Posted by Ian Cox-Leigh on August 20, 2009 at 11:15 PM
So, I finally launched my own website a couple of weeks ago.
I built it myself. I used TTG Lightroom Galleries and Indices as templates and then modified them in Dreamweaver to my liking.
Future Plans:
1. More Galleries. There are at least 4-5 more coming within the next little while.
2. News page/articles/announcements. Maybe in the form of a linked blog.
***
I would love any feedback on issues of functionality, navigation, as well as any grammatical or syntactical errors in my image captions or other written materials.
Comments on the images welcome, but not expected.
Thanks in advance. I hope to take suggestions into consideration for future changes later this fall.
Posted by John Mumaw on August 21, 2009 at 12:08 AM
You did a terrific job in creating your site!
First thing I noticed was the neutral background colors....I really like that.
Images load fast and navigation was simple and intuitive.
A few nits:
In the home (opening) page, I would like to see 'Welcome to Ian Cox-Leigh Photography' better centered with the image above and the words below.
In the Prints page, first paragraph, you need the word 'and' between 'making' and 'exhibiting'.
First paragraph after 'Pricing', 'available' is misspelled. Immediately after, you need some sort of punctuation or a sentence break between 'request' and 'ask'.
In 'Biography', first paragraph, you need the word 'is' between 'he' and 'also'.
Third paragraph, I would use the word 'abstract' rather than 'abstracted' and remove the comma between 'abstract' and 'works'.
In the 'Contact' page, first paragraph, you need a comma between 'purchase' and 'please'.
Second paragraph, I think you need the word 'to' between 'relating' and 'my'.
'Assignments' is misspelled.
Please forgive any perceived impertinence on my part for pointing out these errors. I'm a proofreader from way back, and your site deserves the best grammar to match the build and beautiful images contained within. I spot checked a few images and found more errors, but it's getting late. Maybe tomorrow...
Again, congratulations on building such a fine website!
Posted by Ian Cox-Leigh on August 21, 2009 at 12:17 AM
Thanks, John.
I am a graduate student and am also incredibly picky about such errors. I've just been looking at this stuff for so long that I am reading the sentences over and over and not seeing the errors. I asked a few friends to go over things, but, they didn't catch anything new and I thought I might have caught everything.
Inspired by your findings, I'll try to go over things again tonight.
Thanks again!
Posted by John Mumaw on August 21, 2009 at 12:24 AM
You're quite welcome, Ian. I understand the 'burn out' factor, and am glad to have helped!
I'd be on top of the world if I could build a site remotely as good as yours.
Posted by Lon Overacker on August 21, 2009 at 1:45 AM
Ian,
Excellent. Simple, clean, easy to get around. Very impressive actually for a build-it-yourself. I wasn't looking for grammar or spelling.... so the only suggestion I have at this point would be a bit stronger presence of some copyright information. I think "copyright" is only listed on the home page, the rest of the pages are "all rights reserved." Which is fine, but I would also add a statement, perhaps within and below the "about" section with a simply copyright statement.
Web site looks great and does a nice job of showcasing your images. Nice job.
Lon
Posted by Kah Kit Yoong on August 21, 2009 at 3:17 AM
Excellent website. Easy to navigate, fast loading and great photography of course!
Posted by Steve Balke on August 21, 2009 at 7:33 AM
Beautiful website and great photography, Ian. Many of the photographs really made me want to hike through the mountains again. One thing you may wish to think about is the size of print and the size of the miniature images. The print size is really at the absolute limit of my eyeglasses and I was so much more impressed by the full sized images than by the miniatures. Small images and fine print have the advantage of minimizing the need for scrolling. However, I don't think that's a factor on your website. Also, I bet there are an increasing number of people with poor eyesight out there who will be interested in your photographs!
Posted by Dan Borzynski on August 21, 2009 at 7:57 PM
You'll notice a common thread through all of the responses - they have more to do with minor things than anything else. There really isn't all that much to be negative about with respect to the images or design.
The one thing not mentioned that I saw was that larger prints will probably be printed by www.elevatordigital.ca. I'd try to resolve that to a definite choice in the near future, even if it is a couple of 8x10 test prints to see if they satisfy your standards. It gives the impression of this being a new business with a lot of the details to be worked. Even if that is the case, it is not an impression you want to carry.
My overall impression is quite positive. Your site is clean, simple, and elegant. Your photographs are marvelous.
At first I didn't see the navigation bar and after finishing browsing the first gallery I was looking for a way to get back to your home page to go to the next gallery, when I found the navigation bar. Perhaps the print on the navigation bar could be a point or two larger, to make it a little less unnoticeable.
Posted by Ian Cox-Leigh on August 21, 2009 at 10:54 PM
Thank you all for taking a look and offering some suggestions.
I'll definitely consider bumping up the text point sizes in the future. I hadn't realized that they were on the smallish side for most. It might take some time to implement as it will affect the spacing on some of my image titles (they simply get cropped if the title exceeds the spacing – not good).
I'll consider adding some form of copyright statement. Although, I am never convinced they do any good. Those who knowingly infringe will still do so and those who feel their use constitutes "fair use" (even when it doesn't) won't be dissuaded by any statement. I find some statements on other photographer's sites sound petty. If I include one some statement, it will probably more to offer exceptions (i.e. non-commercial use of my images at their 800px posted sizes) than to state my rights.
I will certainly make my comments about Elevator clearer. They are a very well regarded and established lab. I simply wanted to leave open the possibility of patronizing someone else as well. For example, I have also had work done by Toronto Image Works (the company founded by Burtynsky). Both are within minutes of me, but elevator is closer and has parking.
Thanks again everyone. I am glad it has been so well received.
I had been worried that there would be complaints about the way the large size images open. I had planned on flash galleries. However, I had problems with colour management (especially on my wide-gamut display) using flash. So, I found this html based template. I liked everything else about it, but, the way the images open up and then the rest of the screen darkens wouldn't have been my first choice. It does allow easy navigation between images at the large size, though.
Discussion
9 repliesI built it myself. I used TTG Lightroom Galleries and Indices as templates and then modified them in Dreamweaver to my liking.
Future Plans:
1. More Galleries. There are at least 4-5 more coming within the next little while.
2. News page/articles/announcements. Maybe in the form of a linked blog.
***
I would love any feedback on issues of functionality, navigation, as well as any grammatical or syntactical errors in my image captions or other written materials.
Comments on the images welcome, but not expected.
Thanks in advance. I hope to take suggestions into consideration for future changes later this fall.
Yours
Ian Cox-Leigh
http://www.iancoxleigh.com
First thing I noticed was the neutral background colors....I really like that.
Images load fast and navigation was simple and intuitive.
A few nits:
In the home (opening) page, I would like to see 'Welcome to Ian Cox-Leigh Photography' better centered with the image above and the words below.
In the Prints page, first paragraph, you need the word 'and' between 'making' and 'exhibiting'.
First paragraph after 'Pricing', 'available' is misspelled. Immediately after, you need some sort of punctuation or a sentence break between 'request' and 'ask'.
In 'Biography', first paragraph, you need the word 'is' between 'he' and 'also'.
Third paragraph, I would use the word 'abstract' rather than 'abstracted' and remove the comma between 'abstract' and 'works'.
In the 'Contact' page, first paragraph, you need a comma between 'purchase' and 'please'.
Second paragraph, I think you need the word 'to' between 'relating' and 'my'.
'Assignments' is misspelled.
Please forgive any perceived impertinence on my part for pointing out these errors. I'm a proofreader from way back, and your site deserves the best grammar to match the build and beautiful images contained within. I spot checked a few images and found more errors, but it's getting late. Maybe tomorrow...
Again, congratulations on building such a fine website!
I am a graduate student and am also incredibly picky about such errors. I've just been looking at this stuff for so long that I am reading the sentences over and over and not seeing the errors. I asked a few friends to go over things, but, they didn't catch anything new and I thought I might have caught everything.
Inspired by your findings, I'll try to go over things again tonight.
Thanks again!
I'd be on top of the world if I could build a site remotely as good as yours.
Excellent. Simple, clean, easy to get around. Very impressive actually for a build-it-yourself. I wasn't looking for grammar or spelling.... so the only suggestion I have at this point would be a bit stronger presence of some copyright information. I think "copyright" is only listed on the home page, the rest of the pages are "all rights reserved." Which is fine, but I would also add a statement, perhaps within and below the "about" section with a simply copyright statement.
Web site looks great and does a nice job of showcasing your images. Nice job.
Lon
The one thing not mentioned that I saw was that larger prints will probably be printed by www.elevatordigital.ca. I'd try to resolve that to a definite choice in the near future, even if it is a couple of 8x10 test prints to see if they satisfy your standards. It gives the impression of this being a new business with a lot of the details to be worked. Even if that is the case, it is not an impression you want to carry.
At first I didn't see the navigation bar and after finishing browsing the first gallery I was looking for a way to get back to your home page to go to the next gallery, when I found the navigation bar. Perhaps the print on the navigation bar could be a point or two larger, to make it a little less unnoticeable.
I'll definitely consider bumping up the text point sizes in the future. I hadn't realized that they were on the smallish side for most. It might take some time to implement as it will affect the spacing on some of my image titles (they simply get cropped if the title exceeds the spacing – not good).
I'll consider adding some form of copyright statement. Although, I am never convinced they do any good. Those who knowingly infringe will still do so and those who feel their use constitutes "fair use" (even when it doesn't) won't be dissuaded by any statement. I find some statements on other photographer's sites sound petty. If I include one some statement, it will probably more to offer exceptions (i.e. non-commercial use of my images at their 800px posted sizes) than to state my rights.
I will certainly make my comments about Elevator clearer. They are a very well regarded and established lab. I simply wanted to leave open the possibility of patronizing someone else as well. For example, I have also had work done by Toronto Image Works (the company founded by Burtynsky). Both are within minutes of me, but elevator is closer and has parking.
Thanks again everyone. I am glad it has been so well received.
I had been worried that there would be complaints about the way the large size images open. I had planned on flash galleries. However, I had problems with colour management (especially on my wide-gamut display) using flash. So, I found this html based template. I liked everything else about it, but, the way the images open up and then the rest of the screen darkens wouldn't have been my first choice. It does allow easy navigation between images at the large size, though.