How to: Design a Photo Website
Start this year off right and re-design your photo website in such a way that every editor who looks at it doesn’t scream. You may think I’m being hyperbolic but there you would be wrong. Day after day I am sent to different websites submitted by photographers looking for more work. And day after day I find myself pouring another glass of water (because I can’t have anything stronger at work) as I hold my head wondering: what were they thinking?
Now don’t get me wrong, I judge each and every submission based on their technical skill and creative eye but sometimes a badly designed website can get in the way of that. Which leads me to number one:
• Design Your Site to Allow the Viewing of Photos – This should be obvious and yet I continually find myself trying to view photos that are rolling around the screen. Gallery plugins like Postcard Viewer and TiltViewer have no place in the mesosphere of professional photography.
• Play ‘Em Big – One of the greatest freedoms photographers inherited from the internet was liberty from the chains of a printing budget. You have practically unlimited space to show off your work! Now that your photos are holding still, let me really look at them. Be proud of that tack sharp focus. Let me see the detail in your blacks! That being said, there is one caveat:
• Use a Proper File Size - Don’t use the same file on the Internet as you would to print an 8×10. Screen resolution is limited so a larger file won’t improve the quality of your image online. “Okay but I’m lazy and I don’t want to set up an action to reduce the size of my files” > Large files sizes won’t help, but they will hinder. Large file sizes will increase your site’s load time > annoying an editor and turning off potential clients.
• “Gotta have a Gimmick” is good advice for a striptease, not a website – Whether it’s snow falling across the page or text streaming out of my cursor announcing your Valentine’s Day sale, gimmicks are distracting and unprofessional. Music too is a contrived artifice that distracts from your work. If for some reason you believe the technical merit of your photos is somehow amplified by the playing of “Marry Me” by Train, at least include a way to TURN IT OFF in case your visitors disagree with you.
•User Interface should be intuitive – Pull your website up on your computer and let a friend play with it. Even better: give them a task, ask them to find something, and see how well they do. Can they find your navigation bar? Can they scroll through the images? Do your collection headers make sense? or are they too… creative? If they can’t find your portraits, off are neither can a potential employer or new client.
•Social media sites aren’t portfolios- Facebook, Google+, and Flickr are all great ways of showing off your work and getting more business. They are not, however, a replacement for a professional portfolio. Even if you have no budget and can’t write code, there are viable options to display your work in a legitimate format.
•Use a social media site to supplement your portfolio – If there is a place to submit a second URL for your work, adding a link to a social media site can give you the chance to show off your most recent work. Caveats:
- I should not have to be your friend to view the material on your site
- There should be photos
- These photos should not be exactly the same as the photos on your professional site
- This should be a business page, not your personal timeline
•Use a legible font – This, I think, should be self-explanatory but for those of you who require more information, I’ll elaborate:
- Each character should be discernible from the others
- Each character should be discernible as a character from the language in which you are writing
- The color of your font should contrast the color of your page background
- Use of Comic Sans is the most egregious of sins
•Edit – Just because there is practically an unlimited amount of space on your website to host photos doesn’t mean you should display every photo you’ve ever taken. You’re portfolio should be the best of the best. This is your opportunity to weed out all of the “almosts” – the photos where you focused on her nose instead of her eyes and the one where the exposure or lighting wasn’t quite right. You wouldn’t print a photo where the subject closed his eyes so don’t put it in your portfolio either. Next, bake your friendly neighborhood photo editor some cookies and ask them to go over what you have. They’ll be able to spot the frames you’ve included in the collection because of an emotional attachment. Time to let go, look at the images objectively, and only include those with real technical merit.
•Give them what they ask for – If an account applies for a job and they ask for a PDF of the applicant’s resume – the applicant should give the potential employer just that: a PDF of their resume. If an editor ask for a URL or link to your portfolio, they are asking for a domain name. Note: it usually starts with a “www” and ends with a “.com” or “.net”.
•Spell Check – You think I’m referring to the copy on your page but, in fact, you are only partly correct. Reading the copy on your site would imply I found it at all. The first rule when sending out your portfolio for review should always be that you spell the URL correctly.
Moving Cross Country
On Friday, September 30 I set out from my Silver Spring, MD home to move across the country.
As many may remember, I was laid-off from The Gazette in June and have been looking for a new path ever since. I found my new full-time calling in the wedding photography agency and took a position as a content editor at a wedding photography agency in San Francisco, CA.
Thus my family and I loaded all of the possessions I could fit into the trunk of my Hyundai Elantra and I hit the road, accompanied by my boyfriend and (now) fellow Bay Area resident, Joey Baker.
The following photos are a sampling of those taken with my iPhone 4 out the window of a moving vehicle.
Sunset our firt night on the road over Chicago, Illinois.
Sunrise Day 2 in Iowa
Day 2 – Sunset in Wyoming
Day 3 – Nevada
Our new neighborhood – San Francisco, CA
Heartland Panoramas
A couple panoramas from my roadtrip:
The cascades lobby at the Gaylord National Hotel in Nashville, TN.
The stage at the Grande Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.
The gravestones of Elivs Presley, his mother, father, and grandmother at Graceland in Memphis, TN.
The track at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY.
Laid-Off: One Last Gazette Blog
As you may have heard, I was laid-off from my Staff Photographer position at The Gazette this past Thursday. I am now a product of the recession – or maybe the industry? Anyway you look at it, I am just another pin in the map of Paper Cuts.
Solidarity people.
Before I start my job search I wanted to tie up a few loose ends here on the blog and post my last photos from my time at the paper.
Colleen Gunn, 8, (right) and Oliver Kristeyra, 8, both of Mount Rainier tie their messages together as other members of the group dance around them during the “Rock Garden for Peace” ceremony conducted by Patricia Bullitt with the Little Friends For Peace at the Peace Park in Mount Rainier, MD
Deacon Lynette Washington dances in the aisles to “Days of Elijah” during the tribute service for Bishop John Meares at Evangel Cathedral in Upper Marlboro, MD. Washington first met Meares at Evangel Temple in Northeast Washington DC.
I think this second image is particularly fitting for this post; of the funerals I’ve attended, Bishop Meares’ was the first one I could really call a “celebration of life.”
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my co-workers for their amazing support. Over the past two years I have grown with you, groaned with you, laughed with you and learned from you. You have not only been colleagues, but my teachers and my friends. Wherever the next phase in my life takes me, I will be grateful for the time we had together and I hope we can stay in touch.
**images are reprinted with permission from The Gazette
Resume Version 2.011
I’ve been through many reincarnations of my resume.
In high school it was a simple word document set up to the specifications of the grammar book we were given back in 6th grade: black letters on white paper with your name centered up top and then the subsequent listings of education, work experience, etc. It was pretty short.
Then in college it was given a major overhaul. (The Magnificent and Honorable) Sherri Taylor said I was in a creative field and my resume should reflect that. After several revisions, it came to posses a general form that it would keep for many years. The header fonts were Futura to match my logo. The copy fonts were Calisto, a readable simple serif that I would carry over onto business cards, cover letters, and my website.
At first it was all black and white – then I decided to add my signature green. My logo made an appearance as a watermark in the lower right. I changed my card stock from a sparkly velum, to thick, textured stuff. I resized it for A1 so it would stick out in a pile but the general form was constant and a few months ago I decided (like Barack Obama said) it’s time for a change.
I wanted it to be visual but still fit in with the rest of my brand. I decided to keep my green and my Futura but I flipped the top two sections on their heads. I integrated the education and experience and made it horizontal, organizing it as a timeline. I also added the color orange (Go Cuse!).
People would be looking at this information on the web or at least at a computer; so I wanted the resume to be interactive. Readers should be able to click an icon or a title and be transported to the corresponding webpage – No more: “What’s “The Daily Orange” and going to Google. One click from the resume itself and myriads of information would be at their fingertips.
While the illustration and design was created in Adobe Illustrator, the links were done using the advanced editing tools in Acrobat, which is why the final product is a PDF. I have dallied with the idea of using the new Ai > Canvas plugin and presenting everything in HTML5 (something I still intend to do) but for actual application purposes, I thought the PDF more practical and started there.
I’d love to know what you think!
Weekend Camera – the IPhone4
This past weekend i went up to my Alma Mater for a long weekend to see my Brockway babies before they graduated.
NOTE: These children did not actually come out of my uterus. They were freshmen when I was a senior and I was their Resident Advisor. It was a unique floor.
As I was packing up and getting ready to go, I thought to myself in the usual way: ooooo. I need to take a camera. I looked over at Marilyn – my gorgeous Nikon D300. I love her dearly but her pro-look would never fly in the mall or campus bars. I wanted inconspicuous and light but also control and clarity.
I was about to ask to borrow my mother’s Nikon happy snappy when it occurred to me that I already owned a point and shoot of my own. It was everything I wanted and I already carried it with me everywhere: it was my phone! It was my iPhone4!!!!
Here are a few of my favorite snaps from the weekend. They have been edited in-phone with the camera+ app.
Boy Scout Stream Clean-up
The last few weekends I’ve had quite a few clean-up assignments. I suppose it’s springtime and people are going outside after a long winter and realizing how much litter and trash has accumulated in their communities.
This little nook off Broad Creek in Fort Washington was some of the worst I’ve seen. Apparently, the trash floats in on high tide and then gets trapped when the tide goes out again. Thankfully, this small but dedicated group of Boy Scouts was there to fish out the flip flops, soccer balls, and water bottles.
Aaron Carmichael, 6, of Ft. Washington find a flip flop while helping to clean-up Broad Creek with other Boy Scouts from his pack in Fort Washington, MD on Saturday.
Fort Washington 04/9/11
The Sweater Set – Album Release Concert
Last night I went to The Sweater Set‘s album release concert at the Strathmore Mansion in Bethesda, MD. SO INCREDIBLE! If you’ve read previous entries about this girl duo you know that they are multi-taskers extraordinaire! Singer/Songwriters who perform while playing more instruments at the same time than seems possible.
The new album is Goldmine. Do these pics look familiar?
Yes, the one on the left is from our most recent shoot at Gold Leaf Studios. I also picked up a copy of one of their other albums: Live at the IMJ. Those pics were taken the year prior at Annie Cream Cheese in Georgetown just before they embarked on a tour of vintage shops.
Check out their music for yourselves: The City Paper has a free download of “Downstream” off their latest album.
A Georgia O’Keeffe Moment – Photographing Spring Flowers
And so begin the months of spending hours in the garden. This past Monday morning it was weeding, then mulching, then feeding the rose bushes. The problem with gardening is that the more work you do in them, the better and faster things grow. It’s a vicious VICIOUS cycle.
But D*MN my flowers look good.
Right now it’s mostly tulips and a few hyacinth (my favorite smell in the whole world followed shortly by lilies). I shot them after a brief sun shower so that everything would be happy and vibrant and there would be little rain drops on all the petals. (NOTE: when shooting after rain bring your Easy Knees if you don’t want wet, muddy jeans.)
Equipment-wise, I used my trusty Nikon D300 and a Tamron lens I’ve had for ages: an aspherical 28-300mm. She’s not real quick on the auto-focus but she’s lightweight and perfect for shoots like this one where things don’t move.
It was during the post-processing that I had my Georgia O’Keeffe moment. I decided to go with black and white for a few of these so you could really focus in on the sensual lines and graphic shapes.
Tulip after a rain storm in spring
Tulip after a rain storm in spring
Tulip after a rain storm in spring with Geogia O'Keefe inspired post-processing
Tulip after a rain storm in spring with Geogia O'Keefe inspired post-processing
Tulip after a rain storm in spring
Tulip after a rain storm in spring
Spring hyacinth
Panoramas from Napa and SF
A few weekends ago, my darling boyfriend took me to Napa. It was GORGEOUS! and I’m completely in love with the place. The first panorama is the view from the terrace at Joseph Phelps Vineyards in St. Helena. The Insignia is DELICIOUS!
(click the image to view full-size)
On Monday (my usual weekend day but not Boyf’s), I went sightseeing around San Francisco. The second shot is of the skyline, taken off the back of a ferry on my way to Alcatraz Island.
Spring Jewelry Part 2 – Amethyst Ring
I tried another spring + jewelry shoot Monday morning. I had actually awoken to a lightning storm but by 10 the sun was out and hitting the raindrops in all their sparkling glory – much like this ring!
My original idea was to make the ring look like it was sprouting from the ground like one of the spring flowers. It took quite a few different kinds leaves before I found a set that worked just right – the winners belong to a hyacinth.
One my way back inside, though, I couldn’t help but notice the lovely daffodils. No leftover raindrops on these blooms but I thought the color coordination was too good to pass up.
(No flowers were harmed in the making of these images :D)
Bracelets & Tulips
The sunlight and warm weather inspired me for this shoot. A colorful bracelet with spring tulips to show them off. They’re sapphires btw and yes, I did use my new favorite foil reflector :)
Evernote & Wine
My relationship with alcohol is a funny one. I HATE BEER. It smells bad. Scratch that. It smells GROSS. I like whiskey :) and other hard liquors. I like the art of mixology.
Wine, however, is a grey area.
I drank a few glasses of wine back in middle school. I was in Bordeaux doing a student exchange. It was pretty tasty, as I remember. But then I took a decade-long abstinence from the stuff.
- Reason #1: in the US you need to be 21 to drink
- Reason #2: an experience in college convinced me I wasn’t a fan. (READ: wine in a box = ew)
That’s about when I started dating a California boy …and I was introduced to Pinot Noir :)
After a couple months of gingerly dipping my toes in the world of vino (and realizing I quite liked certain varieties) I decided to jump head first. I’m not saying I want to become a sommelier or anything, just educated enough to run with the likes of Lindsay Lohan’s character in The Parent Trap. One way I’m doing this is by keeping a wine journal via the program Evernote.
Evernote is this awesome little program that acts like a virtual scrapbook. You can pull in links and images, and make notes on what you’ve seen or read or learned. It keeps all of your notes organized by topic and date. You can even conduct a search on the text IN IMAGES.
For each bottle of wine I drink, I record the variety, year, where it’s from, who I drank it with, and where I got it. Then I make observations about the color, taste, and smell. For each entry, I also include a photo, which is the part I’ve recently been having the most fun with:
Polar Plunge
A couple weeks ago I went to my first Polar Plunge event and it was AWESOME! These are my two favorite photos from the event:
Headshots for Brian
(that title reminds me of the book: Blueberries for Sal!)
Recently had the opportunity to shoot a few headshots for friend and fellow Syracuse U alum, Brian Spendley. The day was not as picturesque as professionally predicted (#typicalDC) and upon further review the location choice of the Strathmore was ill-formed on my part entirely after forgetting that most of the previously gorgeous field is now a pile of dirt. The pics turned out rather well, though (#IMHO). Here’s my fave, chosen for the way the light shadow sculpts the left side of his face and the catchlights in both eyes:
Trial by Foil
Last week I stumbled upon a rather cool link about a DIY home studio using a piece of white paper on a window and some foil. Seeing as I have an abundance of awesome perfume bottles in my house I chose the Lola variety to be my subject for my first go at it. My final result turned out rather well, I think. Now, to branch out. I’m thinking food…
Cute Kids …and parents!
As you might be aware, we’ve had a rather horrific string of homicides in Prince George’s County, Md. The other day my assignment was to shoot the memorial service of one of the victims. Funerals are one of the most emotionally draining shoots for a photographer, so I was thankful that right after I was lucky enough to attend Family Gym night at University Park Elementary in Hyattsville. What I found was astonishing! Not only were the kids totally into the games and exercising but the parents were as well!
(from right) Graham Brown, of University Park, helps his daughter Isobella Estrada-Brown, 8, a second grader, complete her cup stacking challenge at Family Gym Night at University Park Elementary School in Hyattsville, MD on January 20, 2011.
Hyattsville 1/20/11
p.s. I’d like to thank Dr. Hite, the PG Superintendent, for replacing the bulbs in University Park’s gym.
Snow (or the lack thereof)
It’s been a hard work week for me; everything I’m assigned seems to get cancelled! No basketball. No Board of Ed meeting. I feel cursed… and antsy. I want to take pictures, darnit! So I went out to the local Park, Sligo Creek, and shot a few frames of the recent dusting. This is my fave:
Making it a merry Christmas
Leading up to the holidays I’ve had a lot of assignments focusing on local groups who are doing their best to make sure the needy families in our area have smiles on their faces this Christmas. The outpouring of love and spirit of giving is awe inspiring (especially considering the current economic climate.)
Of all the photos I’ve taken on the topic this one is the best. No mountains of food or gift basket assembly lines – this little boy stole my heart. Volunteers from the Laurel Advocacy and Referral Service had just loaded mountain of food and presents into the trunk of his mini-van and even though the presents were wrapped you could tell he felt like he shouldn’t be witnessing this magic.
Christmas list for Photographers
So you’ve got a photographer in your life. They’re awesome and hip and you love them but it’s not like you can go out and buy that D3 they’ve been lusting after. So what to do???? Here’s a list of a few things to get your photog under $40:
Is your photog friend pretty artsy? Love being creative with their work? The bokeh kit from photojojo will turn the blurry lights in their night shots into 21 different shapes. $25
A personalized strap from HighKey is a great idea for any photographer with their own business. While you won’t be able to get the strap in time you can place your order, then allow them to design it themselves. $34.95
These little lens bracelets are adorably geeky. 1 for $10 – 2 for $15
Yes, flickr is free but there are also such things as pro accounts that give you UNLIMITED uploads and storage as well as ad free browsing. $24.95/ per year
There are tons of graphic tees made with photographers in mind. One of my favorites is from design-by-humans called photographic memory because of it’s beautiful colors and illustration. $17**for more awesome photo tees**
The camera lens mug combines two things photogs keep closest to their heart: lenses and caffeine. Just make sure you know what side of the epic Canon v Nikon battle your photog plays for before ordering. Cannon $24 Nikon Zoom $30
Photo Advent – Do you have a ref butt shrinker?
Disclaimer: Refs. Umps. Blues. Call them what you will, they get a pretty raw deal. They go out there and despite how blatant a foul is, half the people aren’t going to like their call. It’s a thankless job and I feel kinda sorry for them. That being said:
Why are they ALWAYS in my way? I mean, I understand that they are of vital importance to the game and all, but sometimes I think they take their job a little too seriously. The running up and down the field ad infinitum. The darned whistle blowing that penetrates even the best earbuds.
And just when you think that you have successfully evaded them, they decide to put their big ref butt right in the middle of your shot. AND IT’S WHITE! IS THERE NO MERCY!?!?!?!
No rear-end has ever irked me more than this one. It was this past fall. October 16. On a 60degree, sunny Saturday, and I had the good fortune as to be assigned Bowie High School’s Homecoming game versus the Raiders of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Snap.
Fade Back.
Pass
Leap.
INTERCEPTION???
Click. click. Click. CLICK CLICK CLICK.
Joy of digital and pressing that playback button.
Utter misery.
Here’s hoping Santa puts a ref butt-shrinker in your stocking. Merry Christmas.
PG Science Bowl
I LOVE the Prince George’s County Science Bowl! It is an annual science game show of elementary and middle schools conducted by Prince George’s County Public Schools and it’s AWESOME! The kids get SO into it: they laugh, they cry, it’s better than Cats! and you LEARN STUFF! like that the largest digital camera is in fact on top of a volcano in Hawaii. So friggin’ cool :D
My love, however, is not necessarily echoed by many of the other journalists in my office. So this year, in order to get more people (emotionally) involved in what is possibly the greatest county-specific tournament of all time, we took a page from the NCAA March Madness handbook and created brackets!
(from left) Christopher Branche, Zoie Jones, and Cierra Owens from Rosaryville Elementary compete in the Science Bowl tournament at Bonnie F. Johns Educational Media Center in Landover, MD on November 16, 2010.
from left) Noreen Quilala, Andrew Quiteles, and Raymart Domagas of Flintstone Elementary compete in the Science Bowl tournament at Bonnie F. Johns Educational Media Center in Landover, MD on November 16, 2010.
Noreen Quilala from Flintstone Elementary competes in the Science Bowl tournament at Bonnie F. Johns Educational Media Center in Landover, MD on November 16, 2010.
Operami Olayiwda gives a thumbs up after his team from Beacon Heights Elementary won the first round in the Science Bowl tournament at Bonnie F. Johns Educational Media Center in Landover, MD on November 16, 2010.
Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade
Last Saturday, Silver Spring held its annual Thanksgiving parade. I’ve shot this event before and, while there isn’t a lack of photographable happenings, much of the goings on have nothing to do with Thanksgiving. Not a turkey, pilgrim, or indian to be seen – and quite a few of the parade participants as well as spectators are in the wrong holiday spirit. However, nothing like a procession of ballerinas and santa to bring out the cute kids :D
Clara Howard, 4, of Chevy Chase, gasps as she sees her ballerina namesake on the Maryland Youth Ballet’s Nutcracker float with her brother Teddy Howard, 5, at the annual Thanksgiving Parade in downtown Silver Spring, MD on November 20, 2010.
A ballerina from the Maryland Youth Ballet waves as she rides on the Nutcracker float.
Sebastian Breman, 3, of Silver Spring, and Doron Kefer, 3, of Silver Spring, wave flags they received from the Boy Scouts of America during the annual Thanksgiving Parade.
Santa Clause, as per tradition, rides the last float.