Why are all photographer's website BLACK??

I'm jsut curious, who started the black background photographer online store?? i feel like every photographer's websites that i look at are exactly the same.. black background - usually with some flash, and then some script or other fancy flowing lighting..

where is the creativity? I know MANY photographers are good in photoshop, you can create an AWESOME website in photoshop.. why NOT?

black provides better contrast

mine's white. might change the whole website later though.

Black is classy, tasteful, and timeless.

anything can be classy, tasteful, and timeless.. It is not the color that makes that, its the LOOK. I have seen a few awesome sites that are beautiful and memorable.. i will have to find them again.. because its rare that I come across ones like that.. but really... I would not accept that answer. A good designer can make anything look like that..

as far as contract, i guess that makes a little more sense, but why would you mat a print on mostly WHITE?

lindsayanng wrote in post #6475799
anything can be classy, tasteful, and timeless..

Not really.

Speaking of web design, if it's so easy to create an AWESOME site, why is yours on white and why does it take almost 9 seconds to load? Slow isn't awesome.

Pot. Kettle. Kettle. Pot.

yes.. well, any COLOR can be.. BLACK is what not makes it classy.. and neither does fancy script and flash..

You can do A LOT with color

OK so why didn't you?

You should lead by example, not by ranting.

Personally, I like black. And I like white. The right mix of the two is clean, elegant, tasteful, timeless, and looks pretty much the same on all monitors. Black text on white backgrounds is easy to read, and black fills negative space well. It's not overpowering and not offensive (yes, some colors ARE offensive). I can't think of any other color that would compliment ALL of my photos the way black and white do.

I wrote this a while back:

http://thedreamersking​dom.org/blog/?p=40

Just think of the screen as lightbox... having black background makes sense.

that does make sense, the dark background.. but the idea in it's entirety. Has ANYONE seen a memorable website that they actually REALLY remember the "branding" from the website?

I mean, the black with the flash and the script.. its all been done a THOUSAND times..

I built a site with a white background.. i starting feeling bad about my site because it didnt have that photographer's look.. but then i got LOTS of feedback from customers. They like it.. AND, its memorable. If my postcards and business cards have the same memorable effect, that is a GOOD thing!

Oh yea.. and actually, white text on black background is easier to read than visa versa.. this is a common programmer tip when they are working with PAGES and PAGES of text code, they will revert the colors to a darker (but not black) background and white text.. TRY IT..

You can ever see the effect by just highlighting the text when its on white background. having black on white is actually more strain for the eyes..

lindsayanng wrote in post #6475873
Oh yea.. and actually, white text on black background is easier to read than visa versa..

Explain books.

White text on a black background does get to the eyes which is a good reason to keep it to what's essential. Elegant, simple and black go together. I've always thought of Wedding Photographers as having white and PJ's and artists as black. The thing i like about white though is you can frame the image and present it as if it's on a wall.

now I'm thinking about going back to black...hmmm

cdifoto wrote in post #6475920
Explain books.

books aren't back-lit... big white expanse on screen means more light in the eyes, which doesn't allow your iris to relax. This adds to strain over long periods.

Print media and screen media are very different.

milorad wrote in post #6475943
books aren't back-lit... big white expanse on screen means more light in the eyes, which doesn't allow your iris to relax. This adds to strain over long periods.

Print media and screen media are very different.

How come Nikonians.org burns my eyeballs as soon as the page loads, yet I can view other, white background with dark or black text, for hours on end?

I'm not the only one that experiences this.

Must be all the noink juice squirtin' at ya.