branton_hoblit1 Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I am currently working on redesigning my photography website. What are your opinions about galleries? (how many photos, what kind of gallery, etc...) In other words what do you think makes the best presentation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susan_flewelling Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I think this is probably one you will get a lot of different answers to. I kind of like going a wee bit minimulistic. I think that you want to show them your very best and do it in like two minutes. As far as galleries go obviously have one to show each type of photography you do (ie engagement, family, wedding) If you do mainly weddings I would stick with doing a few images from like three or four weddings and keep them together to show more of a total day. My opinion so take it what it's worth (which probably isn't much). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 the kind of galleries I don't like are when they are dividy up into couple's names and you click through a gallery of the same faces. what kind of site are you going with? html, flash, hybrid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branton_hoblit1 Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 I am working on a flash design. And I am leaning towards fewer photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon jacobson Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 First, consider the customer you want. Then consider what that customer wishes to see. Then put up those images that represents the combination. <p> Simple!<br> :o) <p> Brides read articles on selecting a photographer. You should be reading those articles also. They say things like: <i>ask to see a complete wedding</i>. While I totally agree with Eric~ on his point, it still is good to put a "complete" wedding up. My complete wedding is identified as such, and has 30 images in that gallery. <p> In terms of usability, a user should always know where they are in a website. That includes the gallery. If you have 40 images in a gallery, say so. If the user is on image 4 of 40, better to say so. <p> As far as less images, what is less? If you have 1500, then less is good. If you have 15, less is bad. <p> One question you did not include, and I'd be interested in other comments on this topic:<br> For those that divide your galleries into categories, such as <i>getting ready</i>, <i>ceremony</i>, <i>reception</i>, etc.; why do you choose to do it that way? I'm curious to hear thoughts on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 "why do you choose to do it that way? I'm curious to hear thoughts on this." Jon, I think it's to demonstrate they are capable of covering the whole wedding and to show what a couple might expect in terms of final images? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branton_hoblit1 Posted January 21, 2006 Author Share Posted January 21, 2006 Another question to ponder: How about 30 - 40 photos? I'm thinking that if I was a client, I would probably not be interested in looking at more than 50 photos per website if I was browsing sites. Also, I'll post the address on this comment string when I finish it and get it up and running (hopefully by next weekend). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon jacobson Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 I'm not sure that there's a golden number here that you can grab off the cuff. I would dare say that despite all the established high-end pros out there in the world, none of them have even hired our for a focus group. I say that because once established, they can most likely excel without a website. <a href="http://denisreggie.com/">Denis Reggie</a>'s website has been "coming soon" for over a year now. <p> And I mean a real research project. I can poll our customers, and it would be better than nothing, but that's an improper sampling. <p> I agree with the maximum of 30 to 40 images when surfing 20+ websites looking for that right photographer. But now the bride has narrowed the field down to ten and wants to find the three or four finalists to set appointments. This is where I believe an additional gallery or two will help. Just a gut feeling, not based on anything scientific. <p> As for the separate categories, I personally cannot see an overall benefit. We have a package that does not include preceremony preparations. Perhaps with the right positioning, we could point out to the customer "you do not get this set of images if you buy this smaller less-expensive package." <p> Personally, if I'm taking an hour out of my already busy day checking out other photography websites to check out what my fellow colleagues are doing, I do not like dredging my way through websites that are overloaded with too many images in a single gallery, and even overloaded with too many galleries. Additionally, I do not like being part way through a gallery not knowing how much further I have to go to finish viewing that gallery. I imagine even the most thorough bride would get frustrated with this, especially if the images are sub-par. And too few images would leave a bride starving for more. Will that lead to an appointment? Or will that lead to "NEXT." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthewkane Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Jon has some good points. I agree. Although the decision to divy up photos into sections before, during, after, etc... is just a personal preference. I think it can help to tell the story sometimes. However I'm in the process of making a new site and am struggling with what I should do with my galleries to. 1 complete wedding and another miscellaneous page? 2 complete weddings no miscellaneous page? Is it even beneficial to have misc page? Thoughts on this appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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