Please critique my website!

[click]

Hi, Can you take a gander at my website and tell me what you think?



I'm 110 percent committed to making a photography business work. In college I wanted to do it and my mentor told me not to so I joined the regular working world and fifteen years later I just know this is the only path for me. So please help me refine my site and get my marketing up to speed.

My next project for my agenda is a color page for brides, trashing the dress in black and white, and some interesting engagement shots. I've got a very creative mind and I'm good at conceptualizing original ideas that become pictures. I'll let you know when the new gallery is up.

Thank you for your welcome advice,

-J

 

[Jamie123]

Hi, Can you take a gander at my website and tell me what you think?

justinlorimer.com

I'm 110 percent committed to making a photography business work. In college I wanted to do it and my mentor told me not to so I joined the regular working world and fifteen years later I just know this is the only path for me. So please help me refine my site and get my marketing up to speed.

My next project for my agenda is a color page for brides, trashing the dress in black and white, and some interesting engagement shots. I've got a very creative mind and I'm good at conceptualizing original ideas that become pictures. I'll let you know when the new gallery is up.

Thank you for your welcome advice,

-J

Lose the ''doesn't everyone deserve to know..." line. It's a bit cheesy (especially the font) and makes the whole site look very cluttered. Also, your name, ''fotolux'' and phone number once at the top is enough. No need to list them two or three times on the image. Less is more.

The watermarks, if you must have them, could be a bit smaller and will still do the trick. And there's no need to put watermarks on the thumbnails (but I suspect they're auto-generated so I understand).

Other than that I think it's a pretty good site. Navigation is nice and easy and the layout is nice. Just don't overdo it with the placement of your name.

 

[ilia]

Justin,

nice work, however I found large red copyrights on you pictures quite disturbing

 

[Jodorowsky]

Hi J,

I think the tagline (with 'That's all folks!' font) doesn't work. It sounds (and looks) like an Olan Mills style high street photo studio. It also makes your business sound like a portrait biz, but a click on the portfolio reveals that it's not. To see landscapes after the jump is confusing.

Why you wanna make money, anyway?

J

 

[Matus]

Without really checking the content - the webpage is way to wide, needs nearly full screen of my 13" MacBook. Now let me check the what is in there.

 

[tlitody]

lose the copyright marks.

 

[click]

True, that line is cheesy. At the time I was thinking if I can make this homeless guy look good then imagine what I can do for you but really you're right. The watermarks are auto generated on the thumbnails but I can scale them down. I never really thought about that.

I sincerely thank you for the valuable input,

Shine on,

Justin

 

[Jamie123]

And lose the FAQ. It's mostly ridiculous.

Sorry if I sound harsh but you're asking for criticism. Tough love.

Edit: I think I should elaborate a little on the above comment.
- "Why black and white". Do you feel the need to justify yourself? I don't think clients really care. Either they like the work or they don't.
- ''I can do color but I don't guarantee the prints etc, etc." From what I can see you don't do color. If you only have b&w work in your portfolio then that's what you do. People are going to hire you because they like what's in your portfolio, not because you own a camera. If you want to market yourself as a b&w and color shooter you need to have both in your portfolio.
- "How do you make your pictures look so amazing" Do I really need to comment on that? You might think it sounds funny but it just sounds like you have a giant ego. You might aswell put something in there about you being a great lover.
- ''Do you use obnoxious flash? No, I have the skill to take pictures in low light without a flash so you look natural." If you want to market yourself as an available light shooter, do so in a positive way.
- ''Why do you still use film, etc. etc.'' Clients usually don't care about whether or not your batteries run out or your camera freezes in the cold. It's your job to make it work so don't bother them with excuses. Again, try to market your use of film in a positive way. Don't say digital is crap. Most of them have been taught differently from better marketing people than you are so they're just going to think your full of it.

Also, as has been said, don't guarantee anything for 200 or 1000 or even 75 years. It's meaningless.

 

[click]

I need criticism so I'm not offended at all. I mostly made this website in the middle of the night after working long hours and didn't really have anyone to keep me grounded in reality so I genuinely appreciate the criticism. And yes some of it is ridiculi.

The site is done in CSS so it should scale to your browser automatically. Hmm...?

The "shine on" is stolen from the Beatles and have used it in every letter I've written for years, but I understand if it's not appropriate here.

I have several brides lined up for shoots this weekend so I'll have a whole gallery just for color bridal shots. I do see how it is confusing now though.

-J

 

[click]

Also, what do you guys think of the pictures?

 

[emraphoto]

alright, some critique. (never been comfortable with this)

what do you want to do? i can't tell from the site.

you are obviously a pretty good photographer but a good bulk of the photos i was saying to myself "cool" and then a few pop up that make me go "huh"? #3 for instance...

be wary the "jack of all trades" photographer identity. there are a bazillion of them out there and the schools are pumping them out like little bunnies. pick a niche and excell!

lose the watermarks.

lose the faqs.

contact info, what you do and a portfolio is all you need. the rest is just the stuff folks ignore. unless you are shooting weddings or something, maybe a "package" section would help.

use a blog for all the personal stuff if you are reaching out to clients. they can still see what you are up to if they choose but keep the site for the gravy.

 

[martin s]

Stick to one font(-family).

martin

 

[gdmcclintock]

I have never understood the need for watermarks. Low resolution images on a website are not worth stealing. Copyright notices can be embedded in digital files without being visible. Large, conspicuous watermarks are offensive in that they steal whatever value the image may offer the viewer and assume an importance apparently not in evidence - that of the photographer!

 

[TheOptimist]

Hey - i just visited you website - there are certainly a lot of good stuff on there - but also a few (in my opinion) not so good things:

- i don't really like the font type on the bottom of your homepage
- i think you should take out the 3rd pic in your portfolio (top row)
and the 2nd pic in your portfolio ( last row)
- also i think you should try to improve the order of the pics in your portfolio - it should flow nicely and kind of take the viewer on a journey

i think there's a great fundamental and you definitely got a unique style 😉

cheers tom

 

[koniczech]

I don't know if anyone agrees with me, but the really thin font with red "Fotolux" doesn't make sense to me. It draws my eye because it's red and keeps my attention because it's something you don't notice at first.

Stencil font? As martin said, stick to one family.

A lot of the photos are really impressive and they seem like something that people would reference when asking you to photograph them. However, it's very architecture heavy, which I don't quite understand. Unless you are looking for a mayor to ask you to shoot his city, I would steer clear of all those architecture and 'HDR-like' building photos.

Otherwise, I like the color scheme of the whole site.

koniczech