#websitebuilding2

[kaimariephoto]

My Final Website

Introduction

Following my last pieces of research, I found that there weren’t many, if any, changes that I wanted to make. The website I have now feels like the best reflection of me and my work so in this post I will walk you through the current version and discuss the choices I made and why I feel that it matches with my work.

Contact Page

The only change I made since my last look at my website was to the contact page. I really struggled with a way to make this page more dynamic and no amount of research helped me come up with some creative ideas. They all felt lacklustre but maybe that is because the reality of the situation is if someone is on the contact page they have already decided that they are interested enough in you to want to move a step further. I decided to take a leaf from Holly Pickering’s book and keep it very straight forward. Initially I had a contact form but I was finding a lot of issues trying to submit it in my tests. As such I decided to simply list my contact details and the same information shared throughout the website about my practice to give a feeling of consistency and further reiterate just who I am as a photographer. While I am currently debating adding an image I have no plans to do so immediately as nothing in my current portfolio seems apt. It seemed logical to simplify it for the sake of avoiding any viewers from getting frustrated with a system that doesn’t work, if I happen to find a more eye-catching layout then it will be updated. However I will say that I like the simplicity, my work tends to be dramatic and fairytale-esque so it feels better to keep the website itself simple so as to not overwhelm the viewers. 

Home Page

I haven’t made any major adjustments to my homepage as since I found what worked it feels like the rest of my website just naturally pulled together and followed. The only slight change I made was to the caption you see when you enter. While I had originally put that I was Suffolk based as that is where I normally live, nowadays I am more often in London so it seemed a suitable change. I also added that I work worldwide as I am prone to travel and I felt it would open more avenues as cheesy as it may seem. Of all the pages I feel like this one, despite its simplicity, is the most effective. The rest of my website followed this colour scheme, the cold toned greens present throughout the website to give a feeling of consistency and to accurately portray my style which is undeniably nature inspired. I feel it sets the tone for the rest of the website and should someone be taken with my work so quickly the capture button will take them straight to the contact page where they can find all possible manners of getting in contact with me. There are also some headings towards the top of the image that allow you to navigate to my work or a brief about me page with my artist's statement. 

Work Page

My work page I simplified down from the original mosaic pattern I had to a 2xhowever many projects I have grid. It is basic but I feel it is the most effective due to just how different every series is. With all the different colours and lighting styles I use in my work, there is no easy way to make my work blend seamlessly together as I don’t do the same thing twice. As such there was no way to make it look natural and therefore I felt it was better to just have each project speak for itself. I also added a slight overlay that you can see in the right image. I chose a cold toned green to match the homepage with a light opacity that shows you the name of that particular set. Most of my projects are unnamed and I enjoy the task of trying to come up with a name for them especially if it is an old project I have dug out of the works. Currently I only have 4 projects listed however that will change as I shoot more stuff that I believe reflects my best work and matches with what I say I do in my artist statement.

About me

My page hasn’t changed in terms of aesthetic values, it is still a self portrait I took last summer in my back garden and a block of text to the right. The only substantial change is that I took segments from my artist’s statement to better show who I am as a photographer. I still kept a small section from the original about my inspiration but the focus now is more so on me as a photographer and a bit less about me personally. I am a bit concerned with the lack of personal information it might come across as too formal, however I think leaning more towards the professional is better. In the case of doing family portraits or weddings then being more personable is important, but as I am focusing on fashion photography I think it is important to come across a tad more on the serious side. This may change in coming months as I work on my practice and grow as a photographer but for now I am content with this and feel it is the best reflection of myself. If any other changes are made to this page I will post about it in another blog in the future.

Final Review

When I first started creating my website last semester I didn’t have a clue what I was doing or how to make my website look the way I wanted. It is an overwhelming thing to take on and while there's a lot of stuff online to help you and plenty of tutorials it can be hard to narrow down what it is that will be the most helpful and having some more direct technical guidance would have helped. That being said Squarespace is incredibly user friendly and once you know the basics you can really get to grips with it and make the website more customised. Using Squarespace there is the concern of the cost as it is the most expensive option but I believe it is worth the money and there is a reason it is so popular amongst photographers. 

The website I have now has taken some time to build and still needs some projects added but it now looks as sleek and professional as I first envisioned. I kept it minimalist and that has paid off as the photography really speaks for itself which is what I wanted. Initially I think I was so concerned about having a dynamic website that it got a bit busy and then ended up too simple but I have finally found the comfortable middle ground. There won’t be any major changes now aside from adding new projects as I shoot them.

This module has taught me a lot about the promotion of my work and really making the most of my images and even myself. A website makes it all a bit more real and offers a new challenge to focus on. There is a whole world of things that need to be considered in order to create an effective website and while I feel like I have just scratched the surface I am sure I will gain a deeper understanding of it as I properly begin my professional practice. 

[kaimariephoto]

Jessica Kobeissi: Website Research

Introduction

You may be familiar with the work of Jessica Kobeissi from my research last semester, but I just can’t help it, there are so many amazing young photographers that are emerging through social media rather than galleries that don’t get the credit they deserve. She is a massive inspiration as she juggles her usual practice, weddings and youtube channel. I would certainly love to see how she schedules enough time for it all since I can never find enough hours in the day. As such I thought looking through her website might offer some inspiration for my own. 

First Look

So to start with when you navigate yourself to her website (at www.jessicakobeissi.com) this is what you see. As you hover over the images a little arrow will show and allow you to click through the images you see in the centre of the screen. If you look in the top right you can see various headings to help you navigate through the website. Surprisingly what the website opens to is the Book I section rather than a homepage. Seeing as there is little else on the page I am pretty disappointed. For someone of her caliber I expected far more especially as she has a very large and varied portfolio. 

All in all I am very disappointed in the homepage and feel my own is far better and more effective. Perhaps when you have the social following that she does you don’t have to worry so much about what your website looks like as people already know everything they need to know about you. By having youtube videos people really get to know you as they see everything about your shooting style so anyone viewing your website probably already knows everything they want to about who you are and probably won’t be swayed by a simplistic website.

Editing Tutorials

One interesting aspect of her website was the Editing Tutorials section. These appear to be purchasable bundles that teach you how she retouches and colour grades her images whilst offering some of her actions for particular tone sets. Kobeissi has tutorials on her youtube but you could argue most of those are outdated compared to her current style. The actions also offer an easy way out for those who maybe aren’t as familiar with photoshop and lightroom or are looking for a quick way to get the tones that they want that aren’t as arduous as creating your own action for images. This is a clever little way to show a bit more of who you are and make some money on the side of commissions. I have a mountain of actions that I have created for various shoots over the years as I often grade things to look more ephemeral and whimsical. It is an interesting idea that I might implement later as a way of earning a little on the side if times are a bit quieter. This isn’t something I intend to use now however as I am not getting enough foot fall to my website to warrant it.

[kaimariephoto]

Holly Pickering: Website Research

Introduction

I wanted to see what would come up in a google search of photographers doing something similar to me and I was not disappointed. Holly Pickering is a London based photographer with a large portfolio and busy website to look through for ideas. Working mostly in lifestyle imagery she has covered a lot of bases for a lot of companies and has plenty of interesting things for me to analyse. I will say she cleverly put that while she is based in London she works internationally which I am sure has opened a lot more doors, something I want to do for myself.

First Look

When you first open the website (found at https://www.hollypickering.com/) it opens onto the Lifestyle section but with one large image creating a kind of door step to the rest of the website. This makes the website overall feel a bit more dynamic and gives a bit more story which is why I chose to do it for my own website, this one just further proves to me that this is the right choice for me. If you scroll down a little further you see a brief statement about the photographer and the work she does. I actually found this brief statement very inspiring as I always struggled to come up with what to say on my website because everything in my head is way too cheesy but this statement is just a great sum up. 

“Holly Pickering is an advertising and lifestyle photographer, based in London but working worldwide. Specialising in creative lifestyle photography with a natural, authentic feel, working for design and advertising agencies, global brands and editorial clients.  Holly specialises in producing imagery that is warm, stylish and engaging, whether it’s drinks or people photography with a large crew on location, or environmental portraiture.” 

 I will say that as you scroll further down it appears that every project she has ever done appears to be available to look through. While I admire her pride in her work and I wish I had that much confidence in myself, I do feel that it is a bit much. By including so many images many people will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work and will therefore be less motivated to see if the photographer suits what they have in mind. I think being selective also shows a level of confidence and maturity that while not many people initially twig will be something everyone considers subconsciously. 

Further Look

Like a lot of photographers Pickering uses a blog page to discuss her work. Each post features a bit more information on each project beyond just photos. They aren’t particularly long and just share some thought and progress on it. This idea has come up many times with other photographers and is something I am seriously beginning to consider but I am unsure if I can really dedicate the time necessary to write in depth blog posts. This method that Pickering uses offers something more attainable for people who are just starting out and might be trying to maintain education or a more standard job whilst their brand is just beginning to grow. It also stops the blogs from sounding too casual or immature which I think is vital. As I want to work in fashion or lifestyle imagery, I don’t want to sound like an overeager student that is willing to undercut other photographers, I want to come across as professional and worth the price tag that myself and all photographers should uphold themselves to.  The thing I am taking from this is that I need to be blogging to try and bring extra traffic to my website. 

Contact Section

The contact section, as with many I have seen in my research, is incredibly plain. Perhaps it is a case of it being unnecessary to decorate as the portfolios speak for themselves. In the case of Pickering it has some brief contact details and the details for what I am assuming is her representative agency. There is a section for a Newsletter that I am currently unsure what the contents are and I am curious what a photographer's newsletter could possibly contain. I have signed up to receive the newsletter so I will update this entry at a later date to see if it contains any particularly interesting information that I should be applying to my own website.