Help with website photo categories!

[capturedbybrooke]

I am having so many issues trying to organize the pics for my site!! I figured it would be more user-friendly and organized to have 3-4 main categories and then sub-categories. This is how I have it now, but think I may need to adjust it... main categories are in all caps and subcategories underneath...

PEOPLE
love (since I haven't done any weddings yet, I can't have that on there yet, but i do have some pics of couples)
children
family
seniors
fun (pics i've taken of hoopers, fire-dancers, etc)
glamour (models, etc)
rock (concert musicians)
random

PLACES
australia
new zealand
maui
costa rica
aruba
nyc
california
minnesota

NATURE/WILDLIFE
animals
flora/fauna

MISC
architecture
objects

I'm wondering if it would be ok to have pics in more than one category (like adding a landscapes category under nature/wildlife) and also some of the animals under nature/wildlife would be in places (such as koalas in australia). I think it might be ok since most people won't look at every single gallery...just the ones that interest them anyway...

I've attached my storyboard just showing the main look and outline of the site (I'm also doing this as an assignment for an online motion graphics course I'm taking, but I don't get any feedback there, so it's frustrating). Since I made the storyboard, I added the misc section since I didn't know where to put the architecture and object pics. BTW... when the main categories are clicked, it will show the thumbnails for the subcategories, then when you click on the subcategory, it will show a slideshow gallery. I'm designing this in Photoshop, then will be importing into Flash. I would love to hear any and all feedback! THANK YOU!!

[Jim Bryant]

Change your places category to Travel. That's about all I can think of right now.

[junglebear]

Whats the website going to be for?

[capturedbybrooke]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Change your places category to Travel. That's about all I can think of right now.

I was thinking of that, but the Minnesota one wouldn't really be travel, since I live here...

Originally Posted by junglebear

Whats the website going to be for?

Not sure what you mean...for my photography biz...is that not clear? hmmmm....


I'm going through my pics and wondering if I should simplify it for now. I love the look of the subcategories, but it might not be practical since some of the categories I don't have a whole lot of pictures for. Most of my people pics are of kids and models.

[junglebear]

Well I did assume that, but I meant what kind of service are you offering, tailored shoots, selling prints, weddings?

[CiiVii]

Off the top of my head- I wouldn't do subcategories. Just show your very best under each and blow your viewers away with them. Too many pictures and too many categories can start to numb the mind.

[FrankLamont]

There's no point showing travel, wildlife or 'misc' if you're offering commercial work, or portraiture, or weddings.

Make your portfolio relevant.

[junglebear]

Originally Posted by CiiVii

Off the top of my head- I wouldn't do subcategories. Just show your very best under each and blow your viewers away with them. Too many pictures and too many categories can start to numb the mind.

Originally Posted by FriedChicken

There's no point showing travel, wildlife or 'misc' if you're offering commercial work, or portraiture, or weddings.

Make your portfolio relevant.

That's what I was getting at. If you want to sell prints then having lots and lots of photos is fine, but otherwise it would be best to wittle it down to your best 20 or so shots in a few categories. 20 odd categories is way too many.
From a customer's point of view, the more clicks they make the more time they spend, and the more time they spend the more likely they will be to move on, generally speaking. Try to make navigating as easy as possible and also try to make moving from one category to another seamless.

[capturedbybrooke]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to cut down on the categories.