My new website

[mcnewby]

I've recently gotten my site up and working. While not directly a business I'm thinking maybe one day it will evolve to that (i.e. selling photos).

The site is http://www.matthewnewby.com/photo_gallery/photo_gallery.htm. This is a link directly to the photo section of the site.

I'd appreciate any feedback on the site, it's content, the way the pictures are displayed, etc.. Thanks!



Thanks jrdbrn & RuthieC for noting the broken link. It's fixed now..

 

[jrdbrn]

Doesnt work

 

[RuthieC]

Link didn't work for me either?

 

[Double H]

The link worked, but it looked like a cheap-jewelery website. No-offense, but it just doesn't have the dynamic of high-end-photography.

 

[mcnewby]

The link worked, but it looked like a cheap-jewelery website. No-offense, but it just doesn't have the dynamic of high-end-photography.

I'd like to know what dynamic is missing? Is it that the landing page is text links? Did you open any of the flash galleries?

I appreciate criticism so long as it is constructive..

 

[sunlioness]

I'm really sorry but I will have to agree with Double H.
I had to force myself to go through it. You need to change the homepage.
That bluish colour, the font and the colour of the letters, it's just cheap.
It reminded me of some spammy sites I've seen.
Also, though I have a fast connection the gallery was loading for at least 3 minutes when I decided to give up. The only actually good thing that you should keep is the black background in the gallery.

 

[sunlioness]

Try something more simple but concrete and serious or light and harmonious. The homepage is toooooo flashy with all that gold.
But whatever you do, I would advice to start it from scratch.

 

[mcnewby]

Ok, I appreciate the feedback. Sunlioness, I'm not sure what kind of connection you have but it shouldn't take 3 minutes. I connected and the first page on the flash galleries loads in less than 10 seconds. It may a geographic issue if you're in the UK and the servers are in the US.

I will work on a different site and just leave the current one for personal and family use. Thanks for being honest and pointing out specifics, that helps more than saying, 'gee, it just don't look all that good to me'.

 

[sunlioness]

I tried the links (almost all of them once more) and none of them loaded, ever! It just gave me the "loading image" message. Check that out, ask a friend from Europe to access it. Maybe the server is not good.
Oh, and the site is too long. Someone with a 1280x800 resolution, like me, would have to scroll A LOT down to see the whole page and then lose from sight the upper part.

 

[Double H]

I'd like to know what dynamic is missing? Is it that the landing page is text links? Did you open any of the flash galleries?

I appreciate criticism so long as it is constructive..

It appears as though your homepage, and your galleries are being created by two different editors, or at the very least, templates. Your homepage fonts are, I am going to guess Zapf Chancery, or something similar. This font screams cheese. Something like Futura, with a good mix of weights, would be more modern, and put together. Your galleries did not load for me either, but judging by the 'look' of your gallery creator, it's a different look and feel from your homepage. You need to have more of a consistent look, this makes it look like your entire website was custom-created, not from templates and fonts like Zapf.

 

[mcnewby]

Sunlioness - I'm not sure why the galleries aren't loading, I will check with the hosting company and ask a friend in Germany to try to access them. As for the length of the site, I can see how that could get annoying when trying to look at photos and not read text..

Double H - I'm using Expression Web for the HTML/CSS editing and Lightroom 2 to create the galleries. So yes I'm using two editors since Expression doesn't do flash. I checked the font from the CSS style sheet and it's - Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif. I'm guessing the browser ultimately decides which to choose. When it comes to consistency it would be nice to have the fonts and feel match on the pages, so I will need to redesign things. Again, not sure why the galleries aren't loading, but that will definately get looked at as they are rather important to have working when trying to display photos!

Thank you both for the feedback, I will, as I mentioned, work a new site that incorporates the elements you suggested. I will leave this one up for friends and family to use and view. Any other criticisms or suggestions are welcome since I'd rather not do a third site..

 

[Double H]

Sure thing mcnewby. here are a few photographic websites I really like. I am in the process of re-designing my site as well, and these offered me some inspiration and ideas. I think the thing you really want to achieve is a slick consistent look throughout, and unless you know how to do the code yourself, it can be a very tough chore. I am a quasi code monkey—just dangerous enough to play around with html and CSS. I am calling in a favor from my cuz who is a code monkey. He is going to get my site to a point where all I do is update content. If you are using a Mac, you should look into Rapidweaver by RealMac Software. It's worth the $50, or so, and it allows for a more consistent look, and is easy—no real hard coding. Good luck with your venutre.

http://realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/

The sites:
http://www.bryansoderlind.com/still-life.html

http://www.grafikas.com/index.html

http://www.fashionphotographer.it/fashion-photography/fashionphotography.html#17