So you've all flamed my website…

Hey, first off, let me explain my background as it may explain some of my comments….

I own and run a live event and video production company. I am in no way a graphic designer and cannot give masses of feedback on the website but please don’t underestimate the importance of content within a good design.

Find out what you are good at and showcase it. Your website suggests that you aren’t really serious about any particular area, you just fancy making some money. Whilst there is nothing wrong with that as a motivation, people like a specialist.

I’ve watched the 2 videos on your site and my thoughts are that you’ve clearly put a lot more time into the MTB vid. It comes across as though the gym advert was thrown together. This may not be the case but first impression is everything. Again, don’t be afraid to specialise. If what you want to do is produce sports videos, go for that.

Think about your site from the customers point of view. If the customer is a business client, what do they want to see? I suspect, they want to know that you have experience, they want to see professionalism and they want to know that you are capable of representing their product well. Their presumption (correctly or incorrectly) is that the way you represent your own product is the pinnacle of your work.
If the customer is a private client, they want something that instills a sense of trust, they want to see an idea of the cost and they want to see an example of what you will provide. With regards to the cost element, theres nothing wrong with offerring a custom option but if that is all you offer, I have no idea whether you’re a 200 quid per video spare time cameraman or a 10 grand a day film producer. I’m more likely to look at the custom option from someone who is clearly in the ballpark of my budget.

I could go on about the business side but you did ask about the site so I’ll leave it at these points in summary:

1- Anyone can shoot video these days, People pay for expertise, speciality and peace of mind. Work out how to achieve and communicate these.

2- Anyone can build a website these days. Pay someone to build you a marketing tool. There is no point in spending a large amount of your time trying to build something if its not where your strength and passion lie. Marketing (including websites) done correctly is an investment which will produce a return

3- Separate the photography and video sides of the business. Again, there is massive benefit in perceived speciality. If i’m hiring someone to do a job for me either for business or privately, I want an expert. So do most people.

4- Look into copyright law. I suspect if the record label for the music you have used on the gym advert knew it was being used to promote a product and generate income, you’d be getting a bill. Regardless of anything else, if you want to appeal to businesses and organisations, you need to show that you have an in depth knowledge of the industry you’re working in. Copyright law is a major element of what you need to know if you are producing videos.

Hope this all helps somehow. If you want to talk more about the business side of what you are doing, feel free to email me

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.

+1, the videos could do with some serious work as well. Even some basic colour correction/grading would vastly improve the look of them.

Hows this so far?

404.

Post some of your photos up on some photography forums and ask for critique, I dare you!

The wedding photos are nowhere near good enough even for a basic, cheap service. Have you actually put effort into learning about photography theory/technique? Are you familiar with all the technical aspects? What happens if something goes wrong with a piece of gear?

Fair play for wanting to have a go but you’re just not ready yet, nowhere near.

And the video, isn’t it just a head cam video, who is going to pay for that?

There’s some really nice helpful advice in this thread btw, especially the guy running the video production company. Take advantage of it! Sorry to be harsh, but it needs saying, I’m not trying to be nasty.

damo2576 – Member
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.
POSTED 2 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

So can I have an opinion then, having set up my own business?

Yeah, you suck.

(-:

So can I have an opinion then, having set up my own business

Definitely. You’re the genius that convinced a company to pay thousands for a logo that was just a circle, that also happened to be the first letter of their name. Got to applaud that kind of blag. 😛

John, seriously take heed of the advice here..

The main recurring theme is to learn the trade. From the photos on your site there is no way I would take the chance on our wedding with you – those examples dont inspire confidence!

Good on you etc for trying, but what do you know about photography? I am a rank amateur and from your examples i’d prefer to take the photos myself..

This may not be what you want to hear, but the truth hurts sometimes.

Also with the legal side of things – have you cover?

Putting a shot of industrial waste on the home page is something of a master stroke to catch the wedding trade …

I said this in the previous thread but you need FAR more pictures on there (and better quality!) to start to sell yourself. The website comes a distant second to building up a quality gallery of images, learning your craft and deciding which area(s) you want to specialise in.

Buying a decent DSLR and a flashgun does not make you a professional photographer.

I’ve been doing freelance photography for years, done a few magazine photoshoots etc but there is no way on earth I would describe myself as a pro photographer. Competent amateur, yes but there are a lot of people on here who are competent amateurs – if you go and find the photography threads on this forum, some of the shots on there are superb. Yours, with no disrespect, are far short of that mark.

Stop worrying about the website. Go out, take photos, seek advice on the actual photos first. Then build the website. And PLEASE, get someone competent to spell check it first, there are some glaring errors in there!

Buying a decent DSLR and a flashgun does not make you a professional photographer.

*sulks*

Clicky for previous attempt
Comedy gold.

stilltortoise – Member

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.

Yep I know where you’re coming from and maybe not his target audience as it’s not your taste, however you did say – whilst impressive – which is what counts for his target audience, if you get my drift…

For God’s sake, take the advise given here. I’ve been taking photos for around thirty years, but there’s no way I consider myself competent enough to do it as a living. I personally know a couple with a business in Bath, who have really good clients, but still struggle at times getting business. There are many people out there who can take a half-way decent photo, and reckon to do it as a business. It’s bloody hard work, and you have to be very good, not just average. I have a friend on Fb who puts up photos on Bliphoto, as well as lots on Flickr and Fb, and she is a fantastic photographer, but refuses to even think about doing an exhibition in her home town. She is doing some photography for local businesses, and really deserves to do well, but she is a natural with a gift for composition.
Look at lots of photography books, look online. Above all, LEARN from what you see.
This is Alex and Billy’s site: http://www.stonemanandmetcalf.com/
This is my friend Dotty’s Bliphoto site: http://www.blipfoto.com/dotty
Look at what Dotty shoots; everything, and she really looks at things, she’s very observant, but when I worked with her she was an administrator looking after an account we had then for Quadriga, looking after their hotel in-house movies, I never had any idea 12 years ago she was even interested in photography.

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.

nail on the head.
your work isn’t that of a photographer but somebody with a camera. harsh but take it on the chin and improve, and don’t stop improving.
failing that find another job, average photographers are 2 a penny.

probably a bit late, but I had no idea what that website was for until someone said what you do. content is king, and you have none…

To reiterate, a very very talented guy I know left the corporate world to pursue his dream as a photographer. He is back working part time to guarantee a regular income!

And he is very, very good. There are a lot of brilliant photographers out there….

Ooooo

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1729739

Sounds like you need to start subscribing to this mag….

While we’re plugging mates-who-are-pro-photographers, here’s my contribution.

Sam Hofman – http://samhofman.co.uk/ – based in London.

And another – Jacob Gibbens is a well respected (in the bike world) photographer – http://www.jacobgibbins.co.uk

is this a who you know thread now?
i know Geoff Waugh have you heard of him? evidently he takes pics of cyclists and is a handy location drummer with good rhythm.

and here’s me http://www.garysmithphoto.com
i don’t do weddings or pics of your kids.

i don’t do weddings or pics of your kids.

..or links that work properly 🙂

http://www.garysmithphoto.com

just missed the edit cut-off, there’s i reason i leave the IT stuff to the geeks 😳

MrSmith I dont know why people use Flash websites and the navigation doesn’t flow IMO. Clicking on one of the portfolio links brings up a single image, then you have to find the thumbnails link on the other side of the window that appears, not good.

Jesus, aside from ‘WTF is it?’, that square abomination made out of old jeans. Could not even be bothered to take it outside and stick it on the lawn or something? Those photos really are very very poor and no better than a very poor casual snapshot. There mess and clutter everywhere in the images. This shows something of a lack of imagination / creativity

Overall, invest your time in learning photography before tring to set yourself up as a ‘pro’

Take big notice of learning some photography, you could self teach, learn from a friend who is a good amateur, work with a pro for a time or get lessons. Forget the site for now because if this is samples of your work then seriously you’ve just not got anything to offer.

http://www.jbmtbmedia.co.uk/www.jbmtbmedia.co.uk/Photo/Pages/Custom.html#4

MrSmith I dont know why people use Flash websites and the navigation doesn’t flow IMO. Clicking on one of the portfolio links brings up a single image, then you have to find the thumbnails link on the other side of the window that appears, not good.

yes. it’s a template site that i have just started using (literally last week) i might set it to autoplay? as i can change transitions etc but not layout, i’ll use the site for a year and have something bespoke lined up. (in HTML5) the good thing is the image scaling so people see a nice big image on their 24-27in imacs. and it does come with a ipad/iphone mirror site that i have yet to configure properly.
the site can’t be that bad as i’m shooting a poster campaign for canon that came my way because of the website refresh

I should have added that I did like the photos. 8)

Edit: Aimed at MrSmith not the OP 😉

What are you using to design your website? using something like wordpress would make it a lot easier for you and they have templates you can use to get a decent looking site out of the box – and they’re free.

As everyone has said, you want to have a serious look at your content, get out there and practice and then when you’re done, practice some more and that includes your processing as well. A horizon as wonky as the one in your ‘overlooking’ photo should have been sorted before anyone saw it, not to mention the dead space that is the blown out stained glass window.

You also need to look at what you call your pictures ‘front blur’ doesn’t really cut it and also doesn’t suggest you know the basics – it’s depth of field by the way.

The rags to riches album is more of a photo story and I’d remove the whole thing, it also looks like some stuff you shot while playing with the camera.

I’d rename Scenery to something a bit better, Landscapes maybe and then have a separate gallery for nature and macro work. Get rid of the lights below the roofline in the lightning pic and you’ve got a keeper there.

But the over-riding issue is that of quality, I wouldn’t hire you based on those efforts, you need to ask yourself if would you pay your hard earned money for them?

If you are serious about your photography then go on some courses, I expect your local college will have a few courses that’ll give you a good grounding. I can also suggest joining the talkphotography forums as there’s more advice on there than you’ll ever get here, you can also see the standard of work in the critique forums – this is what you should aim for as a minimum.

Lastly, good luck and if you really want it, stick at it and remember that advice isn’t meant to demoralise you it’s meant to help you and improve your work. Even if it does seem harsh at the time.

If people are throwing in their own website links now…. 🙂

Here’s my new weddings site I’ve been working on. It’s not finished yet – need to add some more galleries etc but not had much time lately.

http://www.grahamwynneweddings.com/

I used Photium after a recommendation off someone on here btw, seems quite a good easy way to build a standard photography site.

Here’s my other site which is based on a Worpress template, it seems to run quite slowly though for some reason and I think I’m going to move it over to Photium as well.

http://www.grahamwynnephoto.com/

I should have added that I did like the photos.

Edit: Aimed at MrSmith not the OP

😥 then 😳 after your edit

Here’s my new weddings site I’ve been working on. It’s not finished yet – need to add some more galleries etc but not had much time lately.

http://www.grahamwynneweddings.com/

Err Grum – where are the dodgy colours, gurning brides, and “humorous” captions?

That’s more like it Graham. Unfortunately the OP’s wedding photos are worse than most amateurs with a DSLR and half-decent eye could take, or indeed me and an Olympus XZ-1. I don’t like to be harsh but it feels a bit like the tone-deaf people who turn up on the X-Factor hoping to be the next Mariah Carey (insert your own OTT singer who records technically adept but terrible music…)

Some advice on the photography front (I’m no professional, but I’m self taught and I’ve earned some fairly reasonable money doing stuff around my own area of interest which is primarily football crowds).

There are many ways to learn but here’s what worked really well for me: Buy a cheap digital SLR from a manufacturer with really good backward compatibility with old lenses. I went for Pentax. You can get a good Pentax DSLR seconhand for not much – the *istDL2 isn’t a high-megapixel camera by today’s standards but it’s a great little camera and a really good learning tool.

Then go onto ebay and get some old manual lenses. 50mm prime, 28mm prime, they should be your first point of call. With Pentax you can get a really brilliant old lens – the 50mm SMC-M f1.7 – for about 30-40 quid.

Turn the camera onto the manual setting. Don’t go near the auto settings if you’re trying to learn. Learn how to use it in manual.

Then, buy a book, and read a bit about apeture settings and how they affect depth of field and the amount of light coming into the camera. It’s not rocket science, and with a DSLR you can experiment to your heart’s content. To me, a good object (rather than landscape) photo should have deliberate depth, whether it’s picking out a single person in a crowd, or at the other end of the scale, bringing everything into focus. Play, experiment, learn.

Oh, and one thing that really glares out at me on the wedding photos is the wonky backgrounds, particularly the altar shot. Take photos with straight backgrounds. If they’re not straight, get Photoshop or GIMP (which is free, and great, and to my mind negates the need to pay for photoshop) and correct them.

If anyone’s interested,

I think the OP stopped reading this thread about a fortnight ago.

fourcrossjohn is to photography what Realman is to distance selling – and I claim my £10….

PMSL @ GS

If anyone’s interested,

I think the OP stopped reading this thread about a fortnight ago.
probably, but he’ll be back when he wants his next bit of homework done for free

If anyone’s interested,

I think the OP stopped reading this thread about a fortnight ago.

If anyone’s interested,

I think the OP stopped posting on this thread about a fortnight ago.

…. thread to be continued in the classifieds – Camera for Sale 🙂 (will swap for spirit level)