Portfolio Pages w/ Black background?

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF for Nikon

12/23/2008 01:02:49 PM · #1

After viewing many photography websites and viewing photographs, I have come to realize that the black background displays the images so much nicer than white. Would it be worth having the portfolio pages show a black background rather than a white and maybe the same for voting and galleries? (Or at least the choice to view w/black?)

I may be alone in this thought line, but it would make the images even more stunning than they currently are. Does this take up room on the server to change the color? (Forum pages could stay white, but portfolios, voting pages and galleries to black background) How hard is it to do the code?

Just thoughts.....ok, let the beating up begin........

What do you think?

Message edited by author 2008-12-23 13:08:27.

amathiasphoto

Nikon D300

12/23/2008 01:19:00 PM · #2

...probably easy codeing, problem is reverse text is a pain in the rear to read, and since this site is all about conversation, and lots of text is present on this site, I would vote against it.

MattO

Nikon D4

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/23/2008 01:22:12 PM · #3

Originally posted by amathiasphoto:

...probably easy codeing, problem is reverse text is a pain in the rear to read, and since this site is all about conversation, and lots of text is present on this site, I would vote against it.

If the pages were in the portfolio photograps only. I dont see where that would be a problem. I actually like it, would require less use of borders to make photos stand out.

Matt

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

12/23/2008 01:28:50 PM · #4

I support this suggestion. It's a good idea.

Also, please look at this thread and cast a vote (comment) in favor if you are so inclined --> I wish we could...

12/23/2008 02:24:46 PM · #5

i'm not sure there is any page on this site with a white background ( dpcprints - yeah ). eveything is grey or blue - except the text entry fields, and maybe the text links in the blue bar at the top of the page.

12/23/2008 02:41:25 PM · #6

Originally posted by soup:

Pale grey is a far cry from Black or dark charcoal...and yields nothing close in viewing experience of photographs. The original point I was trying to make is the pale backgrounds do nothing to enhance the photographs. On many of the (other ;} ) upscale photography sites, the photos are always presented with a very dark grey or black background and makes the photography look even more elegant.

As this IS a photography website, why not view our work in the best possible situation.

Message edited by author 2008-12-23 14:42:35.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/23/2008 02:43:36 PM · #7

i dunno - lets see an example of one of those elegant sites... ;)

neutral is just that - neutral.

MattO

Nikon D4

12/23/2008 02:46:35 PM · #8

Originally posted by soup:

i dunno - lets see an example of one of those elegant sites... ;)

neutral is just that - neutral.

1X.com

Matt

12/23/2008 02:53:34 PM · #9

i'm on the fence. black has its merits - but i don't necessarily think it makes for better viewing.

Originally posted by MattO:

1X.com

Matt

12/23/2008 02:55:32 PM · #10

Mentioned in another thread
or Mark Adamus mentioned in yet another thread
or even just smug mug, lol...but it just makes the pictures look so much better. These are a couple just off of the top of my head, but I encounter far more with black backgrounds for the photos than those with pale backgrounds. Members mentioned these threads, thus they are looking at them. It is only a suggestion, but I think it would be nice.

(Matt beat me to the first one...heeheehee).

12/23/2008 05:22:13 PM · #11

alright - how about this.

DPC stays the same. the portfolios stay the same. everything stays the same. but when you go to vote... a new window ( maybe an option for that ) opens, and in your prefs - you can chose what shade of grey you'd like for the BG. the shades would be taken directly from the shade bar that's on every page during voting... ?

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

12/23/2008 05:29:53 PM · #12

Like the one below the comments box? That would work for voting, but I still would like MY profile page to have a black background! :P Maybe just make it an option to choose from: what it is now, charcoal grey or black.

(I'm such a pot stirrer, lol!) But I truly do think this would be a nice addition to the site. Again, just MHO...

Edited to add:

Maybe make it a preference on our preferences page? View non forum pages with Grey, Charcoal, or Black background and you can choose one. (Langdon will probably shoot me for even starting this, lol!)

Message edited by author 2008-12-23 17:31:46.

TCGuru

Canon EOS-40D

12/23/2008 05:32:20 PM · #13

I think it sounds like a very purdy idea :)

12/23/2008 06:10:18 PM · #14

well then a global preference setting that allows you to view all of DPC with the BG you chose. i've been on forums like that before. the problem i see is that if you chose grey, and i chose white, and glad2badad chooses yellow - it will make for a very nasty looking website overall....

if it's tied to your prefs - that wouldn't affect my viewing.,,,

coding - i think - is as simple as a CSS stylesheet with the options your looking for inside. when you set your prefs - that part of the CSS would be activated, and the other ( say current settings ) wouldn't.

Originally posted by bergiekat:

Message edited by author 2008-12-23 18:11:43.

12/23/2008 06:13:59 PM · #15

if you don't know about stylesheets - here it is.

//www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

12/23/2008 06:14:04 PM · #16

NO YELLOW lol...only choices "as is", charcoal grey or black or make it a preference for VIEWING.
True...as a preference, only I would be affected. :)
These brainstorming sessions truly do work. We should work on the topic of saving the world! :)

It's been a million years since I understood Style sheets. Thanks for making me feel stupid again, lol! :P

Message edited by author 2008-12-23 18:16:02.

12/23/2008 06:16:40 PM · #17

well on that note- stop wasting water, and kill GW2 and all his henchmen... ;)

err - soon to be blocked post i figure,,,

Message edited by author 2008-12-23 18:17:04.

12/23/2008 06:26:18 PM · #18

as an example of stylesheets in action. and i'll add that i hacked the code.

i wanted a lightbox that would load a gallery from a single thumbnail. with the backend i am running - that wasn't an option. so after a couple days of pondering i figured this out.

this little bit of code allows me to wrap the lightbox for an entire gallery inside this 'hide' tag. so the lightbox loads all the images in the gallery. for those who don't understand. the way it actually works is you're supposed to have to hard code the URL's to every single image in the gallery in the page you'd like the light box to run. that code lets me let the server load the URLS in the BG - keep them hidden, and let me access them. CSS rOcKs !

//www.route108.com/wp/misc

.galleryHiddenS {
visiblilty: hidden;
height: 0px;
width: 0px;
}

Message edited by author 2008-12-23 18:26:49.

12/23/2008 06:29:07 PM · #19

so i don't see any reason something similar couldn't be done for YOUR color prefs. fairly simply - i think.

12/23/2008 06:30:45 PM · #20

You are brilliant! :)

12/23/2008 06:31:37 PM · #21

Originally posted by soup:

so i don't see any reason something similar couldn't be done for YOUR color prefs. fairly simply - i think.

Aw, come on...you know you secretly want to try viewing with another color of background, admit it! :P

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

12/23/2008 07:14:05 PM · #22

Originally posted by soup:

No, we certainly don't want all kinds of colors, but a few choices like black, dark grey, and white, that were standard choices (the only choices) that could be made when submitting a challenge entry (or portfolio image for that matter) is all that we need.

I wish we could...

To code it so any one person can see their individual preferences doesn't help in all cases - wouldn't it be preferred that if you wanted your challenge entry/portfolio image to be displayed on a black bg that the bg choice would be seen by all (again, keeping in mind to go with only a few core colors).

12/23/2008 07:15:29 PM · #23

nope. because then every other entry would be shown on a different color BG - and i don't think that is ideal.

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

12/23/2008 07:18:06 PM · #24

Originally posted by soup:

nope. because then every other entry would be shown on a different color BG - and i don't think that is ideal.

Some (if not many) images can be displayed much better with something other than neutral grey. I think that's the point. If we could put a 80 pixel wide border on in addition to the 640/720 image, that might work also...some capacity to "mat" the image effectively with a color choice that complements the photo.