C&C on my new website please! (I want to launch on monday)

[Disaster_Area]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I've recently had a lot of work come my way and along with that a lot of requests for my card/site. Up till now I've been using a gallery layout type site that does a good job of showcasing my work but doesn't really say a lot about me. I've noticed a lot of photographers going with a blog based website instead of the more traditional styles and I really like it. A kind of continuously updating resume that can show people as much or as little as they want to see about you.

I shoot mostly bands and events (parties, plays, gallery opennings) but I get the odd request for landscapes, fine art prints and all kinds of other random stuff so I wanted the site to show a bit of everything. I'm aiming to "officially" launch the site on Monday so I'd love to hear what you guys think.

http://jbhildebrand.com/

Thanks for looking! [/FONT]

 

[thinkfloyd]

Looks great! I'd love to have my own website, but unfortunately, don't have the funds to make one (I know zip about making my own), so I stick to blog type. Wishing you a successful launch! 🙂

 

[Al Kaplan]

I like it. If you're actually making your money from shooting bands and events I'd suggest featuring that up front and putting your other categories afterwards.

 

[Disaster_Area]

Looks great! I'd love to have my own website, but unfortunately, don't have the funds to make one (I know zip about making my own), so I stick to blog type. Wishing you a successful launch! 🙂

It really doesn't take much funds or know-how... I host with Lunarpages which including the domain registration cost me less than $12 a month. I use wordpress to create the site and it's based on a template. Though admittedly pretty much the only thing left from the template is the sliding categories and even they're messed with, though you don't HAVE to mess with the template at all if you don't want to. If you'd like more info I'd be happy to help.

Thanks for the kind words about the site btw all

 

[bmattock]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I've recently had a lot of work come my way and along with that a lot of requests for my card/site. Up till now I've been using a gallery layout type site that does a good job of showcasing my work but doesn't really say a lot about me. I've noticed a lot of photographers going with a blog based website instead of the more traditional styles and I really like it. A kind of continuously updating resume that can show people as much or as little as they want to see about you.

I shoot mostly bands and events (parties, plays, gallery opennings) but I get the odd request for landscapes, fine art prints and all kinds of other random stuff so I wanted the site to show a bit of everything. I'm aiming to "officially" launch the site on Monday so I'd love to hear what you guys think.

http://jbhildebrand.com/

Thanks for looking! [/FONT]

White text on a white background is impossible for some of us to read, so we don't try. Not everyone uses the default color scheme here - I'm color blind and I can't use the default scheme, it's illegible.

In other words, being clever can backfire. Suggest using the standard font/color so everyone can read it.

 

[Disaster_Area]

White text on a white background is impossible for some of us to read, so we don't try. Not everyone uses the default color scheme here - I'm color blind and I can't use the default scheme, it's illegible.

In other words, being clever can backfire. Suggest using the standard font/color so everyone can read it.

Are you saying my site is showing up as white on white? It shouldn't be.. all the text is light grey on black... I'm a bit worried if you're seeing it white on white.. do you mind if I ask what browser you're using?

 

[bmattock]

Are you saying my site is showing up as white on white? It shouldn't be.. all the text is light grey on black... I'm a bit worried if you're seeing it white on white.. do you mind if I ask what browser you're using?

Not your text there - your text here. I could not read anything you said about your website unless I highlighted it or did a cut-n-paste into a text editor, which is frankly too much work. So I never got to the website, I couldn't read your statement talking about it.

 

[Disaster_Area]

ok.. that's even weirder.. I've never changed my theme here at all..

 

[WDPictures]

I like the black background, makes your images pop... I also like the mini-gallery thumbnails and the movement. Maybe wish it were higher on the page since you are about photography and it seems to be hidden more at the bottom requiring me to scroll down. Good job keeping all of your information nice and neat. Nothing like trying to navigate someone's site that is too cluttered and wordy. Launch!

 

[historicist]

I like it, but the tone seems a bit too personal if it is to be somewhere clients look. Do they really want to know what forums you visit, or have links to sites with technical information?

 

[Disaster_Area]

yeah.. I wanted the flikr mini gallery to be higher up.. .and I'm working on a collapsing Category sidebar thingy which should raise it up some.

 

[bmattock]

ok.. that's even weirder.. I've never changed my theme here at all..

Not your theme choice - mine. I can't use the default theme, the one you and nearly everyone else uses, so I choose the one I can see. You, unlike most everyone else, choose to post using colored text and fonts instead of just straight text. Your choice of text is off-white or nearly white, and I have a white background on my theme choice - so I can't read it at all, I can just tell that a block of text is there because of the space around it.

That's what I meant about being too cute. Just type the words, please. Leave the colors and fonts alone - some of us cannot see them because we are not using the same theme you are.

 

[Disaster_Area]

I like it, but the tone seems a bit too personal if it is to be somewhere clients look. Do they really want to know what forums you visit, or have links to sites with technical information?

Yeah.. I'm still on the fence about how personal to make it. There seems to be a lot of photographers that are doing a semi personal, semi professional site and I'm working out how far to go with it... it's kinda half blog half resume thing. Most of my clients are in the arts and music sectors... and I'm marketing towards them. I don't want to be jo-wedding photographer and am not looking for clients who wouldn't consider me just because I don't have a stereotypical portraits/wedding site. It's not my full time job so I can afford to hold out for fun and creative clients.

 

[Disaster_Area]

but you're right.... thinking I should remove the forums

 

[hans voralberg]

Looks good, but the semi-transparent header & footer for each post on the front page make it looks a bit cluttered, otherwise great site.

 

[bgb]

Nice one dude 🙂
I like the black background and white font ... The photos are excellent.
Don't care for the font on the site name or the watch guts in the background as it doesn't go with the photos
When i put the pointer over the photos on the main page i like to know exactly where clicking is going to take me "photo sharing" isn't enough
The header took forever to load ...yeah i have dial up ... still took forever
I think your ready to launch ... and i will be adding the site to my bookmarks 😎

 

[Pablito]

? Your link takes me to your blog, not your website. And it seems to be about teaching photography? Not clear to me what the point is. Do you teach photo and is this for your students? If you want to highlight your images you need more images and a LOT less text?? Sorry, but I find it all quite confusing and thus I can't quite get engaged with it. I'd say simplify...

 

[nksyoon]

I think it would be more professional to have galleries on your own blog/site accessing flickr images and presenting them in your own page format, rather than sending people to your flickr pages.

I also feel it would be better to see a large number of thumbnails or featured images when I click on a category, not to see again a blog post that I may have just read on the main page.