.....it means a lot. Lisa VanHecke

--



http://www.pbase.com/jfinite

Hello Lisa

I enjoyed your images very much, you have a compelling style that just fits my sense of aesthetics. I would be proud if any one of them was on my living room wall.

I can tell which photos are a hit with me quite quickly, when I do not have thoughts of "what camera settings or PP was used?" and instead just viewing and absorbing without thinking for an extended period. Yours are like that, never gave it a thought of technique, only noticed my reactions to them.

Sometimes us Gearheads think way too much about how something was created than what we are seeing to get much out of it. When in a gallery, of which we have many in my city, I never ask myself how a particular painting was done or with what type brushes or pigments but with photos the thoughts go to "how" quite often and usually that means I missed the important part, simple visual communications.

Same in other fields. I was a recording engineer/producer for most of my life and for 25year stopped listening to records totally because the experience was ruined every time by my thinking and judging how something was recorded rather than just let me experience what recorded. I gave away my stereo system and unplugged my car sound system preferring to listen to the engine. Live music did not produce the same effect and I enjoyed that greatly. So when I go to the photo galleries here, when I catch myself asking internally "what FL lens was used?", I know I missed everything the photographer wanted me to experience.

So in this context, it means something when I did not once wonder what you used or in what conditions.
Thank you
--
Stan
St Petersburg Russia

I find it amusing that so many people are focused on a slight perceived distraction of slow loading or a navigation system that is not how they want it to be and missing the whole point of the photos.

I guess it is "slow loading" to go to a great art museum or gallery also. I guess a few of us are just too blinded by the sensory experience to properly see all the perceived negatives.

Funny, I was so unaware of how bad the site was that I did not even notice, but I did notice photos that made me feel good. I was so ignorant of what is important in viewing art that I foolishly bookmarked the site.
I suppose I'll never learn how to view art the proper way.

But out of habit, I will likely renew my annual membership to "Friends of the Hermitage Foundation" and keep going to experience wonderful sights and sensations out of pure ignorance.
--
Stan
St Petersburg Russia

Thanks for this ,

Very natural and pleasant photos I loved it .

The site was fast loading Vista 64 bits 4 cylender engine running at 2.4 billion RPM .

Amazing photos and web design .