© Jaime Hogge
When you’re in school and they tell you that for every day shooting there are 10 days working your ass off doing other things to maintain/grow your business, listen to them. Outside of a few random snapshots, my camera has been safely tucked away most of the week as I’ve been going full speed on creating a new website. I know a pretty decent amount of coding but I’m not an expert so I’m sure that’s contributing to how much time this is taking, but even for web-geniuses it’s a very menial task. I’ve been sitting here making my eyes dry out all day and into the night while my dog makes weird/disgusting noises and gets pissed off that I’m not frolicking with him. Side note: if you get a pug-related dog be ready for some strange, strange noises and habits. Back to websiting!
© Jaime Hogge
Why do it myself you ask? Well, for starters I don’t have an exact image in my head of what I want in a site which makes some designers see dollar signs, and dollars aren’t something I have an overload of at the moment. I’ve grown tired of my current set up, and I don’t think I want a cookie-cutter template site anymore. That’s not to say I have an issue with these sites, I’d just like a little more freedom. I really like the idea of knowing how my site works. That way if there is a problem, I can at least attempt to fix it. It’s also nice just because I have much more flexibility from an aesthetic standpoint which isn’t a luxury I have with my current site.
This is where you guys (specifically people in the photo editing/art directing/art buying world) come in. What are your likes and dislikes in a photographer’s website? How important is anything outside of the content? As I sit here picking from endless fonts with pixel sized differences I wonder if these details are even looked at or cared about by potential clients. Are thumbnails necessary? Does having a slideshow style portfolio that shows one or two images at a time bug you? How many sections are good? Do you prefer seeing work broken up or would you rather just have it all?
The build I’m working on right now is extremely minimal, two-tone, don’t-take-attention-away-from-the-photography simple. It’s been surprisingly complicated to code for something that started out as such a simple idea and continues to look like a simple idea. I’m still trying to figure out what I want my basic sections to be; my current site is basically just 2 divisions: work and published work. The framework that I’m using for my new site would allow me to better present different projects as well as general and commissioned work. This sounds like a good thing to me, but I have no idea how my target audience feels about stuff like that.
One of the hardest aspects of this process is finding a happy medium between what I like and what the people the site is built for like. For myself, I like simplicity. I like the images to be basically the only focus of the site. Some photographers have quite elaborate websites which are neat to look at, but they really take away from the images I find. Also some others just seem to have too much going on at the same time – I like how I’m presented with a ton of images right away but it’s almost too much. Of course I probably see all of these things different than a PE, AD or AB because they check out hundreds more photographer/portfolio sites, and they’re probably looking for different things. I’d love to hear from you guys on this so go on, opinionate away!
Oh and also, check out the 2010 Toronto Life Eating & Drinking guide if you have a minute, my stuff is on the bottom left of the cover as well as some images peppered throughout the issue.
© Jaime Hogge
© Jaime Hogge
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I’m not sure if it’s a sign of the poor economy or if it’s just Vancouver’s photo industry but it seems that photographers here are having a tough time. As your profit margins decrease you’ll need to reduce overhead. This is definitely hitting home with a few locals. When you hear a couple of Vancouver’s most experienced/talented photographers having to give up their studios you can’t help ask yourself a few questions. The first being why? Sure the economy is bad but is there more to it than just that?
Vancouver seems to be known for doing great work at ridiculously low rates, which has been discussed on Heather’s blog in the past. I hear stories of low-ballers in town making it difficult for everybody. There seems to be a lot of negativity brewing. Is it possible to sustain a photo business in Vancouver? Am I going to need to move to Toronto? Am I ok with this or do I want to be more proactive and help change the game in Vancouver? For those of you in the know, how are Toronto’s photographers doing? Is it the same situation everywhere? It’s possible that Vancouver is just not big enough to sustain more than a handful of photographers at the top of their game?
For now I’m staying positive and I’ll just keep on doing what I’m doing. My overhead is low and I feel pretty good with where I’m at. Vancouver’s market is relatively small, no question, and that’s why I want to make sure to reach much further with my marketing.
Switching gears now, I’ll give you the run down of my last week.
First, I was happy to get a chance to shoot a few portraits of Uppercase Magazine’s co-creator, Deidre Martin. She’s a writer, curator, teacher and maintains a personal website called Great Wolf Press. Here’s my fav from the day:
© Grant Harder
I was also asked to shoot portraits of Sugar Tuesday’s three main bloggers. The site should be launching soon and will celebrate South Asian fashion and culture. The site’s creator, Harjot Bassra, was the person behind former magazine iStyle. We took over the penthouse suite of the Loden Hotel for a few hours. If it’s in your budget I highly recommend staying there.
As I am putting together a print portfolio I spent a bunch of time sourcing custom book builders and different papers. I have been doing an edit of the work I would like to include and dealing with pagination. Good times (?).
To round it out I had a nice day of assisting with Patrick Norman, who happens to be the photographer that gave me my very first assisting job. Thanks Patrick.
To end it off, here is a portrait from a recent hiking trip to Garibaldi Park (yes, I also took some photos of the mountains).
© Grant Harder
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The Note from Heather: These boys are working hard on this project and I think they would really appreciate to hear some comments from all of you. This project works best if it’s a collaboration (just like real life). Reread the bold if you’re not sure where to start.
In case you were wondering, A Year in the Life Project follows two junior shooters through their weekly adventures, trying to make a go of it, in the world of commercial photography.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Jaime – check out his survey of website buyers recently done by Photoshelter which might help you make some informed decisions:
http://pa.photoshelter.com/mkt/photo-buyer-survey-2009
Grant – thanks for the insight into Vancouver’s photography market, Vancouver is a wonderful city and I was curious about a photographer’s perspective there.
I am enjoying reading both of your entries, keep up the good work!
@Jaime :
good things : simplicity. getting the images to the screen quickly. making a mobile version or at least your site easily accessible on mobile phones ( yes, the iphone ). not too much descriptions or text. small, easy to swallow bites.
bad things : horrible use of flash. sound / music. horrible actionscript coding. livebooks sites. having a flash site at 12fps instead of 30/31 fps. too many images without a way to navigate to them or bookmark them.
before doing photography i was a front end designer and developer and too many times, people trying to do it on their own wouldn’t ask questions. you already have a leg up on competition.
rocksteady,
danno~
hi jaime
great photography on your site! the template service – fluidsites i believe, is nice, simple and effective. if you dont know flash at all but have a design sensability, try what I use http://www.showitfast.com/.
It’s as easy as designing in Photoshop, with layers, a media library and text..all you have to do is press Upload! The system on the other end hosts the site as a flash site that is searchable by Google as each page is it’s own html file.
Great work though!
Jaime,
I spend a considerable amount of my week looking at photographers websites. The number one thing that I want to see is your work. I am not impressed by fancy flash and definitely NOT music. I want to see your images, navigate between them easily and quickly, see a bit of info about you and how to contact you. If you have a blog, I usually like to read that too, to get a bit of an idea of your personality.
I want to see your website as you would show me your book. In a way that best shows off your work, plain and simple.
Good luck with the new site!
Grant,
I have heard woes from the photo industry and my photographers around the world in the past year +. I think different markets were hit at different times. I am hearing things are starting to pickup again in Europe, but we are also heading into a slow time of year as well. The recession came in at a point where traditional media was already on the decline. This escalated the move from print to web as budgets decreased, and social media and crowd sourcing increased. I think the industry has changed, and everyone needs to reconsider their business model and think of new ways to adapt or get left behind.
I didn’t mean to sound all doom and gloom, but that I think the people who are open to new options and medias will fare the best, as I don’t think the industry is going to go back to how it was. Its simply going to grow and evolve.
Best of luck Grant!
Kathryn: Thanks a bunch for that link, I just downloaded the pdf and I think it has a lot of info I’m looking for.
Danno: Thanks for the input as well, good call on the mobile thing. It’s crossed my mind in the past but I guess it’s only going to become more predominant the more people get into their iphones and such. I definitely don’t have a problem asking questions (in case you haven’t noticed already), how else can you ever learn?
Andreas: I was pretty into my fluid site at first but I’ve just seen so many of them around I’m getting a little tired of the layouts, much like livebooks based sites. I’m sure it still looks ok to most people but I’m personally sick of it and just want something that’s more my own.
Grant: Awesome portraits!
Thanks for the input Kristen. I definitely will not be adding music, I HATE websites with soundtracks, especially since I’m usually listening to music it makes it even more annoying. I’m also pretty useless when it comes to flash so no worries there.
Interesting that you like to see some “personality”; I don’t have a ‘bio’, is that something that the crowd I’m playing to are typically into reading?
Also, I understand the wanting to see images right away but are thumbnails really that loved? I personally don’t like using them. I prefer to display the work much like you said, similar to how it would be in a printed book. I do understand that people want to get in and out of photographer sites quickly though..
Thanks for all this advice everyone, keep it coming!
Jaime,
I definitely like to see some personality (underline “some”!) Its a great indication of what the artist is like, and how they are going to be to work with. As for the thumbnails, I personally don’t really see a need for them. Once I click on a thumbnail I don’t go back!
Cheers,
-Kristen
Jaime: My argument for thumbnails is this: I only ever visit your site for the first time once. After that visit, I want to be able to go right to the image that I want to find- if I can see a thumbnail of it- I’ll go there fast and keep flipping around in the way that I want (to find the images that best suit my job). If I have to scroll through everything to find what I’m looking for, I get a bit frustrated.
Another thing that drives me a bit crazy is having to move my cursor between seeing images- this means I have to take my eyes off an image to look for the next one, click on it, and then look down again. I find this can really ruin the flow of viewing your work. Your current site is fine on this issue- I just need to sit my cursor to the extreme right of the window and click to see more images- make sense? This sound really specific but it’s high on my wishlist for photographers’ sites.
Lastly, I hate to chase a moving/scrolling line of images. Again, your current site is fine on this but some that I’ve seen have this *fancy* part where the thumbnails stroll along and I find myself all confused trying to grab onto something. All form and no function.
Grant: I don’t sense that things are as bad here as they might be in Vancouver. Certainly Toronto is weathering the economic storm much better than photographers in the US. It actually feels like there is some momentum in Toronto and a greater sense of community than there has been for awhile.
I think the cream rises to the top and ultimately, if you are a fantastic shooter and are bringing something new to the game, it doesn’t matter where you live- now this is the upper echelon I’m taking about but I remember the splash Mark Gilbert was making 7 or so years ago- when we wanted him for a job we didn’t care that he lived in Vancouver. So this is about promoting yourself and courting jobs from elsewhere too.
But, I too would love to hear more from TO and Vancouver photogs on this. Please add to the discussion…
Hi Jaime,
I programmed my old site myself but eventually found I was limited by my ability to do this, so looked around and eventually went for a site from http://aphotofolio.com/ which does everything I need it to; iPhone compatible, resizes to any screen, nice navigation, easy to update, video compatible etc etc. The nice thing with A Photo Folio is that Rob has designed all of the templates from a Photo Editor/Art Buyer perspective so would be worth checking out for ideas/inspiration I think.
S
Thanks Heather, Simon and Kristen again.
I was pondering aphotofolio but it just isn’t realistic for me at the moment. Plus I like having my own web host instead of paying someone else to be the middleman for twice the price. I do really like the designs though and a lot of what I’m doing are based off of his layouts since as you mentioned, they’re designed from a PE/AB point of view. I’m using a php cms so it’s not nearly as slick but I’m hoping it’s ease of use and fast load times will make up for that.
I’m not big on flash sites just because of the floaty feeling they tend to have, but I wish I could do the resizing to any screen thing for sure. Could also be that I’m just sick of flash sites since I’ve had one for a couple years now. Also it seems like creating a mobile-ready mirror site is a really great idea and something that will be more and more in demand in the near future.
A couple more questions that have come to mind regarding content: Is it preferred to have everything lumped together or do specific sections (people, still life, landscape, etc.) help you guys out more? Also as far as published work/ad work do you prefer to see the actual tearsheets or are just the straight up images what you’re after?
Jaime, I have seen some excellent sites lately created with indexhibit. http://www.indexhibit.org/ From what I understand it’s fully customizable (limitless, especially if you have coding experience) and free. FREE! Imagine that. HTML too. Oh, and thanks for the props!
Why all the livebooks haters? I have nothing to say but good things with regards to livebooks. I have no interest in coding so a system like livebooks is perfect for me. If I need something I call them. It’s easy to get someone on the phone and additions/problems/issues/concerns are all taken care of. The backstage set up works seamlessly. Sure it’s a “template” but it’s a fully customizable template. livebooks will put together whatever you want design wise, which I feel is part of the problem for some. The “bad” livebooks sites look that why because that’s probably what the photographer asked for. And if one person’s design is pretty similar to another’s I forget all about it if the photography is good and if the site is easy to navigate.
Thanks for the input Kristen. Maybe we’ll be right behind Europe and it’s definitely all about the evolution. I think that’s why Jaime and I are in a decent position right now- young, open minded and keeping it positive.
Thanks Heather for the insight into the TO scene and the Mark Gilbert example. Point taken.
Great to hear how you both are getting on! Wonderful project thanks Heather!
Jamie, I made my site in software call Freeway, which is just a graphic interface no coding at all, it is very simple if you want to make simple static html site, which you probably do. Works on similar principles as graphic deign software like quark/indesign if you ever seen them? Might be worth looking at if you get sick of looking at code! Good Luck!
http://www.softpress.com/
Jaime everyone pretty much said what I was thinking as far as no flash, no music, and it’s the images that count. I recommend not looking at most photographers sites, unless it’s to see what not to do, because as a whole photographers tend to ignore web usability and standards. As far as personality isn’t a clean layout and focus on the work showing a personality? Seems like just as much as crazy flash, an about, and music. I would gravitate to the personality that isn’t flashy and loud.
Heather’s comments pretty much summed up my experience looking for photographers as an art director. I have very little time and I am looking at lots of sites. If your work is good then I will set it aside for the next round. I want to be able to go to the site and very quickly look through the work.
Then the last thing I want to mention is your line about uncertainty meaning dollar signs. There may be some truth to that but mostly it’s a sign of a bad designer. Yes you have to have some idea what you want and you have to be invested enough that you can give some direction and feedback—all things your going to need to create a successful site yourself—but beyond that a quality designer should be able to work within your budget to find something that works for you. The most important thing when starting a project like that is for the designer to ask lots of questions. Photographers seem to be afraid of designers for some reason. Not sure why but get someone that is good and uncertainty will not mean a bunch of cash it will just mean a whole lot of questions.
Hey Grant don’t fret. Vancouver is starting to experience a little home schooling so-to-speak. Reality.. don’t rely on jobs from Hydro or Lottery to make your career. Once your book is ready you’ll see very quickly where you want to be that’s exciting! Lastly, stay close to those who are cultivating a positive attitude and great work. That’s community. Anyone with poo poo pants probably suffers from a fixed market goal with some very narrow expectations and resources. Of course they’re disappointed!
Wow, thanks again everyone for all the responses, I really appreciate it.
Grant, thanks for the tips. I actually started using Indexhibit to create my site because that’s the simple layout I wanted but it wasn’t working out too well since it’s a little heavy on the php. I did manage to track down a very similar cms that I’ve been using instead with much better luck. Great minds must think alike :). As for livebooks, I just don’t like the limited design of it. I have the same problem with the template my current site is built off – it’s customizable but not really THAT customizable. I do like the more formal client area that livebooks has and they load quickly which is also great, I just don’t like how as soon as you see a site you know it’s built via livebooks. I’m sure everything I just said will be said again (probably by me too) about the Indexhibit style sites like I’m working on now. I think it’s much like styles of photography, they come and go.
Simon, thanks for the link I will definitely check that out. I got sick of looking at code a long time ago, I just worry about customization when it comes to software packages. Is this software template based or does it let you go from scratch similar to Dreamweaver?
Josh, thanks for your input on this as well. I’m definitely glad to hear that content rules over all the fluff for other people as well as myself. Looking at some photographers sites it’s kind of hard to tell what’s important. After spending the time with this project I’m definitely getting a much clearer vision of what I’m looking for which should definitely help streamline things for the home stretch here..
Sounds good to me Tesla.
Unrelated to the website discussion, i just want to add that I love the Grant Harder’s Garibaldi Park portrait. It reminds me of Edward Hopper’s paintings, and has a lot of feeling. Congrats!
Thanks Javier! You’re the second person to tell me the Garibaldi portrait reminds them of Hopper’s work.
I’m here, I’m finally here…I wanted to weigh in on the TO vs VAN question of Heathers because in my 3 professional years of shooting I’ve been in both equally…
well…not equally, as Toronto was where I started fresh out of school and Vancouver is where I moved 1.5 years later.
I think it has been said before (by myself included) that there is more photo work in Toronto, except you are competing with many more photographers for those jobs.
I found that when I brought my (Toronto Life heavy) portfolio to Vancouver, I was given at least one or two assignments a month (specifically for Vancouver Magazine) to start.
I think, depending on your portfolio and your experience you can get a sustainable living in Vancouver.
I support myself with many kinds of photography, including, but not limited to: commercial magazine/newspaper work [large and small], events [corporate or otherwise], weddings, head shots/portraiture…but then there are lots and lots [and lots] of freebies…
I shot something for BC Business FOC and am waiting to get my turn at paid work…but that is the way I’m finding it with many publications that don’t know you yet…which is fine, as long as I’ve paid my rent for the month.
Honestly, I’m not MAKING money right now (this is in part to my astronomical rent, that would be lower if I could deal with a roommate), but I’m living in a beautiful place and I’m able eat food and stay sane. So yes, a living out here is do-able…and I’m sure some day soon, I’ll stop drawing even and start saving money.
Now, back to all that work I have to do to GET those jobs…
Sorry I’m a bit late adding to this forum but I was away and just read this.
Jaime thanks for raising the issues on sitebuilding. I too am building a new site (well actually a friend is doing it for me) and had many of the same questions. Heather thanks for the insight on thumbnails and scrolling. Very helpful. I hate moving thumbs too!! I was going to go with numbers instead of thumbs but you raise a very good point.
I also read some interesting comments on photographer’s websites. Can’t remember where I read it, photoshelter probably, but the writer was saying that if you aren’t using your website to actually help you generate income (ie. print sales and stock) than you are wasting a huge resource. Can anyone comment on this idea?? I would like to sell prints through my site because I get requests for them all the time but don’t want to take away from the flow of my images by having a series of unrelated ‘stock’ style images for sale…………