website critique welcome

[wolf]

Hi,

I'm a bit of a lurker on here, but finally got my photography website off the ground and would welcome some critique if you have time.

www.chelonewolfphotography.com

thanks for looking.

[OsmosisStudios]

Im not a huge fan of how the gallery works, but it works and it all looks reasonable. I'd get rid of the Search bar and menu option, maybe change "art" to "abstract". Other than that, looks good.

[ceichrodt]

Ok, here's my suggestions. Start with slowing down the slide show. I think the pictures move a little too fast. Navigation at the top of each subpage is a bit jumbled and a little hard to read. I'm using IE 8, if that helps. Personally I'd go more in detail as to who you are. Give more "references" as to where your photos have been published. Not sure exactly what you are trying to accomplish with the Search feature.

[BigFuzzy]

For the most part, the front page seems a bit busy for me. It's also simple, which I like.

What I mean by this is that I'd rather see one link for your "Portfolio" and all the subsequent portfolios be listed under that because as it is, your front page has lots of links on it. Maybe it's better as the customer has to click less, but for my personal taste, I don't like seeing all the albums on the front page.

I also don't like the albums below the main slide on the front page. Seems redundant to have the albums listed on the left then those same albums below. I'd pick one or the other to be honest.

I'd like to see something other than plain text as your logo (ie Chelone Wolf Photography). To me, it makes it feel as if someone barely filled out a template.

I think the "Documentary/Music/Travel portfolio just doesn't fit. I can imagine merging "People/Little People" but not the other three as they're so different in theme. Why not "Landscape/Travel" or "Music/Events" or even "People/Weddings/Little peeps"? I just don't get the groupings.

Also, "Little People" made me think "huh, midgets?" Haha, that may be good or bad!

I don't like the "Visitors" under the portfolio section. Or the fact that it says 'galleries' and 'collections'.. it just adds more "stuff" and takes away from the simplicity which I like.

I think it's a good start, but right now it feels just like it is.. a website that someone's just started and is working things out. Feels very basic which is different than the 'simple' that I like. Right now it feels a bit like a free template that anyone can and does use. Needs a bit more to feel 'pro' for me if that's what you want. Still, good start, but keep going!

[Karinu]

You have a lot of talent! The photos you feature really draw me in and I wanted to keep looking--and of course that's good because you want people at your site as long as possible.

But in addition to entertaining people--and probably more importantly--you want to gain new business. I think your "Chelone Is" page gets lost. I looked through several galleries wondering "this guy is good-who is he" and had to look hard to find out about you, what you offer and whether I can hire you or purchase framed prints of your work. You need to highlight yourself in the same way you've highlighted your work. Make this "About" page more prominent and include a link to your contact page on this page so I don't have to look for it--I (as in the prospective customer) might leave if it's too much work. Also, make your "About" page available on the navigation of every page--right now it's not. It's important that each page of your site be consistent. As you update and add to the site, consider including links to or screen shots of your published work to establish even more credibility. You might also add "share this" type buttons in your galleries so that viewers can send links to friends, etc. You're off to a really nice start.

Though I'm an amateur photographer, I am a marketing pro by trade and learned some of these things when first working on websites. Hope it helps.

[wolf]

Thanks for all the feedback, will go through and make the changes as suggested and post back once it's all done