New Site Critique

[usagicam]

I'm new to the forum , and I am finally trying to take my hobby to the next level.
I created a site to show off some of my work, but i would really love some feedback.
Honestly if you are brutal , I am ok with it. I want to try my best to become a great photographer. I just recently purchased a canon power shot and I am still testing my camera to see what it can actually do. So please comment away and tell me what you think.
Helpful critique's are what i really need. and some good advice.
Thank you
http://www.wix.com/dreamingusagi/gallery

[beegeeboy]

Hi and welcome.

I couldn't see your site because it's flash-based and the Apple product imnusing at the moment won't let me see flash!

This could be alienating many of potential clients.

David

[Drixar]

name the galleries potential clients won't like trawling through every gallery to find the examples they want, I.E. Landscape, Macro, Portrait, Personal, Video.

If you are going with wix (which i am a fan of there sit builder, its very good) i would take a template and re-create it theres nothing less-pleasing than opening up a website and realising its just a template.


with wix you can do more or less anything you have in mind and alot of it is sitting there waiting for you to discover it...

as for apple products they need to use flash just becase the company is pig-headed doesnt mean that you shouldnt use flash as a website template program. its a matter of time before they make it available thats the one thing i hate about apple is is the no.1 reason i went with android. he is right though it can alienate clients.

[NewHorizonPhoto]

I found gallery #2 to be the most appealing/professional of what I saw. Although most of the images have a "dark" feel to them. I do see talent in the way of band photography as well as product photography for other businesses. I don't know what field of photography interests you most but that theme stands out to me the most.

[HappySnapper90]

Your site is.... different. Your home page has an email address where it says "phone:"; The image quality of your photos varies some looking compressed and others just very soft or out of focus.

You should also do something about your 3 galleries. Naming them 1, 2, and 3 and not really grouping similar photos together makes for a very confusing, overwhelming appearance for the visitor.

I suggest changing "Though..." in your "my story" to "Although..."

[usagicam]

gallery 1 is for my photography
gallery 2 is my graphic art
gallery 3 is still under construction

[usagicam]

i made some changes i hope its easier

[tman2782]

Try and stick to a single uniform typeface across the web and only alter the typeface to enhance a certain piece of text to make it stand out. You've also got many different fonts across the website.

For the simplicity in a site that you've got, there is absolutely no need to use flash as all what you have can be achieved with HTML and an easy added jQuery slider. Assuming you don't know HTML yourself, if WiX doesn't allow for such customization, it is not the site for you.

[usagicam]

i do know html and i did have my very own site and server and url but job took a hit and could renew the site so it closed im trying to find a temp home for now for my artwork

[Orlando Photographer]

I like the before image in the beforeafter.jpg, however it appears the eyes are not sharp or possibly there is some artifacting there. This is potentially a great image, I think the lighting needs to be more dramatic. This image has color and gesture that make it interesting.

Many of the other photographs look like snapshots, to me. I've taken loads of them myself and so has every other professional and amateur photographer. You almost have to take these types of shots to advance to the next level. I still take them, to be honest.

One thing that has helped me improve is to ask myself if a given image really moves me if I had to be honest about it. If it doesn't, chances are it won't move others, either. A great image will make you gasp and others will say, "Wow!!!!!!" in a really big way, instead of "Hmmmm," or "That's cool."

Lighting, in my view and many others, is the difference between making an incredible image and an average one. I think National Geographic, if I'm not mistaken, turns down most landscape images that were not made during sunrise or sunset. I've heard many photographers say that they would rather photograph a boring subject under great lighting than a great subject under dull, flat or extremely harsh lighting. I believe there are great opportunities that would otherwise be missed if you always waited for golden hours and perfect lighting.

Here's another image.. "l.jpg" doesn't really make sense to me what I should be feeling. Was this person really beaten or is it makeup? Should I worry and feel empathetic or is it Halloween? As a result the image doesn't evoke any feeling. The subject and the door ornament compete as they overlap and rather than balance or help tie the image together, they just diminish impact.

The girl in the woods image really has a lot going on. Mostly there's no pattern or theme that creates a cohesive image so that it just looks cluttered and undefined. The girl is too far away to connect with or have any impact or tell anything to the viewer about why she is there.

The sarah image, imo, is your second best image specifically because she is offering a gesture that we can begin to speculate about or connect with on some level. It's also closeup and personal, so we have an opportunity to connect with the subject and respond emotionally to her gesture.

In many cases, the images are just not sharp. It's a funny thing. If the eyes don't have something to snap to, they almost get tired while they continue to wonder around trying to fix on something.


Some people might point to other technical issues with any of these images, but I really think you have to just keep shooting. In fact that's something we all have to do. The most important thing is not to get too discouraged because you have two potentially really great shots and that suggests to me that photography is worth your continued pursuit as a hobby.

Take everything I offered here with a grain of salt. I am not all knowing and not everyone will agree with me, but when someone asks for honest feedback, it's nice to get it.. I hope.

[usagicam]

thanks for your input, i will continue shooting and learning more
i am a newb i do admit that but everyone does have to start somewhere.
for me in the begining its only been about take a picture to manipulate it. graphic arts wise
im trying to grow and practice is the only way too. thank you for your honest advice

[usagicam]

Here's another image.. "l.jpg" doesn't really make sense to me what I should be feeling. Was this person really beaten or is it makeup? Should I worry and feel empathetic or is it Halloween? As a result the image doesn't evoke any feeling. The subject and the door ornament compete as they overlap and rather than balance or help tie the image together, they just diminish impact.

oh its a zombie image lol took me a min to figure out which image you were talking about heh

[WBrian]

I like the look of the site, in general. I could get tightened up as far as guiding the viewer to what's where. It loads and runs nicely on my Blackberry Playbook.

Later,
B.