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10/28/2007 12:38:05 AM · #1
edit
I HAVE COMPLETELY REDONE MY WEBSITE

I took many of the suggestions I got here and made a new layout for my site.
-New background color to make it easier to read
-New flash slideshows to make popup free picture viewing
-simpler home page (a bio page is coming but it may take a month or so because I don’t have access to my boyfriends computer for a while)
-Addition of a photoshop retouching section which can be found on the prices and locations page (it can’t have its own page until I can add it with a program my boyfriend has) I would like opinions on whether or not you think it works well on that page or should have its own separate page

I would like to know what the loading times are like on other computers and know if the layout works out alright on other browsers I don't have access to.

My web design recourses are VERY limited so it takes a lot of work to get ANYTHING changed, so I am really happy with what I have done so far. I am working on getting the site name to be simpler, but that involves getting my dad’s help since he is the one who owns the domain I am using.

Click here to see my NEW SITE LAYOUT at www.clairemcadamsphotography.com
original forum post
I finally made myself a website!
I want to get some jobs in from Austin for headshots so I thought this might help with that. You still can't find it searching for google or anything, but it is nice to have it up and running. Any comments or suggestions would be awesome!
Claire


Message edited by author 2008-08-13 14:13:56.
10/28/2007 12:50:11 AM · #2
Well... as you know, I'm already a fan of your head shots, and I think your head shots portfolio is stunning! And I love your bio shot on the home page. Nice work marrying your two passions. :-)


10/28/2007 12:50:22 AM · #3
Some awesome portraits, great images.

My opinions only!

i) Black/very dark backgrounds with light text makes me dizzy.
ii) I don't really care that you made it on a Mac.
iii) Too much border space once I click a thumbnail. Just give me the image, not some brushed-metal Mac border plus excessive whitespace.
iv) Rollovers on your links shouldn't resize or bold the text. A simple colour change or underline is sufficient.

HTH.
10/28/2007 12:57:10 AM · #4
Every body's got an opinion.

Nice site.
10/28/2007 01:20:34 AM · #5
Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse:

Every body's got an opinion.

Was I too harsh?
10/28/2007 01:24:22 AM · #6
I love it. So simple and effective.
10/28/2007 02:56:39 AM · #7
The program I used to make the site had that little logo on there as part of the program and I can't really remove it. I don't think you were too harsh, the way the links react is also something that is just programed by the program i used to make the site. also the border thing is part of what the program that made the site did, but if i had more control over those things I would tidy it up even more :)
10/28/2007 03:21:39 AM · #8
Hi there

If you are using iWeb, it's very easy to remove the logo. When editing a page, just select "made on a mac" text and logo and hit delete.

I have a .mac webpage (under construction currently as I upgraded to iWeb 08 yesterday), but I found a lot of tips and hints on how to add features not available in iWeb from here.

iWeb tips & hints

Hope this helps a bit.

Originally posted by lovethelight:

The program I used to make the site had that little logo on there as part of the program and I can't really remove it.


Message edited by author 2007-10-28 03:58:33.
10/28/2007 04:22:23 AM · #9
Originally posted by david_c:

Some awesome portraits, great images.

My opinions only!

ii) I don't really care that you made it on a Mac.
iii) Too much border space once I click a thumbnail. Just give me the image, not some brushed-metal Mac border plus excessive whitespace.

HTH.


Ditto above, plus it might be the standard practice but there seems to be make-up caked on the models. As I say though that might be the standard practice and most Aussie girls (Wouldn't really know about actors) go with less is more.

Lighting etc are all great!
10/28/2007 11:32:48 AM · #10
Where did you see makedup caked on the models? in about 90% of my shots there is barely any makeup on them at all
10/28/2007 12:24:38 PM · #11
Claire
My only comment is that you lead with saying you are a theater student and end with pursuing a career in that medium. I think this sends the wrong message - that you don't consider the photography your primary function and may lead potential customers not taking you seriously as a photographer. I think if you just remove those comments, it would come off as more professional, as the rest of you introduction reads as a very good resume.

Other than that, I think the site looks good.

Message edited by author 2007-10-28 12:24:55.
10/28/2007 02:05:44 PM · #12
thanks!! :)
10/30/2007 10:13:59 AM · #13
the font hurts my eyes, it seems a little too thin on the black background it's hard to make it out easily and i dont want to get closer to the screen to be able to make it out and melt my eyeballs.

Other than that, your pics are nice and I like the layout design, and I like the font on the headings too. But maybe some shots of you looking at the camera wouldn't go amiss? Not that it specifically needs it, but i feel it would involve the viewer a bit more.

Message edited by author 2007-10-30 12:15:32.
12/05/2007 03:30:56 PM · #14
I changed the slideshow so that it doesn't have the tacky border and doesn't distort my pictures like it was doing before. Any feedback would be awesome. I am thinking about putting back the "slideshow" button because for some it might not be self explanatory that when you click on a picture you can scroll through them (the arrows appear when you put the mouse over the picture)
12/05/2007 04:45:21 PM · #15
Originally posted by Tez:

the font hurts my eyes, it seems a little too thin on the black background it's hard to make it out easily and i dont want to get closer to the screen to be able to make it out and melt my eyeballs.


i agree
the photos are great, but the font is killin, i can still read it, but i feel like im just guessing half the time, maybe bold?, or thicken it?

12/05/2007 06:52:52 PM · #16
I will work on it, I really don't want to make it bigger so once I get a new picture for the front page I am thinking of making the whole thing gray or something
12/05/2007 08:41:54 PM · #17
- Lose the yahoo email address.... you/sales/whatever@yourdomain.com
- I agree black with white drive me blind also.... go gray if you want that colour theme.
- Lose the popup.

Message edited by author 2007-12-05 20:44:16.
12/05/2007 08:58:02 PM · #18
I agree with ditching your yahoo email address. All you need to do is buy a domain and they don't cost very much per year. Once you have your own domain, you can point your email to it. And also, you can set up your own web site with it (instead of mcadams.info/). I assume that's your dad's web site, and you can still let him host your web site for you. All you would be changing would be the domain name used to get into your section of it. Instead of //mcadams.info/clairemcadamsphotography/Claire%20McAdams%20Photgraphy/Home.html you could make it simply //www.ClaireMcAdamsPhotography.com or something like that.

Anyway, if you have questions, just ask!


Message edited by author 2007-12-05 20:58:18.
12/06/2007 02:01:02 PM · #19
My website is www.clairemcadamsphotography.com. I did buy my own domain, it just is hosted by my dad's site so it switches to something else after you type in www.clairemcadamsphotography.com. What popup? I don't have any popups and if I do then that is a problem and I have no idea where it came from. I will work on the gray, the lettering is a tan color right now, not white.

Thanks for the suggestions!
12/07/2007 03:07:28 PM · #20
Font is still tough on the eyes. I would pick a font a little thicker throughout the entire letter. Headshot image 16 and Nature image 1 are both phenomenal by the way. I would vertically center align the few horizontal images on the headshots page.

My site's got a problem with fonts too. They're too small. Just not had time to correct it all yet.

Phrase: "Your Headshot is one of the most important tools for an actor". I would change to either: "The headshot is one of the most important tools for an actor" or "Your headshot is one of your most important tools".

I have a few more points, but they are SO minor. Generally I think it's a lovely site. Would you share your lighting techniques with me by PM?
12/07/2007 03:15:20 PM · #21
You have beautiful images & a nice layout. Whenever the page changes for me, I get a distracting blue-gray background before the page finishes loading & it turns to black. Was that intentional? I love the black background.
12/08/2007 06:47:33 PM · #22
Originally posted by lovethelight:

My website is www.clairemcadamsphotography.com. I did buy my own domain, it just is hosted by my dad's site so it switches to something else after you type in www.clairemcadamsphotography.com. What popup? I don't have any popups and if I do then that is a problem and I have no idea where it came from. I will work on the gray, the lettering is a tan color right now, not white.

Thanks for the suggestions!


- If you pick a category (say portraits) and hit the first image, it opens a new window with the image [I am FF]. I have a patholgical hate of any pop-up's (along with auto on music & some other stuff) :-).
- To make the domain and hosting location a little more hidden, go into your domain host and see if they offer a frame-forward rather then just forward as you have now. A frame-forward will leave your url and not swap to the real location. The lower status bar will still show the real location but it just looks a little better.
- Most hosts will also allow auto forward of emails, so if you don't want to host your domain or mail at least have *@yourdomain.com forward to the yahoo email so inbound emails can use the real addy... outbound would require some hosting, so you will have to stick with yahoo for that.

Message edited by author 2007-12-08 18:49:38.
12/18/2007 05:27:43 AM · #23
edit
I HAVE COMPLETELY REDONE MY WEBSITE

I took many of the suggestions I got here and made a new layout for my site.
-New background color to make it easier to read
-New flash slideshows to make popup free picture viewing
-simpler home page (a bio page is coming but it may take a month or so because I don’t have access to my boyfriends computer for a while)
-Addition of a photoshop retouching section which can be found on the prices and locations page (it can’t have its own page until I can add it with a program my boyfriend has) I would like opinions on whether or not you think it works well on that page or should have its own separate page

My web design recourses are VERY limited so it takes a lot of work to get ANYTHING changed, so I am really happy with what I have done so far. I am working on getting the site name to be simpler, but that involves getting my dad’s help since he is the one who owns the domain I am using.

Click here to see my NEW SITE LAYOUT at www.clairemcadamsphotography.com

Click here to see my OLD LAYOUT
12/18/2007 06:42:25 AM · #24
nice evolution.

once in your simpleviewer galleries, though, your contact link is broken. if you are using subfolders, you simply need to put a ../ in front of the page reference (ie, should be ). or any number of other ways to solve the problem...

i personally don't subscribe to the idea of putting meat-and-potatoes info into an image file the way you have your location/pricing/contact info. none of the search-bots can read it, which means valuable information about you is not going to be found.

for the most part, you have really strong images in your opening slideshow and in your galleries. you need to go back through them, though, and weed out the weaker ones and the ones that simply are simply redundant. for example, the one of the girl sitting on the rock; she has a rather awkward pose that stands out as being very, very different from your other stronger images. also, if you have 10 very strong headshots that give an example of what you're capable of, you don't need to present 40 headshots after you've gotten your point across.

just my 02 ;-)
12/18/2007 06:57:10 AM · #25
I *LIKE* IT! :-)


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