[Closed] So you've all flamed my website...

You're the creative one, aren't you? You should know these things. 🙁

Eh ?.

Guys - help him out!

GEt someone to proof read - you had a grocer's apostrophe in a few places I saw

you should just come straight out, and ask/order someone to design it for you. That always goes really well 😀

Actually, as the site is showcasing photographic images, strip it right down and keep it as simple as possible, so as not to detract from this. Flat colours, minimal simple navigation. Simple typography. Lose the hideous fussy fonts and just use Helvetica or something

Link to the site again would be useful - not everyone read that thread 🙂

Obvious suggestions are:

- Get the text corrected
- Text, not pictures of text (aside from anything, google will miss it all in its results since it won't be able to read your text)
- Good quality pictures
- Colours/fonts - look at some other sites, find ones that you think look good and use that as a starting point. Ditto fonts. Simple and clean is better though IMO.

http://www.jbmtbmedia.co.uk/www.jbmtbmedia.co.uk/Home.html

second look at opther sites for people doing the same thing you are that you believe are succesful. Try and work out what it is about their site that's contributing to that success. Copy the best bits.

Don't reinvent the wheel, set up a Wordpress site and install a portfolio theme you like.

URL of just http://www.jbmtbmedia.co.uk/ for the home page?

I would go and get an off-the-shelf Portfolio site or Wordpress theme that already looks 90% of what you want and then tweak.

There are loads out there that will look a lot better than what you have and also take a lot of the pain out of it, so that you can concentrate on getting the best photos on there.

Just one word of caution - browse a reputable site for these as there is a lot of malicious code in 'Free' sites and themes.

fix that mess of a URL

Get a proof reader. Fast.

Make sure your samples and portfolio are easy to get at and given prominence.

Guys - help him out!

Comic Sans goes well everywhere I feel.

Seriously just use a Wordpress gallery theme. Lay folk won't know its a boggo theme adopted by you, only web developers will.

Or how about adopting tumblr or or such "social" type platform to make a more informal showcase.

hook up with a local printer to offer prints too. not many folk will want to go and find their own printer to get their wedding shots done.

your company name is annoying, as is the logo/font choice.

I do think you need to review your portfolio pictures too, tbh.

Yep get a better portfolio selection and let folk click on the images in the portfolio to see larger versions.

Wordpress and a decent theme 🙂

My mate is a professional photographer, he also likes to ride on his mountain bike 🙂
Here is his site: [url= http://www.expeditionphotos.com/ ]Look under sport for some biking photos ;)[/url]

Forget about the website and spend some time learning your craft. Your pictures were not very good even for a competent amateur. That doesn't mean that you should not pursue it as a career but if it is what you want to do then spend some time honing your skills/get some training before trying to entice people to pay you for your services.

a) Get someone, even employ someone, to at least proof read (and ideally edit) your copy. There are some inexcusable grammar and punctuation mistakes in there.

b) Sort out the URL.

c) Lose the pointless home page.

Shameless plug - if you need help with a), mail in profile.

You seem to have created images of all your text and loaded those onto the site, eg your about page is largely made up of this image;

When you've saved the image the JPEG compression has caused the text to have a slight blurriness to it rather than looking all clean and sharp.

I'm no expert but I thought displaying your pictures on a black background didn't show them to best effect.

Your portfolio page - the pictures on it are incredibly dark. If I stumbled across your page when looking for a photographer I'd think you were an amateur, and not a very good one at that. It's harsh, but there are lots of talented photographers out there.

Forget about the website and spend some time learning your craft. Your pictures were not very good even for a competent amateur. That doesn't mean that you should not pursue it as a career but if it is what you want to do then spend some time honing your skills/get some training before trying to entice people to pay you for your services.

Personally I agree with this, and if you can: get an apprenticeship or help out with a professional photographer, unpaid if necessary. Learn where to stand at weddings, what the money-shots are, what lenses you need and when...

Another good thing to do, would be to volunteer as a Photographer's Assistant with someone locally whose work you admire/respect.

They may not take you on (especially for a wedding), but if they do, the experience would be incredibly valuable.

As others have said - keep looking at wedding portfolios (or whatever other business areas you have) and try and work out what it is about them you like. Then work out how to achieve the same.

Even fairly straightforward wedding photography costs about £1000 these days so it's worth doing right. I did an 'alternative' wedding for free last summer and it was much more stressful than I'd imagined. I can see why a pro would have to charge £1000 (including all the post-processing etc.

I converse a lot with this guy on another forum. Lots of good ideas for what makes a stunning photo imo:
http://www.guycollierphotography.com

Joining a local photography club can be great too - they are a real eye-opener when it comes to critique (even compared to STW!). You'll learn fast.

Quick feedback - font is horrible, portfolio is horrible. Have a look at some profesional sites for ideas. Yours looks like it was knocked up in a student bedroom. (sorry)

I know nothing about websites or design, but for some reason, either white on black, or the font or a mixture of the two, that site is so hard to read, it gives me a headache. It's the only site I've ever looked at that which does that, so it may not be my eyes...

[i]Yours looks like it was knocked up in a student bedroom[/i]

not a design student though...

My mate is a professional photographer, he also likes to ride on his mountain bike

Good on you for seeking advice.

As a layman, with no knowledge of marketing/web design and so on, but being brutally honest, everything below the top inch of your homepage puts me off. Lose the twitter/facebook things, and the CRC advert, and the other advert. They make it look cheap.

Here's my cousin's website [url= http://www.reel-vision.co.uk/ ]http://www.reel-vision.co.uk/[/url] for you to peruse.

do you even get money from CRC for the banner ad?

I'm not sure that people should be colluding to improve the website.

The unlikely, but possible, outcome is that somebody hires the guy.

I'd suggest rather than trying to run what amounts to a scam 4xJohn faces up to his limitations as a photographer at this stage and does something about that.

Imagine how you'd feel if they were [b]your[/b] wedding photos.

I would add more than just your email, for your contact details too.

I'd suggest rather than trying to run what amounts to a scam 4xJohn faces up to his limitations as a photographer at this stage and does something about that.

Dont want to be neg. to the op, but he has a point.

"Suggesting areas that could be improved" != "flamed"

My first thought on opening the home page was - What is this site for? All I saw was a banner for CRC and some facebooky logos.

The homepage needs to show what you do and what you're trying to promote. In a glance. Showcase your work on it.

Like others have said, the font just doesn't work, and I'm not convinced by the black background.

Good on you for trying, and seeking feedback, but I think you need to take a glance around sites from other people in the same field, and see what they're doing and how they are attracting people in.

[url= http://www.garysimon.net/webdesign_tutorial/1 ]Read this[/url], it was the first site that popped up when I Googled "how to design a website".

1) Fix the URL, the double address thing doesn't look terribly professional

2) Proof read the site as there are a lot of errors on there

3) Fix the layout and content of the front page - at the moment it's a huge black void with a menu bar/advert/social network links at the top and an advert at the bottom.

4) Your logo looks like it says 'JB MYB Medla'. You might want to consider something more legible

5) Put up only your best work. Some of your photos, particularly the wedding ones, look a bit point-and-shoot rather than professional

6) Not sure how seriously you're taking the portrait/wedding photography thing, but if you are heading in that direction I'm assuming you'll also have exposure meters, reflectors, etc. which should be listed on the equipment page.

7) Split your portfolio into sections. If I'm looking for a wedding photographer, I want to see a range of photos from weddings, not random landscapes. I want to see a range of photos from the [i]same [/i]wedding, so I know that you don't turn up, take hundreds of photos but only four of them are any good. Also, allow the viewer to look at enlarged versions of the photos in the portfolio, because it's really hard to see the quality from a small image.

8) Same goes for the videos. If I'm looking for someone to video my wedding, I'm not interested in seeing mountain bikers, particularly not shakey bike-cam footage.

9) Sort out your fonts. You've got bold text on most of the pages that looks weirdly blurry on my monitor, and the header fonts varies from page to page (most seem to have the same font as your logo, but the Events page has a serif-Times New Roman-ish header)

10) Sort out your layout - the text varies across the pages from being left justified on most to centred on another.

11) Rainbows, googley eyes and spokey dokeys. You know it makes sense.

Dear god - every page is a giant image... that's not going to do anything for your SEO.

As a professional web developer I would suggest you to find someone who knows what they're doing to help you get the site into some kind of usable state. As someone suggested, you can go a long way with a Wordpress install, a decent theme, and a bit of tweaking to personalise for your business.

Dear god - every page is a giant image... that's not going to do anything for your SEO.

AAAAHHHH!! That's why the text is blurry!

I've not flamed it.

Is it rubbish enough for me to gain some amusement from?

In fact - is this a troll? If so, hats off because it's a bloody good one.

How about this for a bit of inspiration?

[url= http://yvettesbridalformal.com/index.htm ]http://yvettesbridalformal.com/index.htm[/url]

I too reckon you'd do worse than a Wordpress gallery theme. Easy to maintain and look good too. Tie it to your URL and you're away. The font for your logo is poor since you can't actually tell what some of the letters are meant to be. I said it on the previous thread too, but get a proof reader to sort the punctuation, spelling etc. Definitely ditch the ads too. On the upside I quite like pictures on a black background; it says "this is a photographer's website" to me.

I admire your get up and go but I must also echo some comments above that say the quality of your portfolio needs improving. Have you got any better shots you can use? If not, get out and take some. This is not just about the website but your work needs to stand up for itself too. I actually quite liked the MTB video you did but the stills are not pro standard in my opinion.

AlexSimon - Member
Another good thing to do, would be to volunteer as a Photographer's Assistant with someone locally whose work you admire/respect.

They may not take you on (especially for a wedding), but if they do, the experience would be incredibly valuable.

Sound advice, but don't ask local photographers - go further afield - be prepared to travel. You'll find that strangely enough, the local pros have no desire to train their future competition...

I get at least one email a fortnight from would-be photographers, asking if I'm looking for an assistant. I (almost) always reply with the same advice and a warning that payment is very unlikely to be involved even if they can find someone to take them under their wing.

In fact - is this a troll?

I've wondered this before about 4XJohn... I reckon he is, in which case the person behind it must be one of the most depressingly sad forumites there is.

If it's not then apologies, it's just a naive young lad. But I'm waging on troll.

the person behind it must be one of the most depressingly sad forumites there is.

..and he's up against some pretty damn stiff competition.

This guy [url= http://www.parrisphotography.co.uk/index.html ]Parris Photography[/url] may not have the [i]best[/i] site, although his galleries are nive and simple presentations of his work.... but he is blooming successful at what he does, maybe his photos will provide food for thought...

Not a troll 🙁

then answer some of the questions boy!

This guy Parris Photography may not have the best site, although his galleries are nive and simple presentations of his work.... but he is blooming successful at what he does, maybe his photos will provide food for thought...

Agreed. The website is poor both technically and visually but the work has mass commercial appeal, is well executed and ultimately that is what matters above everything else.

have you considered a company logo featuring a dolphin?

have you considered a company logo featuring a dolphin?

Don't tempt me, Frodo!

Hows this so far?

http://www.jbmtbmedia.co.uk/Site/Home.html

needs more dolphin

better but... lose the novelty names for photos, ditch the wire bound things, are you really set on JBMTB as a name? it's not exactly catchy. what about JB Photography?

the header images are 140kb each - you shoudl be able to resize them down to less than 30 at that resolution and stil lhave them sharp - would speed up page load a lot.

also, and this is a minor point, but it's not really a perfect kiss if he's missed and is licking her eye...

One other thought, if you are going to specialise in wedding photography my advice would be to offer a reportage style, a lot of people like the informality of it and more importantly the likelihood of seeing the bridesmaids in their knickers in greatly increased.

You've cheered me up no end if I ever get binned by the paper I work for!
Thank
Mike

The main problem is that your photos are not very good.

Are you using Facebook and Google+ to publicise your work? Useful as a tool to drive SEO rating too. Small linking logos at the bottom of the homepage.
Get more photos up and try a different iWeb theme!

I think everyone would agree that the site could benefit from one of these..
[img] [/img]

Only 1?

OK then..
[img] http://img.whynotgif.com/dog/dog-7.gif [/img][img] http://img.whynotgif.com/dog/dog-7.gi f" target="_blank">http://img.whynotgif.com/dog/dog-7.gif [/img][img] http://img.whynotgif.com/dog/dog-7.gi f"/> [/img]

Better.

Interesting that Parris photography site. Half the photos - whilst impressive - would put me off using them. Not to my taste at all and I reckon Mrs Stilltortoise would concur.

This is definitely a troll... If it isn't, theres far bigger problems than the website design!

[img] [/img]

I mean seriously, WTF?

Home page - Welcome is spurious and not needed.
SB

Going back to the OP. my one piece of advice - don't redesign to 'add more features', redesign to focus on the content and user experience. You ain't gonna get a commission because a potential customer likes some spangly feature, you'll get it because that person thinks you can do a professional job for them.

Then learn some basic composition and technical skills.

Go here [url=v] http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/48 [/url]

Learn how to use your camera. Then learn how to use off camera flash. Then do some work seconding for a real wedding photographer. Then make a website.

Quality troll.

Looking at it via Safari, on a Mac.

You really do need your business's name prominently on each page
The RSS subscribe thing... why?

But the main problem is the photos you have posted are not good. Just not good at all

A wedding is an important day. On ours half the official photos didn't come out (rain and equipment issues we were told) But even those that survived were better than yours, and nowhere near as good as those taken by my brother who does this as a sideline.

Re-evaluate your plan... please.. before you make paying punters very disappointed.

The main problem is that your photos are not very good.

This is an understatement. He is a crap photographer.

Anyway, here is a bunny with a loo roll on it's head.
[img] [/img]

Wow great picture. Ever thought about setting up a website and doing it of a living 🙂

Don't let a bunch of middle aged bullies in dead end jobs put you off! If you want to be a photographer do it, learn the craft first.

learn the craft first.

This is true also.

Bunny website? ooh, I should...

"This is where the parties [[i]sic[/i]] at!"

Really? I don't see cocaine [i]or [/i]hookers.

Photos are really bad. Sorry dude.

On a more constructive note...

I'm not clear on what you want to do. Are you wanting to be a wedding photographer or a jack-of-all-trades?

No harm in the latter but you might want to set up different sites for different brands but with the same "umbrella" name. Crucially though, have a look at the competition and critically evaluate the quality that you need to achieve to succeed.

Good luck.