Performing Arts portfolio: good enough or meh?

(Scrapped my first attempt at a portfolio website and started over, please check it out real quick and let me know what you think) www.stevebourdeauphoto​s.com

I just finished building my portfolio website with a new template and I was wondering if a few of you could hop over and let me know whether the website appears properly.

Of course I'd welcome--and be eternally grateful for--comments on the actual website (ease of navigation, design, format, etc.), and/or the photos therein. For a bit of background, I am a (very) part-time and beginning performing arts photog, so the range of events displayed in the portfolio is still pretty limited, but I'll have opportunities to broaden it regularly in the near-future. I intend to use the portfolio (once it's fattened a bit) to offer my services to different media outlets (music blogs, webzines, print mags, newspapers, etc.). Any advice, tips, comments, harsh criticisms are welcome, but like I said, just a quick "site works fine for me" would also help me alot.

Thanks

not loading for me...took a while to load and all i see is the top header.

edit - if i select a tab and open in a new window, it works.

btw, that's Flag in yr photos, not Black Flag (which has Ginn in it...)


not a bad start...it looks like most of the photos were pulled from the same festival, so you may want to get a broader spectrum before you start contacting media outlets.

Thanks. Looks like you had the same issue as me with the page. A bit annoying. I'd like to hear from others to see if the issue is common.

Thanks for the comments, and yea, they are from the same fest (different stages though ). I think I might have opportunities to shoot at other venues sometime soon, which would, as you say, get me a broader spectrum. But I'm in no rush to use the portfolio. I already have a media outlet that can get me press credentials and will use my galleries. I'm just thinking about expanding at some point, as my experience broadens.

I'd really like to hear from other concert photogs, re: the loading, re: the 'look/design', re: the photos.

As always, many thanks and eternal gratefulness

Site loads fine for me.
As far as the concert photos go, I'd try to replace some of the daylight, white lit photos with nighttime or inside shots for more dramatic lighting.

Hi Steve,

I have a few suggestions:
- I don't see a point in having two concert portfolios, color and black&white. Plus you have another category, "other", that also includes stage performances and live music. That seems redundant. You should put your strongest into one concert portfolio.
- I agree with the comments made by others that it seems too much like the result of one festival (Rockfest I assume). If possible show a greater variety.
- Some individual images are sub-par. For example the Joey Cape photos have him blocking his face with his elbow - in three different images. (I know that is the way he holds his arm while singing - It's just not very flattering.) There is a mic-stand blocking the Offspring and some similar problems. I would remove those from a portfolio.

Overall I see a lot of potential and with more shows incorporated the portfolio should come together nicely.

As what everyone else is saying, some potential. I have a rule of thumb, only 1 or 2 shots from a single event. Regardless of how small your portfolio may be. This is what people will be judging you on initially, so only put the best stuff out there.

thanks guys, I truly appreciate the honest feedback.
I've been looking at it for a couple of days, and combined with your feedback, I've come to a few realizations.
First, I'm definitely going to move to a simpler, less 'cluttered' or visually overloaded template, as I'm already tired of the background images.
I have to say I struggled with the 'less is more' idea a lot, but you make a good point, Boogada, about the redundancy. I'll get rid of the multiple galleries and do a bit of a purge in the one gallery I'll have set up.
And yes, I'll definitely be adding other events to the portfolio as soon as possible, and I will not use it as a marketing tool until I've done so. Still, happy you guys saw a bit of potential

Cheers

So yea, I scrapped the first website and started over with something cleaner.

Again, comments pertaining to any aspect of the portfolio will be welcome, however harsh they may be. Refer to the original post for a bit of background.

thanks in advance!
www.stevebourdeauphoto​s.com

I don't know why you stitch two photos together whether its portrait or landscape

Different reasons: some of them I thought fit well together, so I figured presenting them side by side made sense, others may be because I thought one image was stronger than another, but I still wanted to include both in the portfolio, and from a purely pragmatic stand point, having two photos on one slide means less clicking, I thought it made sense especially when the images are similar.

Is this annoying or problematic to you for some reason? Maybe it's something I didn't think about...

I guess its my personal preference to see one photo at a time

hold a hand over one eye.

The content of the Performing Arts gallery is a bit confusing to me. Some of the shots look like portraits and the rest are so random that I don't get a sense of a) your style (which is very clear in punk and rock climbing) or what Performing Arts means to you.

I'm going to leave that last bit standing -- but I just clicked the thumbnail view icon and saw the text that goes with the gallery (which you don't see when you go directly to the slideshow), which adds some context. Personally, I'd go through the content again and consider if each image really supports the gallery and their order. (Same goes for the sandwich and bottle shot in rock climbing. It's a fun shot and you might know why it belongs there, but to an outsider, it seems really out of place in that gallery.)

Finally, the fact that your navigation flips from the top to bottom of the screen is confusing.

As I said earlier, your point of view really comes across in the Punk and Rock Climbing galleries. Those are exciting and the choices for the side-by-side shots seem more organic there.

Thanks AlFooteIII, for the very constructive criticism.
I got rid of the top/bottom navigation. It kinda bugged me as well, but since it was one of the 'features' of the template I was working with, I originally thought I'd keep it for a while. It's fixed at the top now.

As for the performing arts gallery, I totally get your meaning. Part of me thinks I'll eventually get rid of it altogether, once I beef up my live music portfolio (very soon), but part of me thinks I should still keep it since it's something I do regularly (a couple of times a year type thing) and get paid for. I guess I just have to ponder a bit more what the true purpose of the portfolio is (local event photog vs music photog).

Do you think it would help to call it 'College Performing Arts' in the navigation menu? Would that help contextualize the gallery from the start?

I've taken good note of your questioning the relevance of certain photos in my galleries. I'll try to review my selection with a bit more detachment.

Would love to hear from others, of course. Glad for any and all kinds of comments.

Try to avoid the unflattering "up-the-nostrils" shots... very unflattering. I get most of my better shots standing to the side with a 70-200. If they glance your way, it makes a great composition. While the rest of the peeps in the pit are clamouring at their feet, you can get a bit of space and the performer seems to rather look to the side and be more relaxed about it.

I believe that a lot of the reason for the 3-song rule is because the photographers at the centre of the stage are blocking the view of the paying audience. I get forgotten at the side and usually not shooed away.

There are some basics to remember too: don't cut off guitar heads or elbows; wide-open mouth shots have a few, but not many uses; get some details ie: feet on pedals, bandanas, some glances between members, only publish shots that are flattering to the artist (no "fat-belly-showing-because-my-shirt-got-pulled-up" shots) etc. Set yourself out from the rest.

Good start here!