How long should your slideshow be?

[lblaschke]

I know a lot of people start off their website with a slideshow. So do I: http://www.lisaonlocation.com

So my question is, do you think the slideshow is too long? I have quite a lot of pictures in it and I know most people just click straight through to the Galleries, but then I talked to some people who say they only watch the slideshow and that's it. If they just watch the slideshow and nothing else, I'd like them to see a nice sampling of what I do. But it's just really long!

[DerekSimon]

In my opinion, I would go through the photos and select what you feel are you "best" shots and position them first within the slideshow. that way viewers will see you best work first within the slideshow and then if they are interested can go to the galleries. I think this one is slightly too long for my taste, but you indeed do have a large amount of photos. Keep in mind that some people won't sit there doing nothing for long periods of time just watching a slideshow. Maybe you could consider making it interactive somehow, not sure though.
I like it overall. As I said you do have some great work.

[aram535]

I really believe that the first page should come up fast. The gallery should not be on the first page, as its your first impression of the site. If it takes a hair too long to load you just lost the oppurtunity.

Get them into the site with a simple nice graphic up front. From there you can lead them to your gallery which really IMHO should not be more than 10 pictures. Way too many photographers put way too many pictures in their rotation. This should be your "best of" series.

If you really want them to see everything give them a separate link to view the full gallery which you can divide into categories. There is software that does this for you easy.