My website, your opinions please

Hi everyone, after 2.5 years of learning my camera and taking countless pictures of my son, people are starting to ask me to take pictures for them! I am so excited, so this week I decided to create my website through weebly. I find it easy to use, but would like some opinions on the setup and layout I have now. Please note that I do not intend to label myself as a photographer (I have a lot more to learn), or do this full time. I am passionate about capturing every moment you can in photos, and I want to help people remember special times in their lives. So I wanted a place for people to go to see my work and get an idea of my style. If I can make a little money to support my B&H habit, that will be a plus too though! lol Please let me know what you think! http://www.loraanderso​n.com/

A few quick things.

-If you are going to have menu item called pricing, there should be pricing there, not a message to contact you to come up with something.

-I know religion is a touchy subject but in your "about" page, saying you "are a lover of God" kind of through me off. As a non-religious person, one might be hesitant to contact you for fear that our beliefs (or lack of) will clash. I am not implying that you would do the same but I have been judged before for having children out of wedlock.

-Personally, I feel you have to many photos in your home page slideshow. There are a lot and when you click on the gallery, 90% of the photos from your homepage are in those galleries. Maybe pick 2 of your best of each "families" and "children" and have those on your home page?

I liked the feeling when I first viewed your page. Have you considered centering your menu buttons across the top instead of all snugged together to the left? I love your color choices and they reflect your style well.

I agree with Moose And also think you should list at least some basic prices if you have a price page.

I agree that religion as well as politics should be kept of business website's about pages.

Thank you for your input. I do feel it's a lot of slideshow pics, I do have trouble narrowing down pictures for myself at home too. I guess it's a common thing for me (lol) but I will take some off my slideshow. It is redundant to the gallery pics. I can reword my about me section and make religion seem less overbearing, than right at the beginning. As far as the home, gallery, info buttons, on the mobile they are to the side, but on the actual webpage they are across the top. The mobile version changes a few things around. I do feel like I need an actual price in the pricing section, but I'm still trying to figure a price out. I'm just starting, and only doing it for a few other people besides family and friends, so I really don't know what to charge I guess? Thank you for your input so far!! I have lots to think about!

I see what you mean now, on the webpage centering the page buttons? I will try it! Thanks!

karobinson wrote in post #16670030
I liked the feeling when I first viewed your page. Have you considered centering your menu buttons across the top instead of all snugged together to the left? I love your color choices and they reflect your style well.

I would definitely remove the pricing thing.

Not to start a war, but I would keep your About page as it is. If people are turned off (and not hire you) just because of your faith, then so be it.

I agree with the others that have mentioned this. Having strong opinions and beliefs is excellent, and I'm happy for you even if I may not agree with you.... but limiting your audience by stating your beliefs or political affiliation is not a smart business decision.

Now if you solicit at a place of worship or political office then obviously it may become a selling point catering directly to said audience.

Be smart, market your craft.

I like the home page. Simple, easy to use, looks good.

As for the About section, I recoiled at the "lover of God" intro. BUT... if you only want clients who share your belief or don't mind chasing away (or even want to chase away) people who see this as a huge red flag, go ahead and leave it in. To someone such as myself who is not god's lover, it can be very off-putting, but maybe you don't want non god-lovers as clients. And if I left it in, I'd reword it. There has to be a better phrase than "lover of God".

Gallery: When I clicked on the Gallery tab it took me to a page that had nothing but a cheesy facebook-type meme about snapshots. I had to go back to the Gallery tab, and then click on the dropdown words to get to an actual gallery. I'd put the links to the individual galleries on the gallery page and lose the meme.

Information: When I clicked on it it took me to a contact type page. Again, had to go back to the tab and click the dropdown words to get to where I wanted to go. And yeah, for the pricing I'd at least have a "sessions starting at $X" price.

Overall I like the site. Great colors and overall layout. The "contact" form seems to be on every page I clicked on, so I would only have it on the contact page. Does not need to be on both tabs under information and the contact page. I agree too many photos on the homepage. And I also agree with the religious thing. I get the impression that you might be overbearing about religion, and would make me consider looking elsewhere because of it. And yes, pricing needs to be taken off of the site until you get pricing locked down. However, try to get this figured out and put your pricing online to be seen.*

* There are two views on pricing. 1) Put pricing up to weed out potential clients who will waste your time. 2) Create pricing for each individual based on requests. Maximize profits for each shoot, but have to deal with "tire kickers" and wasting some time. There are plenty of threads on this topic on these forums, so search to decide which viewpoint you agree with.

PS - I would also disable clicking on the Galleries page and the Information page. Make them click on the drop down menu for those two tabs.

ldt_81 wrote in post #16669971
Hi everyone, after 2.5 years of learning my camera and taking countless pictures of my son, people are starting to ask me to take pictures for them! I am so excited, so this week I decided to create my website through weebly. I find it easy to use, but would like some opinions on the setup and layout I have now. Please note that I do not intend to label myself as a photographer (I have a lot more to learn), or do this full time. I am passionate about capturing every moment you can in photos, and I want to help people remember special times in their lives. So I wanted a place for people to go to see my work and get an idea of my style. If I can make a little money to support my B&H habit, that will be a plus too though! lol Please let me know what you think! http://www.loraanderso​n.com/

Think you did a great first web page. It certainly introduces the visitor to you passion and you style of imaging.

My constructive comments are as followsmplease not that I am an amateur:

Some images have too light of background. I can chalk that up to artistic license and that you are creating a dreamy "look and style" to show off. However, when the viewer then goes to a photo such as (I think Cody) sitting on the path with leaves falling it is too much of a stylistic contrast. Personally I like that latter playful clear style of imaging much more than the dream look, but that is MY preference....if it is not you then don't change!!!

I think you might be upfront with prospective clients and let them know that this is an avocation and that your prices are "negotiable." People might be willing to take a chance and save a few dollars if they like your style. But you don't want to have someone employ you at imaging something, like a wedding, which you are not quite ready for. In that regard you might give a ballpark price for prints and your minimum fee just as a starting point for the client.

You might want to look at inviting other photographers in you community into doing a shoot together, that would not be on your web page. The experience and challenge can be a positive learning experience. You might try a shoot where everyone brings their toddlers and gets them playing together. How about "dress up" or "funny animals and hats?" You might find that those who attend like you work enough to buy some prints of their kids, or they might steer your towards someone who wants your services??? But have fun first, do business if the opportunity presents itself, jmo.

In closing: You passion comes through clearly and am happy that you shared your talent with us and if you ever find a cure for that B&H habit, kindly share it with us

Ed in Sacramento

Thank you so much for all your input! I redid some things tonight. A few things I can't do, or haven't figured out yet, like how to make a page non-clickable, so I just set up different pages instead. I also don't know how to stack images in the gallery, so they are all grouped together. I do think it looks better overall! If you know how to do some of this in weebly, please give me a shout! I can't seem to find it on the help menu. Thanks again! Maybe it looks a little better now! http://www.loraanderso​n.com/

Your price is too low. Also, you are giving away the copyright with your "copyright release" which means that they are no longer your images. If something happens where one goes viral, you won't get a dime. If you are giving away any copyrights (which I don't believe you should ever do except in corporate) it should be a joint copyright.

Sorry, I know this is about your website but I thought those two things should be addressed.

Sorry for derailing a little.

Thank you for the info! I will reword to make it more clear, it is just a print release, not a full copyright. My price is low because I mainly want to build my portfolio right now. I'm not super interested in making this a full time thing at the moment, just trying to gain more knowledge. Basically the price is to cover gas, etc. That might be weird to some I guess. I wouldn't even classify myself as a true photographer, I still have a ton to learn. I think the market is way oversaturated with "photographers," who just got a cool camera last week. I don't want to be one of those type "photographers" lol

mdrtoys wrote in post #16672758
Your price is too low. Also, you are giving away the copyright with your "copyright release" which means that they are no longer your images. If something happens where one goes viral, you won't get a dime. If you are giving away any copyrights (which I don't believe you should ever do except in corporate) it should be a joint copyright.

Sorry, I know this is about your website but I thought those two things should be addressed.

Sorry for derailing a little.

The font you use in the "Home, About, Gallery etc." bar doesn't work well in all caps. Either change the font or don't capitalize every letter.

ldt_81 wrote in post #16672734
Thank you so much for all your input! I redid some things tonight. A few things I can't do, or haven't figured out yet, like how to make a page non-clickable, so I just set up different pages instead. I also don't know how to stack images in the gallery, so they are all grouped together. I do think it looks better overall! If you know how to do some of this in weebly, please give me a shout! I can't seem to find it on the help menu. Thanks again! Maybe it looks a little better now! http://www.loraanderso​n.com/

I helped another photographer-friend on her site a few years ago. PM me if you still need help.