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10/30/2004 01:39:55 PM · #1 |
I'm looking at starting a website, but not really sure on the layout. Does anyone know of any really well designed photography websites that I can use as inspiration?
Thanks. |
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10/30/2004 01:45:58 PM · #2 |
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10/30/2004 01:56:49 PM · #3 |
You can always do a search for photography websites. Also... some people here have websites. (Including me) You can get an idea of what direction or style you might want to go, depending on what type of audience you want. You need to decide if it is going to be an online portfolio, or if it is going to be a photo blog, or aimed at photography service.
Remember... before a layout is planned, you need to make sure you know exactly what the purpose of 'your site' is going to be.
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10/30/2004 02:05:45 PM · #4 |
Do a search on photography web templates. That will give you some ideas. I prefer to keep mine simple and easy to navigate.
This is my web site
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10/30/2004 02:14:02 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by mavrik:
You're looking at one. |
Saw that coming a mile away :)
There are a number of great sites out there, and each one has its pros and cons. You need to think about what niche you want to fill... A certain type of photography? Advanced photogs or beginners? Contests or critique? Gear reviews? Paid or free? Policy on "adult" genres of images? The list goes on...
Some examples:
I thing DPC excells at bringing new photographers through the learning curve. It's membership is extremely friendly, the site is laid out in a very inutuitve manner, and it is centered around challenges which are particularly great for new photographers who haven't learned to see the world through a photographic eye. (Not saying contests aren't great for everyoneone - just that they're especially helpful for newcomers.) Another thing I like about DPC is that nudity / erotic photos aren't in your face all that much... It's family friendly. My observation is that the long time users here are primarily into stock and studio styles. Membership buys 10mb of space here.
PhotoSig (www.photosig.com) is a vast site with tons of inspiration (meaning lots to look at). I find it to be easy to use - a nice interface. It's user community tends to be more harsh on critiques, and I find it less friendly by a long shot. It's also (apparently) on a very low bandwidth link because I can hardly get to it most of the time. I find this site is very family UNfriendly in terms of content unless you tweak your preferences - which you *can* do fairly easily. What I don't like is that you can't really evaluate the site much unless you pay to join it. Between the slow response and $$, I didn't think it was worth it and stopped visiting. I've seen all types of content here from nature to photoshop digital art.
Photo.Net is very rich in content and inspiration. It tends to be more middle of the road in its content. You can't browse the galleries without encountering images you wouldn't want your kids to see, and I haven't found a way to filter content. On the plus side, the community is very friendly, and has a large population of very talented photographers. The site isn't as intuitive as most, but the content is what keeps me coming back. I love the portfolio management, and I like the presentation capabilities. I don't like how challenging it is to browse a genre (like nature) by itself. There are no challenges on PN, you just put up your work and submit it for critique. When you get comments, they are usually very detailed critiques - not too many "nice picture!" here. Problem is, you don't get many comments unless your work is amazing. Again - DPC has an edge because in a challenge you get TONS of feedback. Membershp buys 100mb of storage.
Pbase is a very popular site, although I haven't used it much... I believe it's more of a gallery than a community, but I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm off key here.
Those are the big community sites I've seen... Then you've got the informational sites - way to many to enumerate, but you should definitely spend some time checking out vividlight.com, luminouslandscape.com, kenrockwell.com, naturephotographers.net, and www.bythom.com.
My advice: think long and hard about what you haven't been able to find on other sites and don't write a single HTML tag until you can answer that question. You need something compelling to draw the community that will make your site work, and if you aren't targeting a community you're just putting up another URL on the net.
Good luck!
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10/30/2004 02:21:53 PM · #6 |
I did mine in 4 hours. My galleries are done in PS CS in the automated galleries. I just change the colors in Dreamweaver.
Click on "who am I..." below. :-)
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10/30/2004 02:24:39 PM · #7 |
Oops! I guess I assumed when you said "start a site" you meant starting a community site. If you just meant a site for your own images then just ignore my response as it was total overkill :) Still, some of those sites might provide inspiration one way or another.
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10/30/2004 03:26:48 PM · #8 |
Hi Dave - I have just started building a new site after my other site ceased to exist and all attempts at contacting them failed. Anyway I have learnt a lesson - do not go with a one-man-band set up - chose a hosting service that has been around for a while. I have signed up with 1&1 and am more than pleased with their service, if you want to get your site up quickly they provide all the templates, software etc.
There are loads of hosting services available so spend some time researching them and dont rush. Only advice I would give is try and keep the site simple and use a dark background as this shows off colour photos best, try not to use bright coloured texts, ie. bright blue, bright red,bright green, bright yellow etc.
Good luck
Mike
Message edited by author 2004-10-30 15:27:20.
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10/30/2004 04:15:15 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by daveit:
... Does anyone know of any really well designed photography websites that I can use as inspiration?
Thanks. |
Not focused strictly on Photography but Linked Up has many examples of cutting edge web design. These span quite a range from commercial, to portfolio, to political, to tool specific. Some are very very good ... some just bizarre. You might start by searching on the keyword "Photography" and you'll get a bunch of interesting hits. |
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10/30/2004 07:36:17 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by kosmikkreeper:
I did mine in 4 hours. My galleries are done in PS CS in the automated galleries. I just change the colors in Dreamweaver.
Click on "who am I..." below. :-) |
May I make a suggestion for your website? I think you need a link back to the home page in your galleries. When I look at all the photos in a gallery, I have to use my browser back button and go backwards through all of them to get to the home page before I can look at another gallery.
But, of course, there is always a good possibility that I have no idea what I'm talking about and there is an easier way :)
Great website other than that.
Faye
Message edited by author 2004-10-30 19:37:56.
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10/30/2004 08:52:24 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by fayepek:
Originally posted by kosmikkreeper:
I did mine in 4 hours. My galleries are done in PS CS in the automated galleries. I just change the colors in Dreamweaver.
Click on "who am I..." below. :-) |
May I make a suggestion for your website? I think you need a link back to the home page in your galleries. When I look at all the photos in a gallery, I have to use my browser back button and go backwards through all of them to get to the home page before I can look at another gallery.
But, of course, there is always a good possibility that I have no idea what I'm talking about and there is an easier way :)
Great website other than that.
Faye |
Actually the galleries all open in a new window. You can close the window to get back to the home page. However, instructions are always nice.
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