Aerial Photography

[greg_peterson3]

<p>Please take a look at <a href="http://gregory-peterson.com">http://gregory-peterson.com</a> and tell me if you think that -<br>

There are too many pictures?<br>

The site is too slow? (That would be a function of too many procures)<br>

There is too much text / detail / history in the "Background" section?<br>

The arrangement of the pictures into 'Galleries' makes sense?</p>

<p>And please offer any other thoughts or suggestions you might have.<br>

Thanks - G</p>

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[Mattman944]

<p>Th aerial shots are great, the different point of view is refreshing. </p>

<p>The website is OK, a little slow. It is too informal if you are looking to make some money.</p>

<p>The portfolio is a little confusing, you have the images at the top (that will change if you click), and the thumbnails at the bottom. The images at the top confused me a little.</p>

<p>The large images are nice, but were too big for my slim laptop. They looked beautiful on my large screen desktop.</p>

[greg_peterson3]

<p>Thank you Matthew.<br>

I'm not yet sure what to do about the load time issue.<br>

I could reduce the image size, but because most of these images were created to be viewed as very large prints they are often already too small to reveal enough of the fine detail that's important to me. (24" X 36" is my standard print size but I have some as large as 42" X 120")<br>

I could reduce the image quality by using more compression on the jpg files. I'm reluctant to do that, but it may be the only way to get reasonable performance.<br>

As to confusion: I may just keep the 'carousel' at the top of the intro page and take it off of the portfolio page. That would help with load time as well. Stay tuned.<br>

And I know I should do some work on scaling things for smaller screens, but please read on....<br>

About "... looking to make some money." I am, but not in the same way that most photographers do. (I've been there and done that forty years ago.) The site is primarily intended for use by representatives and galleries who sell my work, mostly to the corporate art market. Think of it as an extended "Artist Statement" such as would accompany a gallery exhibit.<br>

Thank you again for taking the time to look at my site. Your comments are quite helpful.<br>

-greg</p>

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[michiel m]

<p>Hi Greg,<br>

<br />Remarkable photography, do you own a balloon?<br>

<br />You responded to Matthew: "I'm not yet sure what to do about the load time issue."<br>

Some thoughts:<br>

<br />As far as the download speed has to do with the image sizes, I noticed that your carousel images are png's. Perhaps they can be replaced by copies that are 24 bit png's (if you do not lose too much quality). If they are layered (fireworks' png's) save copies as flattened png's for the website.*<br>

<br />Also, you can move all of the javascript references that are now in the head section to the end of the page, just before the closing body tag <strong><code></body></code></strong><br>

<br />That should theoretically speed up page loads-- Tryit on a copied page made just for this purpose- if it works, great, if not, no losses :-). Sometimes, in some situations, it's not easy to move scripts to the bottom. If, for example, the script uses <code>document.write</code> to insert page content, it can't be moved lower in the page. In such a case, try whatever of the scripts of the head section CAN go there, as every bit will improve page load.<br>

<br />I also noticed inline css in your head section between javascript references. See if you can move it up, under the last css rule. <br>

<br />A lot of other speed tips can be learned from <a href="http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html">this article</a> at Yahoo. (I quoted a line in this reply). You might for instance also be able to minify some of your java scripts and/or join some into one. jQuery editions have minified versions.<br>

<br />* If you want to go from 32 bit to 24 bit png's, and you do not have fireworks, use <a title="home page irfanview" href="http://www.irfanview.com/">irfanview.</a> It's totally free and let's you control all possible and impossible aspects of (batched) image conversion.<br>

<br /> I hope some of this helps you.<br>

<br />Best Regards, Michiel</p>

 

[greg_peterson3]

<p>Thanks Michiel. I don't own a balloon, though I do enjoy flying them. Most of my aerial pix were shot from my little Cessna 150. (I've been a pilot for about 40 years and haven't killed myself yet!)<br>

I'll try moving the JavaScript stuff to the bottom right now, and I suspect that changing the bit depth of the .PNG files won't change the quality much at the image sizes I'm using, so I'll give that a shot too.<br>

Thanks again for your suggestions - Greg</p>

 

[michiel m]

<p>Hi Greg...wow a Cessna, - Amazing!<br>

I flew those too a few times and also stayed alive. Probably because it was in flight simulator. Good thing it was too; I crashed on quite a few flights.<br>

Anyway, I do hope the suggestions help you improve the site, I'll check it out. If any (other) questions come up, feel free to shoot me an email or pm me here.<br>

Greetings and thanks for your reply Greg,<br>

Michiel</p>

[michiel m]

<p>Hey Greg just thought of something, be careful to put the javascript references in the head section ABOVE the java scripts that are already sitting right before the closing body tag; those have to load last and should stay at the bottom of the stack so to speak.<br>

BR, M</p>

[greg_peterson3]

<p>Michiel,<br>

I moved the JavaScript stuff to near the end of the file, but because of the dependency chain it cause some very odd behavior as the page loaded, so I put things back where they were.<br>

I've been on assignment for the last week and haven't had time to resample the images to reduce their load-time, but I'll give that a shot next week.<br>

Thanks again for your interest - Greg<br>

PS<br>

I'll be putting a new gallery on the site in October: <strong>Fractals.</strong> Please take a look.<br>

-G</p>

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