Architectural Photographer Website - Critique Wanted Please

Hi guys,

I do architectural photography full time and wanted to ask you to take a look and critique my website. The things I'm interested in getting your opinions are the overall feel of the website, functionality, overall design, ease of navigation, copy, the logo and does it work well with everything else ... stuff like that.

Couple of things I should mention - the design of it is extremely minimal and that's on purpose. I wanted the emphasis to be on the photos 100%.

The other thing I did different than other photographers in the same field is that I listed my photos by project instead by subject (such as "interiors", "exteriors"...). My though behind it is that clients want to see what I can deliver with their project so displaying a full package would give them a better idea of what they can expect vs. breaking down the photos any other way.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Here's the site: www.emilkaraphotograph​y.com

Love the logo, nice job if you designed that yourself. I also like the simplicity of the site and your emphasis on the photos. The black background works well.

When I go to hire a photographer, I want to click right to projects similar to mine, or the one I need shots of. In my case, it would be categorized as office developments, business campuses, medical, retail and/or industrial or manufacturing.

It might also be beneficial to show how your shots were used for marketing or advertising pieces by your clients, (if they will allow you to use them), or link to the website where they are being utilized.

The site ran slow for me, but it might be on my end. We have been having issues the past couple of days.

Just my quick review. Take it for what it's worth!

Big failure from the start. In fact I can't start.

The site requires Flash (a known, well documented security risk) that some companies do not permit on corporate computers. Strike one.

Flash does not work on many portable devices like Apple stuff or my android table so you are leaving out a lot of the mobile market. Strike two.

There is no non-flash alternative on the home page, no way to navigate, heck no way to even contact you without Flash. Strike three.

Regards,
GEWB

Thank you so much for the input so far guys, I really appreciate it. Some good valid points ...

Is there supposed to be some type of slideshow/pictures on your home page? I see nothing except for your logo and the nav bar. Not really a fan of the horizontal scrolling.

Killer logo. Really, really good. Took me a minute to figure out that there was a scroll bar above the photos, and I'm not a big fan of the horizontal scrolling either. At first glance I thought each location had just the two photos. As Hikin Mike said, I'm not sure if it's by design, but your landing page is completely blank other than your navigation. Seems to me that you are missing the opportunity to grab your visitors' attention there. Fantastic images. Very nice work.

Hikin Mike wrote in post #15576755
Is there supposed to be some type of slideshow/pictures on your home page? I see nothing except for your logo and the nav bar. Not really a fan of the horizontal scrolling.

Yah, maybe I oversimplified it. I though not forcing the images but giving you an option to go wherever you need first would be better but maybe not.

Scott_1469 wrote in post #15576846
Killer logo. Really, really good. Took me a minute to figure out that there was a scroll bar above the photos, and I'm not a big fan of the horizontal scrolling either. At first glance I thought each location had just the two photos. As Hikin Mike said, I'm not sure if it's by design, but your landing page is completely blank other than your navigation. Seems to me that you are missing the opportunity to grab your visitors' attention there. Fantastic images. Very nice work.

Thanks Scott! Good point, I fixed it, now the landing page shows a project. This is why I wanted feedback, good stuff. Would not have guessed that it confuses people if the landing page shows just the nav and the logo as a starting point.

gewb wrote in post #15576153
Big failure from the start. In fact I can't start.

The site requires Flash (a known, well documented security risk) that some companies do not permit on corporate computers. Strike one.

Flash does not work on many portable devices like Apple stuff or my android table so you are leaving out a lot of the mobile market. Strike two.

There is no non-flash alternative on the home page, no way to navigate, heck no way to even contact you without Flash. Strike three.

What he said. I couldn't view your web site since I only have access to an iPad.