Posted by Stan Rose on February 27, 2009 at 9:29 PM
Well, ive finally begun work on my website to be! It will probably take a couple months for me to get all the galleries etc together, but i couldnt wait, so ive thrown up a little slideshow of some of my fav shots, with music from my 2d cd as well
Im no web guru, and im too cheap to buy editors or software, so this was created with freeware, mostly in Wordpad(!) and of course, PS. But ive tested it in Mozilla and IE and it miraculously seems to work. So, just let me know if there are any major problems--this is just a 'placeholder' while i develop the full site
May take a bit to load if you have a slow connection.
Posted by Nick Moore on February 27, 2009 at 9:34 PM
It's looking pretty good so far Stan - or is it Erik .
Posted by Stan Rose on February 27, 2009 at 9:48 PM
I promise i wont post any RMNP shots--dont wanna intrude on Erik's kingdom
maybe ill devote the whole site to nature shots of Pueblo, that would save me some time on the galleries
Posted by Nick Moore on February 27, 2009 at 9:52 PM
I wasn't refering to any of your slide show images Stan, but refering to my mix up with you and Erik on James' sand dune post
P.S. Your site seemed to work fine for me in IE, but I had similiar issues when I first designed my site when using firefox etc. I am no web designer by a long shot, but the coding seems to be real picky with certain browsers. I found in particular layout and paragraphs would display differently in various browsers.
Posted by Jesse Speer on February 27, 2009 at 9:53 PM
This is what I see on Mac Safari (3.1.2) and Firefox (3.0.6) ...
Posted by Neil Corman on February 27, 2009 at 10:08 PM
Seemed to load fine for me on Firefox 3.0.6 on Mac. A couple of items, it did load slow and for a lot of folks they may not have the patience to wait for it to load. Also while having your own music is nice, I didn't see an option to turn it off without muting my computer. If someone goes to your site in a work location, the last thing they want is the music letting others know they are surfing the web. Looking good so far, and look forward to seeing the final site.
Posted by John Klotz on February 27, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Very cool Stan! Loads just fine for me on 5 yo AMD 2600+ with 2.5gb of ram. I really like the "zoom" effect. Dig the tornado shot!
John
Posted by Chris Rice on February 27, 2009 at 10:55 PM
Stan, looks nice. If you want my absolute honest opinion here, leave out the music, like what that guy Corman said. It loaded in about 10 seconds here, and that might be just too long for most people.... otherwise the header looks great! Nice slideshow too, but may be a bit large for some displays. Hope my comments weren't too negative! Website design is hard!
Posted by Stan Rose on February 27, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Thanks for the input guys! yeah, the Mac could be a problem...
those are good points about the music, iknow ive been annoyed by some sites that have bg music, but i was a little biased here due to getting ready to put out another cd. So, what do you think--keep or rid the show of music?
Posted by John Mumaw on February 27, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Took a long time (20 secs. +) to get started for me (cable internet connection & IE).
I wouldn't have waited that long for just anybody.
Anyway, I liked the zoom feature quite a bit. First time I've ever seen that particular motif.
Can't say as I'm fond of the images that open up at full zoom and then slide off halfway to the right. Can't quite figure that one out.
You're off to a good start! The images you chose were top quality and a pleasure to view, no matter what Cole Thompson thinks.
Posted by Stan Rose on February 27, 2009 at 11:07 PM
Hmm..i suppose i could make the slideshow an option, link it from the main page but keep the main page simple--what do you think?
Posted by Chris Rice on February 27, 2009 at 11:08 PM
but i was a little biased here due to getting ready to put out another cd
really? tell us more!
Posted by John Mumaw on February 27, 2009 at 11:15 PM
Unless your site is primarily made for family and friends, then I think that slideshows and music should always be an option (perhaps 'opt out'?). Even though I think that zoom feature is pretty cool!
I don't have speakers at the moment, so had no chance to hear your music. Hopefully, you'll keep it on one more day.
Posted by Stan Rose on February 27, 2009 at 11:25 PM
Itll stay on for now, the site literally went online today so its not like search engines are attacking it at this point
Chris, my third cd will come out in a few weeks, 14 tracks of instrumental guitar. You can hear bits of my 2d if you google "alien guitar abduction"
Posted by Jack Brauer on February 28, 2009 at 5:13 AM
Hi Stan,
You've got to have an option to turn off the music. Not a comment about the music, but I was already into my own music... and... well it's unexpected. It's basically a web design no-no, as people will shut the page, if they have no option to mute the sound. That said, I will check it out when it's not 2:45am, and perhaps I will enjoy the music!
Posted by Paul Wegemann on February 28, 2009 at 9:25 AM
I love the photos so far Stan, but three things annoy me. First, no way to turn off the sound. Second, the way the zoomed photo slides off the page. Third, when the page first opens I actually have to scroll down to see the whole image. I'm using Firefox. I love simple, but elegant looking web sites. No flash or special effects and generally no music. Just a way to simply navigate and focus on, in this case, your photography. I think a quick, easy to bypass slideshow on your main page could be nice. This is just my personal taste. Your photography is so strong that I think you should forgo any special effects and just focus on presenting your images. Jack B. and Erik both have sites that I like.
BTW, I like your music!
Paul's comments just above are pretty much in line with my opinions, Stan. I too would especially prefer no automatic sound. But it's looking great, and I'll be looking forward very much to the final version!
Posted by Kurt Budde on February 28, 2009 at 10:31 AM
I'd ditch that sound as soon as possible. Nothing personal to the music, but when a webpage automatically turns on music (which I am almost certainly already listening to) it gets an automatic close. This is a big no-no in this day and age, and I'm certainly not the only one who thinks this way.
Also, zooming the images seems counterproductive. I want to look at it, not track it across the screen. That said I do love slideshows, and my customers always tell me they love them as well.
Typing on the web always seems meaner/whatever than it is meant - not the case. Just trying to be as honest and straightforward as possible.
Good luck!
Posted by Timothy Tonge on February 28, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Great images, very much like the overall design.
On my 1920x1200 display, your web page is left justified, with about 1/4 of the display on the right side black, no biggy but in perfect world Id like to see your page centered.
Id also like to see the images paused a bit longer before and/or after the motion, I always like to ponder/look at an image a bit longer than your motion allows.
As to the music, Im not big on music, but understand that it is your music... perhaps the simple turn music on/off option.
Great images selected.
Hopefully the comments are usefull, again very much like the overall feel!
Care to tell us more about your music?
Posted by Rajeev Thomas on February 28, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Stan....first of all, excellent images!! But I am not a fan of the slide show, it is too fast, no time to enjoy your images. And also I think it is better if the images move in one particular fashion, rather than different styles. Also would like to see the images ending up completely zoomed to show the entire image rather than it cuts off your images (like some of them are now, before other images appear). I like your music... Like everyone else said you should have a on/off option for music. But I like the framing, colors and format of the web page. But the page is shown, left side cut off , would like that centered with your beautiful image slide show... regards, Rajeev
Posted by Rick Dunn on February 28, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Ditto Paul's comments. Your images are fantastic! But the website experience...too complicated. Your photography is the focal point; the music and slide show are just distractions to me. Kind of a web-designer's trap, to overly complicate things with too much web wizardry. Especially for a site where you want people to focus on your photography, it needs to be simplified.
A link to a slideshow with music (that can be turned off) would be cool - a great way to combine both of your passions.
If you do keep a slide show, I wasn't too keen on the expanding, moving images. Especially when the images don't stop expanding until after they're significantly cropped by the right side of the slideshow player. I want to see the whole image for a few seconds, at a viewer-friendly 0 mph. Again, I'm biased towards having clean presentations. A simple but tasteful fade-in, fade out would work well.
The aesthetics are looking really nice, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more!
Posted by Jon LaBass on February 28, 2009 at 12:35 PM
This is what I see in Firefox 3.0.6 for Mac with a resized window. So, unless the browser window is at least as wide as your background image (1280px) then your image will be cut off.
Posted by Art Escobado on February 28, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Here are my thoughts-I know you didn't ask for it per se. But you have mentioned wanting honest critiques of your images in the past. So I give you some for the website.
1) Move the music to a separate link. Don't play it on the front page. More people will leave the site because of sounds popping out of their computer faster than you can say Maroon Bells.
2) I'm not a fan of zooming images. Drop the slide show.
3)You need better web presentation of your images. The ones posted here on RMNP look more crisp and eye appealing.
4) I like the title in orange red that says Stan Rose Photography. So why do we repeat this immediately underneath it in blue? Drop it.
5) You're a Dune guy I think you should throw down one of your Dune images as the banner.
6) The image selection is good. Can't wait to see your Classics on here too.
AE
Posted by James H Egbert on February 28, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Stan,
I feel your pain as I have designed, redesigned and re-re-designed my site to the point I can barely stand updating a site anymore.. You've already been shown how it looks on Safari and FireFox here's what I see in IE8.
Like you I love the music but the general consensus overruled me about music on my site as well. Art has some great fine points I like.
One thing I would recommend is that I think you should center the page rather than having the page lay to the left. I have a 22" LCD and I view at 1680 x 1050 which as you see in my screen shot puts a big negatively balanced area off to the right. Like you I made the main portion of my site to be 800 pixels across, but I balanced the right and left negative space and continues the site out to the edges so it expands seamlessly. I'd sugest the same for your site or at least centering the main frame.
Posted by Jeremy Week on February 28, 2009 at 6:17 PM
Hi Stan. Really love the images you put up there. Your web site works well on my laptop/Firefox. Only comment is that the image scrolls off the screen at laptop resolutions. (Though that may be hard to fix for everyone) Darn web stuff.!
Posted by Stan Rose on February 28, 2009 at 7:28 PM
Thanks everyone for the terrific feedback! It is very helpful. I already incorporated a few changes before i read some of the later comments (i moved the music and slideshow to a completely different page and linked to it, also added a music control). I will see about centering the page image (i was concerned about smaller browsers not seeing the whole frame) and I will probably take Arts advice and remove the second title line (hey, i thought it was cool, but im biased ) This may end up the first website wholly designed by RMNP consensus!
Discussion
27 repliesIm no web guru, and im too cheap to buy editors or software, so this was created with freeware, mostly in Wordpad(!) and of course, PS. But ive tested it in Mozilla and IE and it miraculously seems to work. So, just let me know if there are any major problems--this is just a 'placeholder' while i develop the full site
May take a bit to load if you have a slow connection.
http://www.stanroseimages.com
maybe ill devote the whole site to nature shots of Pueblo, that would save me some time on the galleries
P.S. Your site seemed to work fine for me in IE, but I had similiar issues when I first designed my site when using firefox etc. I am no web designer by a long shot, but the coding seems to be real picky with certain browsers. I found in particular layout and paragraphs would display differently in various browsers.
John
those are good points about the music, iknow ive been annoyed by some sites that have bg music, but i was a little biased here due to getting ready to put out another cd. So, what do you think--keep or rid the show of music?
I wouldn't have waited that long for just anybody.
Anyway, I liked the zoom feature quite a bit. First time I've ever seen that particular motif.
Can't say as I'm fond of the images that open up at full zoom and then slide off halfway to the right. Can't quite figure that one out.
You're off to a good start! The images you chose were top quality and a pleasure to view, no matter what Cole Thompson thinks.
really? tell us more!
I don't have speakers at the moment, so had no chance to hear your music. Hopefully, you'll keep it on one more day.
Chris, my third cd will come out in a few weeks, 14 tracks of instrumental guitar. You can hear bits of my 2d if you google "alien guitar abduction"
You've got to have an option to turn off the music. Not a comment about the music, but I was already into my own music... and... well it's unexpected. It's basically a web design no-no, as people will shut the page, if they have no option to mute the sound. That said, I will check it out when it's not 2:45am, and perhaps I will enjoy the music!
BTW, I like your music!
Also, zooming the images seems counterproductive. I want to look at it, not track it across the screen. That said I do love slideshows, and my customers always tell me they love them as well.
Typing on the web always seems meaner/whatever than it is meant - not the case. Just trying to be as honest and straightforward as possible.
Good luck!
On my 1920x1200 display, your web page is left justified, with about 1/4 of the display on the right side black, no biggy but in perfect world Id like to see your page centered.
Id also like to see the images paused a bit longer before and/or after the motion, I always like to ponder/look at an image a bit longer than your motion allows.
As to the music, Im not big on music, but understand that it is your music... perhaps the simple turn music on/off option.
Great images selected.
Hopefully the comments are usefull, again very much like the overall feel!
Care to tell us more about your music?
A link to a slideshow with music (that can be turned off) would be cool - a great way to combine both of your passions.
If you do keep a slide show, I wasn't too keen on the expanding, moving images. Especially when the images don't stop expanding until after they're significantly cropped by the right side of the slideshow player. I want to see the whole image for a few seconds, at a viewer-friendly 0 mph.
The aesthetics are looking really nice, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more!
1) Move the music to a separate link. Don't play it on the front page. More people will leave the site because of sounds popping out of their computer faster than you can say Maroon Bells.
2) I'm not a fan of zooming images. Drop the slide show.
3)You need better web presentation of your images. The ones posted here on RMNP look more crisp and eye appealing.
4) I like the title in orange red that says Stan Rose Photography. So why do we repeat this immediately underneath it in blue? Drop it.
5) You're a Dune guy I think you should throw down one of your Dune images as the banner.
6) The image selection is good. Can't wait to see your Classics on here too.
AE
I feel your pain as I have designed, redesigned and re-re-designed my site to the point I can barely stand updating a site anymore.. You've already been shown how it looks on Safari and FireFox here's what I see in IE8.
Like you I love the music but the general consensus overruled me about music on my site as well. Art has some great fine points I like.
One thing I would recommend is that I think you should center the page rather than having the page lay to the left. I have a 22" LCD and I view at 1680 x 1050 which as you see in my screen shot puts a big negatively balanced area off to the right. Like you I made the main portion of my site to be 800 pixels across, but I balanced the right and left negative space and continues the site out to the edges so it expands seamlessly. I'd sugest the same for your site or at least centering the main frame.