Posted by Mark sellings on December 10, 2008 at 5:18 AM
Hi all,
Despite not posting for a while due to restraints of 2 kids & work I still look in often and find the work as top notch as ever. Anyway, after not doing any photography since Dippers in the SpringI decided to have a re-jig of my site and wondered what people liked/didn'tlike etc...
Excellent design - l really love the choice of colours and it looks very professional and clean.
Navigation is excellent - no messing about trying to figure out whats going on.
It loaded really fast - slow loading sites lose me. All in I think it is excellent and should be required viewing for anyone contemplating building a site for themselves so they can see what a good site looks like. It puts many professional's sites to shame imho.
Two small crits - easily fixed - I sat looking at the image on the Showcase Gallery page wating for it to change as they do on the front page, before I realised I needed to scroll down. Needs some guidance there in case you lose other dimmos like me from this page!
And - personal opinion - the font on the Bio page is too small - needs to be a wee bit larger so us sight-challenged folks can read it!
Ther's a few typos and spelling hiccups - minor - eg in the image search box - 'partciular' needs the i moving, british needs cap B.
"The welfare of any animal I photograph comes way above getting it on a slide, and to this end I am more than happy to let wildlife charities use my images free of charge."
Do you invoice them though? I do - and add 100% discount - then they know the value of my work and it also helps them to keep an accurate tally of their operational costs, even if the pix are 'free'.
First class site, and a real pleasure to view in my opinion.
Posted by Mark sellings on December 11, 2008 at 9:42 AM
Thanks John, really useful feedback - shame you're the only one!
Posted by Brett Lewis on December 11, 2008 at 1:05 PM
Hi Mark,
Had a look at your website and i must say that I was very impressed. the design and layout really compliments your photos. It is very much the inspiration to the budding photographer who wants his/her work to be displayed nicely and professionally.
In addition to the comments already made I would suggest that if possible you find some way of reducing the number of headings from the first page so that the final heading does not drop onto a second line. At this stage do you really need an image search..? Do you have enough images on your server to require this, for now anyway..? I can see that it may prove useful as you get more of your library online but since you have Categories as well i'm sure that the average user could easily navigate their way around.
I also wondered if you could adjust the image thumbnails and text so that they sit centrally in the boxes they are in. This is very minor but overall would be a little more pleasing on the eye in an otherwise superb looking site.
You might consider adding some information on each of the images as you upload them to indicate the techs and and how you obtained the image. I have found this very useful in the development of my own photography and think this is something that your viewers could benefit from.
Overall I think this is a superb looking site and it really has given me a kick up the proverbial to get mine in order. I starting setting it up back in feb of this year with some really old photos on it but haven't updated it since.. Need to get back to it and practise what I preach..!
Thanks for introducing your site and good luck with it's ongoing development.
Discussion
3 repliesDespite not posting for a while due to restraints of 2 kids & work I still look in often and find the work as top notch as ever. Anyway, after not doing any photography since Dippers in the SpringI decided to have a re-jig of my site and wondered what people liked/didn'tlike etc...
www.marksellings.com
Any comments/bugs etc appreciated as always,
Thanks,
Mark Sellings
www.marksellings.com
Excellent design - l really love the choice of colours and it looks very professional and clean.
Navigation is excellent - no messing about trying to figure out whats going on.
It loaded really fast - slow loading sites lose me. All in I think it is excellent and should be required viewing for anyone contemplating building a site for themselves so they can see what a good site looks like. It puts many professional's sites to shame imho.
And whats fantastic is that its not all style and no substance - there are many beautiful and compelling images in there. And not spoiled by © text overlays.
Two small crits - easily fixed - I sat looking at the image on the Showcase Gallery page wating for it to change as they do on the front page, before I realised I needed to scroll down. Needs some guidance there in case you lose other dimmos like me from this page!
And - personal opinion - the font on the Bio page is too small - needs to be a wee bit larger so us sight-challenged folks can read it!
Ther's a few typos and spelling hiccups - minor - eg in the image search box - 'partciular' needs the i moving, british needs cap B.
"The welfare of any animal I photograph comes way above getting it on a slide, and to this end I am more than happy to let wildlife charities use my images free of charge."
Do you invoice them though? I do - and add 100% discount - then they know the value of my work and it also helps them to keep an accurate tally of their operational costs, even if the pix are 'free'.
First class site, and a real pleasure to view in my opinion.
Had a look at your website and i must say that I was very impressed. the design and layout really compliments your photos. It is very much the inspiration to the budding photographer who wants his/her work to be displayed nicely and professionally.
In addition to the comments already made I would suggest that if possible you find some way of reducing the number of headings from the first page so that the final heading does not drop onto a second line. At this stage do you really need an image search..? Do you have enough images on your server to require this, for now anyway..? I can see that it may prove useful as you get more of your library online but since you have Categories as well i'm sure that the average user could easily navigate their way around.
I also wondered if you could adjust the image thumbnails and text so that they sit centrally in the boxes they are in. This is very minor but overall would be a little more pleasing on the eye in an otherwise superb looking site.
You might consider adding some information on each of the images as you upload them to indicate the techs and and how you obtained the image. I have found this very useful in the development of my own photography and think this is something that your viewers could benefit from.
Overall I think this is a superb looking site and it really has given me a kick up the proverbial to get mine in order. I starting setting it up back in feb of this year with some really old photos on it but haven't updated it since.. Need to get back to it and practise what I preach..!
Thanks for introducing your site and good luck with it's ongoing development.
Brett