New Website Up (Whales)

[Zipline]

Hi everyone, I just finished a project that I've been working on for the past couple of months. It's a new website with photos and videos from my whale watches out on Stellwagon Bank (MA). If you would be so kind as to take a look and let me know how it looks to you, I'd appreciate it. :)

http://www.whalesonfilm.com

[woodfrogs]

Really cool website, I love to go whalewatching when we're somewhere close enough to do it.

[userfriendly]

I visited your new website. It's very interesting indeed with many great whale captures. Congratulations.

[Yeoer]

The open mouth shots are great... you can even see all the little fry in there...

I don't think i've ever seen so many whales... clean easy to navigate.

A couple of minor things i spotted.

1. The background repeat isn't 100% so you can see the joins (minor nit pick)
2. A nice and very easy touch is have your images reveal in a light box rather than a new window. Requires very minor code to do but looks smart. Just do a quick google search for Java lightbox and you'll find all you need to know.
I think it would really set you images off very well.


Looks good.

[lawrencekent]

The background is nice but I'd look to make it a little darker and tighter.

[waussie]

Great pictures!
Going backwards and forwards to thumbnails is a pain if you want to look at all the pictures.
I found 'Magic Thumb' is a nice effect and reasonably simple to setup, example here:
http://waorchids.com/leftnav/qos/qos.php
After clicking the first thumbnail you can navigate with the -> arrow keys, I always appreciate a break from mouseing.

[Zipline]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Definintely some good ideas to look into. I've always wanted to learn how to make the 'professional' photo albums online, but have been to afraid to try. I assumed that it would be much to complicated. I guess I'll have to look a little more into it though. :)

[waussie]

Porta is a small program that turns a directory with JPEG/TIFF images into a neatly formatted web photo album

Porta is a small utility that turns a directory with JPEG/TIFF images into a neatly formatted web photo album.

Besides being free its primary virtues are:
· It's fast
· it's simple to use
· it's lightweight
· Porta produces clean and uncluttered web pages that will load fast and look good in all modern browsers.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Authoring-tools/Digital-Album/Porta.shtml

[skygod44]

Awesome website....

I'd love to put one of those pictures on the office PCs, but I live in Japan, and don't think they'd "get" the irony.

;)

(trying to get 'em to change....via infiltration!!!!)
:confused:

[Zipline]

Awesome website....

I'd love to put one of those pictures on the office PCs, but I live in Japan, and don't think they'd "get" the irony.

;)

(trying to get 'em to change....via infiltration!!!!)
:confused:
Yeah, I hear you. Were you born in Japan or have you moved there? Have you ever seen whales in person? I don't even know if they offer true whale watching tours over there.

[skygod44]

Yeah, I hear you. Were you born in Japan or have you moved there? Have you ever seen whales in person? I don't even know if they offer true whale watching tours over there.

Born in London, lived in a lot of the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland and now Japan. But I'm staying here as Missus Skygod is Japanese (doesn't eat whale, btw!).

I've yet to see a whale, other than, VERY SADLY AND ANNOYINGLY in small celophane packets in my local supermarket.
:o:o:o

[Zipline]

Born in London, lived in a lot of the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland and now Japan. But I'm staying here as Missus Skygod is Japanese (doesn't eat whale, btw!).

I've yet to see a whale, other than, VERY SADLY AND ANNOYINGLY in small celophane packets in my local supermarket.
:o:o:o
Wow, you've been all over the place! :)

If you ever do get a chance to see them in the wild, go for it! It truly is an amazing experience. Especially when they're curious about YOU and linger around the boat to try to figure you out. They're amazing animals... :)

[skygod44]

Wow, you've been all over the place! :)

If you ever do get a chance to see them in the wild, go for it! It truly is an amazing experience. Especially when they're curious about YOU and linger around the boat to try to figure you out. They're amazing animals... :)

Trust me....it's on my list of "MUST DO AS SOON AS MONEY AND TIME ALLOWS!"
And I'm sure my 100-400 will get some shots to blow up and stick up all around the city, 3'x4' to shame the locals into NOT EATING ANY MORE WHALE!!!!!
:lol:

[EOSNewbie]

Very nice site and content. The only other nit-pick I can see is that if I were doing it, I would re-order the dates of the shoots so that the newer posts ended up at the top of the content.

[everyonesphotography]

Hi Zipline,i'm going on my first whalewatch @ the end of the month in Kaikoura [NZ} can you offer advise please on cam settings i should be looking at,i have a canon 400D which i will have a 17-55mm f 2.8 attached,and a 40d 70-700 f 2.8 on that body.I normally shoot in AV,iso 100-400,centre point focus,cheers.

[Zipline]

Hi Zipline,i'm going on my first whalewatch @ the end of the month in Kaikoura [NZ} can you offer advise please on cam settings i should be looking at,i have a canon 400D which i will have a 17-55mm f 2.8 attached,and a 40d 70-700 f 2.8 on that body.I normally shoot in AV,iso 100-400,centre point focus,cheers.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond! I kept meaning to post, but then would forget again. :oops:

I'm far from being an expert when it comes to photography and I'm still experimenting myself, but I've been shooting in AV mode with at 7.1 and ISO at 400. On bright sunny days I normally go -1 on exposure and on cloudy overcast days I normally go +1. I still get some shots that I'm not thrilled with, but at the same time I get some shots that I flip out over, so it's been hit or miss. It also depends on the sea conditions and how the captain turns the boat (into the glare, with the sun behind us, etc.). The lens I've been using for most of this season is the 55-250IS (IS off) and I've been very pleased with the shots I've taken home. Prior to this lens I used the 70-300mm.

One thing to watch out for is the spray. As I'm sure you're aware salt water is not a camera's friend. I usually keep my tucked into my sweater until we see the whales close enough to photograph. That way it doesn't get AS much moisture and spray. I still wipe it down when I get home just to be safe.

Best of luck! I'll look out for some shots on how you did. :)

[The Framed Life]

the background feels very 1990's-early 2000's to me, it's just my opinion of coarse but it reminds me way too much of the tiled "sand" backgrounds of windows 98/ME

[mikekelley]

What I like is that you've found a niche!
Great work, keep it up.