Yay! Got a portfolio going!

[amandaggogo]

Alright, Got my online portfolio/page thingy pretty much all worked out now.

http://www.wix.com/amandagarrett/photography

[OsmosisStudios]

1: Ditch Wix. That toolbar is distracting as all hell. It's also PAINFULLY slow. To the point where it simply wasn't loading.

The red umbrella image isn't, quite frankly, very good. it doesn't give off the "foggy" look you mention in the about page: just low contrast.

As far as the other images are concerned, they're good, though I'm fairly certain that you're losing considerable quality somewhere between the camera and the website. The cardinal photos all look soft (out of focus, actually) and many others have serious softness.

Other than that, not bad.

[monkeygirl123]

I just had a look at your website and unfortunately I have to agree that it was really, really slow loading. So then I looked at your other site (listed in your profile) and spent a while going through your photos. I absolutely love your candid shots - you've got a really good eye

[amandaggogo]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

1: Ditch Wix. That toolbar is distracting as all hell. It's also PAINFULLY slow. To the point where it simply wasn't loading.

The red umbrella image isn't, quite frankly, very good. it doesn't give off the "foggy" look you mention in the about page: just low contrast.

As far as the other images are concerned, they're good, though I'm fairly certain that you're losing considerable quality somewhere between the camera and the website. The cardinal photos all look soft (out of focus, actually) and many others have serious softness.

Other than that, not bad.

I used wix since it's the best free one I could find at the moment. The bird photos did come out a little softer as it was a rainy day and I took them out a window. My camera is not waterproof. And hey, go easy on the umbrella photo, I know it's definitely not the best photo ever taken or anything, But it was the first photo I ever took that got me into photography, so it's more sentimental. Yeah it's nothing super crazy cool or eye popping, but the whole reason I ever got into photography was because of that umbrella.

Originally Posted by monkeygirl123

I just had a look at your website and unfortunately I have to agree that it was really, really slow loading. So then I looked at your other site (listed in your profile) and spent a while going through your photos. I absolutely love your candid shots - you've got a really good eye

Thanks so much. And yeah, I worried it might be slow on some computers (runs quickly on mine, but mine is a new computer)

[Jim Poor]

Originally Posted by amandaggogo

Thanks so much. And yeah, I worried it might be slow on some computers (runs quickly on mine, but mine is a new computer)

It probably runs quickly on yours because it is loading from cache.

It runs PAINFULLY slow on my 8-core 3.0Ghz machine with 16GB RAM on FIOS with 50 down / 35 up.

[Jim Poor]

Originally Posted by amandaggogo

I used wix since it's the best free one I could find at the moment. The bird photos did come out a little softer as it was a rainy day and I took them out a window. My camera is not waterproof. And hey, go easy on the umbrella photo, I know it's definitely not the best photo ever taken or anything, But it was the first photo I ever took that got me into photography, so it's more sentimental. Yeah it's nothing super crazy cool or eye popping, but the whole reason I ever got into photography was because of that umbrella.

What are your goals for the site? If they are at all related to business, then:

1. Ditch free, crap design sites.
2. Ditch the sentimental, yet inferior photos. The umbrella photo and the story behind it is fine for a blog post about your "beginnings," but it has no business on the front page.
3. Out of focus isn't a style. I looked through as many images as I could stand with the slow loading, and in your people gallery, the vast majority of your images are soft. It's not a compression thing, it's not a web processing thing, it's a missed focus thing.

[amandaggogo]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

It probably runs quickly on yours because it is loading from cache.

It runs PAINFULLY slow on my 8-core 3.0Ghz machine with 16GB RAM on FIOS with 50 down / 35 up.

Dunno, runs fine on all the computers in the house, and on my grandmothers awful machine she calls a computer.

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

What are your goals for the site? If they are at all related to business, then:

1. Ditch free, crap design sites.
2. Ditch the sentimental, yet inferior photos. The umbrella photo and the story behind it is fine for a blog post about your "beginnings," but it has no business on the front page.
3. Out of focus isn't a style. I looked through as many images as I could stand with the slow loading, and in your people gallery, the vast majority of your images are soft. It's not a compression thing, it's not a web processing thing, it's a missed focus thing.

My goals are pretty much just a way to show off my work, not really for business at the moment, hence the reason I chose a FREE site. I'm just a 19 year old looking to show off some work. If I had a business going, then yeah, I would consider my own domain name and a site that's not flash based. But until then, it can be dealt with. Maybe I will change the front page and put another photo on there or something, but the umbrella photo will stay on the site by all means. And as far as a "Vast majority" of my photos being blurry? It's gotta be the site, because they sure as hell don't look out of focus on my computer, or in the prints. it would help me some if you could let me know some of the photos that were a "missed focus thing". But who knows, maybe my eyes just don't work or something since obviously there is something wrong. Geez, didn't expect to get torn apart about my work first thing in the morning, but thanks anyways.

Originally Posted by amandaggogo

Dunno, runs fine on all the computers in the house, and on my grandmothers awful machine she calls a computer.



My goals are pretty much just a way to show off my work, not really for business at the moment, hence the reason I chose a FREE site. I'm just a 19 year old looking to show off some work. If I had a business going, then yeah, I would consider my own domain name and a site that's not flash based. But until then, it can be dealt with. Maybe I will change the front page and put another photo on there or something, but the umbrella photo will stay on the site by all means. And as far as a "Vast majority" of my photos being blurry? It's gotta be the site, because they sure as hell don't look out of focus on my computer, or in the prints. it would help me some if you could let me know some of the photos that were a "missed focus thing". But who knows, maybe my eyes just don't work or something since obviously there is something wrong. Geez, didn't expect to get torn apart about my work first thing in the morning, but thanks anyways.

Runs super slow on my machine.

I'd also ditch the umbrella shot.

[Jim Poor]

Originally Posted by amandaggogo

Dunno, runs fine on all the computers in the house, and on my grandmothers awful machine she calls a computer.



My goals are pretty much just a way to show off my work, not really for business at the moment, hence the reason I chose a FREE site. I'm just a 19 year old looking to show off some work. If I had a business going, then yeah, I would consider my own domain name and a site that's not flash based. But until then, it can be dealt with. Maybe I will change the front page and put another photo on there or something, but the umbrella photo will stay on the site by all means. And as far as a "Vast majority" of my photos being blurry? It's gotta be the site, because they sure as hell don't look out of focus on my computer, or in the prints. it would help me some if you could let me know some of the photos that were a "missed focus thing". But who knows, maybe my eyes just don't work or something since obviously there is something wrong. Geez, didn't expect to get torn apart about my work first thing in the morning, but thanks anyways.

Would you prefer we lie to you and tell you how wonderful it is?

In the people section:
The guy on the truck is decent but the critical focus misses his eyes.
The next one is what it is. I don't care for it, but at least it looks "on purpose."
The semi-sepia image is soft, but it almost works.
The two shots of the musician are OOF. Looks like the focus is more towards the neck of the guitar on the first, and on the mic stand on the second.
The one of (you?) on the picknic table is completely OOF.
The sunflower is nice, but still not critically sharp. I'd actually go for a soft focus processing on this one.
The sideways image of the child is soft The eyes are important and they aren't sharp at all.
The face in the maternity shot is OOF.
The belly shot is OOF and noisy, but maybe you did that on purpose. I don't like it, but maybe that was what you were aiming for.
The guy with the beard . . . OOF, skin over exposed, etc. Again that one MIGHT have been on purpose.
The girl with the bird - if you were trying to make her look "ghostly" then you succeeded. If not, then her face needs to be in focus.
The tank top shot. Okay. Not tack sharp, but not totally OOF either.
The mirror shot is cute. Too bad the eye is hidden in the reflection.
The second mirror shot is too OOF, and the eyes are hidden.
Third mirror shot, did you elect to focus on the hand rather than the face?
Fourth mirror shot (BTW, too many of the same subject in one portfolio) is Okay.
The next is nice, but you could have moved a little to miss the seam in the wall paper.
Girl with guitar is nice.
Eskimo kisses could have been nice if done like an Ortron treatment or other soft glow. As it stands, it's just OOF, and looks to have some motion blur too.
The next one is a snap shot at best.
Looking up is cool. A little work on the eyes would be nice.
The next one with the scarf is cool. Working the blown area in the BG could help though I like it as is.
The one after that is pretty bad. Even the white of the eye is blown in parts.
Then we have a closed-eye snap shot.
The close up of the kid is cool
The flower one in the B&W stripes is nice. I could see some alternate treatments.
The one looking up after that is OOF again. The grainy moody treatment might work, but the image needs to be in focus to start with.


At this point, I got tired of looking. Way too many images for a "portfolio."

[amandaggogo]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Would you prefer we lie to you and tell you how wonderful it is?


At this point, I got tired of looking. Way too many images for a "portfolio."

No, but you need not be so rude. But of course, this is the internet and people seem to forget that you are speaking to an actual person on the other end. Drives me crazy sometimes.


And goodness man, Did I call myself a professional? No, I did not. Like I said, 19 year old, still learning. Jesus, sometimes you people on here get so snarky and up on your little pedestal thinking how great you are at critiquing others work. There is a way to do it in a nicer fashion. Maybe you didn't mean for it to sound mean, but it came that way to me. I'm currently looking into some different website builders, but like I said, looking for Free but still kind of decent. So thanks I guess for some of the critiques on the work. I do appreciate you taking the time to at least review some it. Granted, you need to remember when critiquing others work, they might be going for something other than what you would prefer. Everyone has there own style. I prefer mine to be a little weird. Thanks.