New Starter, Any Feedback/Ideas Appreciated

[bbphotography]

Hi,

I have recently started doing a few weddings and portraits to earn a little extra cash.

If you have a few minute please look over my website and provide me with any feedback or ideas for the future.

BB Photography

Thanks in advance.

Byron

 

[tirediron]

The first thing that pops into my my mind is: Where in the world (literally) are you? If I come across your website in a search for my wedding photographer, the first think I want to know is whether or not you're in my area.

I don't understand your pricing structure. A one hour wedding package? What are you going to acheive in one hour?

I'm not a big fan of promising or guarenteeing a set # of images. It's fine to say "Typically approximately XX images" or such, but to promise a specific result?

 

[Studio7Four]

Hi Byron. Welcome to the forum. I'm not sure if you're looking for feedback on the individual images or on your website, so I'm going to keep my comments to the website.

The first thing that stands out to me, looking at your wedding and portrait sections, is how few shoots are represented. Of the 30 wedding images, 23 are from one wedding while only 7 are from a second; of the 16 portrait images, 13 are from one shoot and three are from another. I can understand if you don't have many weddings under your belt to post but I would recommend getting more variety in your portraits section. As it is now a potential customer can see that you've worked with people a grand total of 4 times. I would recruit people to pose for portraits, either through trade or as paid models, to show that you have more experience working with people. If weddings are something you'd like to do more than occasionally you could even hire models to pose as bride and groom - it would add variety to your portfolio and give you (pressure-free) experience working with such things as shooting a white wedding dress to capture all its detail under a variety of lighting conditions.

On a related note I would go through and selectively cut down the number of images you're displaying. For one thing it's better to show an approximately equal number of photos from each shoot (until you have enough shoots to be very selective and only show one or two). Looking at this great disparity I worry that you had one portrait shoot which went really well and one in which you were lucky to get away with three keepers. (That may not be true, but as a potential paying customer I'd like more confidence that I'm getting my money's worth.) Also, there are several cases in which you have several very similar shots. Pick one and remove the rest. For example, you lead your landscapes section with three shots of the same starfish (and follow that up with a triptych of those same three shots). You'd be better served by picking your favorite (or the one which works best with the other shots in that section) and removing the other two and the triptych.

Also in terms of presentation to a potential customer you should think about your branding and presenting a consistent feel to your images. I see three distinct styles in your portrait section. The first shoot is presented both with a softer, pastel color palette as well as an antiqued look, while the second shoot has very bold, saturated colors. Each of these treatments works, but as a potential customer I'd wonder how my photos will turn out. Perhaps you plan to intentionally present this variety to show your range and will discuss the final effect with clients up front, and that's fine. That's why I'm suggesting thinking about using a more consistent feel rather than just saying "pick one".

Lastly, just in terms of first impressions, I do like the image you have selected for your front portfolio page. I would strongly suggest reordering the wedding section images, however. Yes, to some extent a wedding photo package is supposed to tell a story, but that does not mean your presentation here should be strictly chronological. You want to lead with your best, most-clearly-a-wedding-keeper photo. The groom headshot could be any guy in a suit. In my opinion the strongest in the bunch is the couple kissing on the beach (currently second shot in the sixth row).

 

[Patrice]

Here are my impressions. As tirediron pointed out, it is nearly impossible to figure out where you are located. You could include this on your home page and maybe also a statement about your specialty or preferred type of work. Maybe it's a function of my connection or browser but at my end it took a long time for the images to load. On your contact page (your last page) what is with the advertisement for TCI? Is this your business as well or are you getting money for referrals? It just seems a bit cheesy to me.

 

[Robin Usagani]

your server sucks. Too slow. I was able to see one photo and gave up.

 

[o hey tyler]

I don't think you have a strong enough understanding of how weddings, and photography in general to charge $350 for an hours worth of wedding coverage (what are you going to cover in one hour?) You can't expect to buy a T1i or a T2i and start taking wedding photos a week after you purchase it. It's unrealistic, and unfair to photographers who learned how to use their camera, and took the time to do unpaid weddings before charging for them. I mean, I'm glad you're into photography and all, but I'd rethink what you're doing, as it could end up costing you in legal fees.

 

[tirediron]

... It's unrealistic, and unfair to photographers...

Gonna disagree with you Tyler; this isn't unfair to photographers at all. It's unfair to the customer. They expect that the person with the camera knows what he or she is doing. Wedding photography, IMO, is about the toughest gig out there (Chime in any time Mike!). Not only do you need to be a skilled and well equipped photographer, you need to know and understand all the aspects of the wedding ceremony, and be able to advise the clients on it so that you can tell them that what they want is or is not acheivable.

 

[Derrel]

your server sucks. Too slow. I was able to see one photo and gave up.

The server is very slow. I looked at a few images. I stopped looking when I saw the direct flash with big herking shadow on the bride having her mascara applied. Right there...I stopped looking.

I had actually been tempted to stop before I even started, seeing the category of "Textures and Shapes" as a portfolio category. That's like "Napkins and Cutlery" on a restaurant menu...and yet, I perservered.

What continent are you on? Are you located in South Africa? Would you be free to shoot a wedding in Cape Town this August?

Free piece of advice: turn the camera to vertical more often.