[pb_red]

hi everyone,

i recently got my business license and set up a website: FlawedPhotos

the intent of the site is pretty simple - give people and easy way to view my photos and buy prints. at this point in time i am not interested in working for hire or anything like that.

so far i've heard that the site is too plain and that photos need descriptions and i will definitely work on both.


however, if anyone has any other feedback, criticism, suggestions, etc, i'd love to hear it.

thanks!

[twilhelm]

I like the simplicity of the site. It's all about the photo's anyhow.

[FullertonImages]

For the website, it's feel a bit generic to me. And it's clearly not finished, which is a big faux pas in my opinion. I really don't like when people post website that aren't finished, and think that putting 'under construction' or something like that makes it ok. To me it says that the person doesn't value completing what they started and focus too much on small parts instead of the complete picture. Just my opinion.

As forthe wok, I think your idea is cool, but I think that is something that is pretty hard to execute. We all seem to like those less then perfect shots, that forsome reason speak volumes. However, most of them, I think, tend to fall in to the lucky or accidental category. They also always have something within them the overrules whatever technical problems that they might have. Some of my favorite pictures from my wedding are not from the pro, but from other people who were snapping 'bad' shots, but captured awesome moments. THe moment will always trump the technique. But don't let it become an excuse for just having bad photos. There still needs to be something in them that redeems them. Also, most of the images I think of I think of this, whether on purpose of by accident, still adhere to things like the rules of composition, pleasing light, and good poses of interaction. It's just that htye have also captures some magical moment. I think it's a great idea like I said, but it will be very difficult for it to come across in a way that doesn't just seem like a bunch of mistakes. It's a good pursuit and will definitely cause growth. Good luck!

[George Lama]

Looks like a SmugMug site - is that where you're hosting it? If so, I think your images might be too heavy as they're taking a while to load.

You own the domain flawedphotos.com - why use a gmail address? You typically get free email accounts when you subscribe to a webhost, so I suggest you use that instead.

You might also not want to just post your email address in plain view as most spam crawlers will snag it. If possible stick to the Contact option you already have.

Titling a tab "All My Photos" seems to cheapen the fact that this is your portfolio/gallery of work. You can call it
- Images
- Gallery
- Photographs

If you want to cheapen it, call it Pixes or Pics - Seen it done on "pro" websites


As far as the concept of Flawed Photos - I'd suggest you let the concept of Flawed Photos become more of the persona and less about the photos. You saying your photos are flawed takes away from a simple concept that applies our work:
* Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Our art is completely subjective, therefore who is to say a photo is flawed or not?

For example - The photo of the old person's hand is stunning, gritty, raw, and worked just as is to deliver a powerful message about the ravages of time on someone with a long life. Why would I even think of it as flawed?

[pb_red]

thanks for the feedback everyone!

GB, this is my first attempt at a website so i will definitely make mistakes but i hope to learn from them and get somewhere.
as for the site being "unfinished," well, google puts out beta products to the public and keep them as betas for years (gmail is a good example)... so it's not unheard of...

FR, the site is hosted by Zenfolio, which, after careful consideration was chosen over smugmug. i could have hosted the site myself but it's way too much work. i also ran my own email server and got so much spam that i had to stop and just went with gmail. i will take the email adress off the site because like you said it definitely invite spammers so thanks for the tip!
wrt load speed, it works well for me but i've heard of zenfolio users complaining so hopefully that will improve. also, i uploaded full resolution pics in case i actually get print orders where higher res could be a benefit.

as for the concept, i hate to say it but that is also a work in progress
people i've talked to seem to like the idea so i'll just have to see where it goes.
and i'm sure that plenty of people could find flaws in that "old woman's hand" photo - too much PP, not enough PP, poor lighting, too noisy, too dark, too light, was not taken with a FF CaNikon , etc

[paulelescoces]

firstly apoligies... but I believe in honesty.

I dont like the site much, while each viewer will look for... and be turned off by different things I "personally" think this site lacks a lot of polish, I also find it to look very unfinished.

I think websites have come a long way in recent years and this looks somewhat "old & basic", I also never managed to see any more photos than the one that immediately shows on the homepage.

I also found the post by General Benson who also has a new site... I much prefer the layout, level of polish etc... in GBs site.

[pb_red]

i used the feedback from users here and others and modified the site a little.

i think it looks cleaner now although i am still working on figuring out the ins-and-outs of zenfolio features.

i guess it's version 0.2 now