My new wedding photography website, any thoughts?

mr sussex · Apr 9, 2010

I have re-vamped my wedding photography website and would love folk to have a look, test and criticise it.

Please don't be gentle with me, this site has to work for me!

The site is at Reportage wedding photography for Northampton, Northamptonshire and you can see the original version at Northamptonshire Wedding Photographer, Northamptonshire

Thanks for taking the time,

Gary

PerfectlyFlawed · Apr 9, 2010

Like the new site better...the framing is a little obnoxious though.

.. i was checking out your pictures... and you sure do have a thing for shoes huh? lol Nice shots!

IgsEMT · Apr 9, 2010

I like the site, not sure about how you talk about pricing. Either say it or don't say it, don't tease about price lists

mr sussex · Apr 15, 2010

Thanks, I took your advice and now I SAY it!

I'm grateful, cheers....

reznap · Apr 17, 2010

jeff000 · Apr 17, 2010

First thing I noticed is its slow, Not real slow, but for the size of the images its slow. The gallery should be instant not the 2-5 seconds. Now I am not sure if that is just because your server is in the UK and I am in Canada though.

The first picture in the intro slide show with "Your Day Painted by light" writen on it, the text color makes it hard to read.

I personally don't like when different pages of the same site pop into a new tab, no reason the gallery and blog couldn't open in the same tab.

The text at the bottom "Painted by Light offer their stunning wedding photography services to Northamptonshire, etc etc" why did you change the font size and bold at random? It almost looks like its made to look like search term popularity for in site searches on key words where the most searched word is the largest, but you have no search. And the first sentence should be the same size/font anyways. Its really just kind of annoying to read.

Great photography in your gallery though.

erichards · Apr 17, 2010

I'm with Jeff000, slide shows are a bit slow, the different borders are distracting, and the random font sizes are really a turn off for me. Also, you seem to have a lot of flash based pages on your site, for me that is really annoying and kinda like a work power point presentation (not enjoyable). The gallery should be in the same tab as the rest of the website however, the blog opening up in a different tab is fine and IMHO preferred.
The pricing is very straight forward and that is such a relief as most just throw numbers for different things out there and then math is involved for the client (not good).

Overall it is easy to use and the color format (black background white lettering) works well. I really enjoy looking at your work, it's good stuff.

flea77 · Apr 18, 2010

Overall I would say not bad...

The good:
1) Your work is great, the images you display are nice, the testimonials are a really nice touch.
2) I like the color scheme

The bad:
1) Flash. Can not see it on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or 64bit browsers on Windows. That is several million potential customers stuck out. It will not load on the browser I am currently writing this in (Firefox 64bit, Windows 7 64bit)
2) A little too slow
3) Changing borders are distracting
4) Text at the bottom of the pages...WTF?

If I could change one thing? Ditch the flash. What if one of your customers tries to give a referral by loading your web page on his iPhone to show to a buddy...."oops, well I thought his site worked, maybe it is down". Not that I have anything against flash, I actually love it, but this is a business so you need to be available to EVERY SINGLE potential customer.

Allan

mr sussex · Apr 22, 2010

A huge thanks to everybody for their advice, I have changed the site quite a bit following your advice, so if you have time to check it out? Thanks again!

I'm using flash because it's the simplest and cheapest way for me to achieve what I want, remember, I am a total novice.

I would love the gallery to appear in the same window, but I am struggling with how to do it, it will take me a little longer.

My server logs show that for every 1500 hits, only one of them is a mobile device, so I'm not worrying about that yet. As for 64bit OS's, I hope Adobe get their act together soon!

Are the borders a mistake? Comments really gratefully received!

The text that everyone hated, but google seemed to like, has gone! For now.......

Thanks all! :thumbup:

flea77 · Apr 22, 2010

The borders are fine, I would just like to see them a little more consistent. The text at the bottom of the page has a few issues, like too many blank lines between sentences for no apparent reason, and of course the next to last line that just has county names while friendly to search engines, is puzzling to typical visitors.

I definitely do not like things popping up in different windows however you said you are working on that already

I find the About Us page a little weird. It sounds like your web developer is a different person than your primary photographer, and that they are quite in love

You might want to tone it down a little, you can say basically the same things, just without all the "talented", "thorough", "highly regarded", "has an 'eye'", "enviable reputation", etc. You might sprain yourself if you continue to pat yourself on the back that much, heh.

Allan

PS. I am beginning to like your site very much though, keep at it!