m_p7

<p>It sounds like they want you to change your price and have you do it at their budget, and you want a way to get out of it.</p><p>For what it's worth, I did some photography for my day-job company. I was just starting out, and I gave them an estimate (that on retrospect was way too low). They accepted. They were very happy, and guess what? They asked me to do it again shortly thereafter. I did it, but of course I can't raise the price, so I did it again for the same price. Well, luckily they haven't asked again, because if they did, I'd have to probably double my price.</p><p>To make a long story short, they'll expect the same deal forever if you do it. Just say you cannot do it at that budget due to technical considerations.</p><p>Also, make sure you have a contract, and state that it is NOT work for hire. I have an LLC, so I made it clear they were hiring my company, not me.</p>

I don't understand. If you overpriced the job for their budget, how are you in a position to decline it?

My day job company is selling off some older computers. There are 11

Dell Dimension 4300 systems (1.5-1.7 MHz Pentium 4, 256 Mb Ram,

probably 20-40 Gb HDD, Win2000, OfficeXP) with a monitor. Among the

monitors are seven 21" Dell Trinitron CRTs. I really want one of

these monitors.

 

The way it'll work is that any of the interested employees can put

their name in a hat that will be drawn for first pick of the systems

at flat $250 price tags.

 

Based on the above, do you think it would be worthwhile to keep the

21" Trinitron monitor and sell the computer on Ebay? I'm going to see

what a used Dell 4300 box goes for on Ebay, but wondered what others

here thought.

 

Thanks for any thoughts.

<p><i>"So why couldn't I create a web page template using Notepad, and then use that as the basis for Web Photo Gallery template in Photoshop? The same thing is true about knowing HTML and using or customizing templates for use in Photoshop. It can use a CSS stylesheet, and you don't have to use frames either."</i></p>

 

<p>I didn't say you couldn't. All I'm saying is that the Photoshop web photo gallery is very basic. Build me a XHMTL Strict web gallery template that is cross-browser compliant, uses CSS, resizes to fill my screen at any size, and doesn't use tables, and we'll talk.</p>

 

<p><i>"...doesn't need to know anything about HTML to create galleries for their website."</i></p>

 

<p>Indeed, but how does someone who doesn't know any HTML create the site AROUND the gallery.</p>

<p>I was just trying to help Jammey out. He obviously is inexperienced in web design (as am I, as I already mentioned - but I do read a lot), and I was just giving him the "overview".</p>

 

<p>In mentioning notepad, et al., I was just trying to illustrate that you don't need fancy software to make a webpage, and in some cases, it is preferable to NOT use fancy software. Photoshop does an admirable job of making a web gallery from a bunch of photos, but it doesn't build a good website. It doesn't do XHTML, it uses tables (or worse yet, frames), it doesn't build overall site navigation, it doesn't do CSS well, etc. I view the web gallery option in Photoshop as mostly an afterthought add-in. There are others (jalbum, for one). Notepad is perfectly acceptable for making web pages, if you know HTML, etc. HTML-kit and the like just make things a little easier. Dreamweaver does it all, manual markup, WYSIWYG, etc. with the additional capabilities that Steven mentioned.</p>

 

<p>I wasn't implying that everyone on this forum should run off and use notepad to create their site, only that it was possible. If I was to use an analogy, Notepad is the 1979 Toyota, HTML-kit is the 1990 Honda, and Dreamweaver is the 2005 Ferrari; they all get you where you need to go, but with different options. However, given the option of using Photoshop to create the pages similar to the ones Jammey has, versus learning a little markup and making them in notepad, I think Jammey would be better off with the latter option. Better yet, he should pay somebody to make a website for him.</p>

 

<p>Anybody building a website, or hiring somebody to build a website, IMHO, should require that the latest technology is used. This means standards-compliant, cross-browser compatible, resolution-independent XHTML, CSS, certainly no frames, no tables unless it?s tabular data, using server side includes where appropriate, and should allow updates or changes to the ?look? without rewriting the whole thing. If you can afford it, a database driven website, with some sort of "user control panel" to change things would be ideal. For a classic example of changing the look without rewriting the whole thing see <a href="http://www.csszengarden.com">CSS Zen Garden</a> and look at the other designs; same markup, different style sheet.

 

<p><i>"All you need is a shoe box, a pin hole, a mirror and some light sensitive materials to make a photograph."</i> By the way, I'm pretty sure Marc Williams would tell you that a mirror isn't necessary to make a photo with a pinhole camera.</p>

<p>First of all, I am not a web designer or programmer. I happen to be interested in this stuff, so I read lots of books, websites, etc. Even so, I consider myself a novice that knows just enough to be dangerous. So take my advice with a grain of salt, and do your own research.</p>

 

<p>For one thing, Photoshop and/or Imageready are NOT web page creators. They are photo editing, photo preparation tools. For example, Microsoft word will write html, but it sucks.</p>

 

<p>All that is required to write web pages is Notepad or any text editor. From there you can upgrade to programs that help you out. I happen to like HTML-kit (free, google it), but there are probably better ones. Dreamweaver, etc. are another step up. HTML-kit is a text-based editor, with some extra tools to make things easier. Dreamweaver is a WYSIWYG editor. I happen to like looking at the code, because then I can learn what's going on, plus, I haven't really got the time to learn Dreamweaver, and even if I did, I'd need to know what it was doing in the background.</p>

 

<p>If you open your web pages in Notepad, you will see that there are tons of unnecessary tags. A lot of this is because you (Imageready) are using tables. The positioning you want is making a bunch of rows and columns so it can put things in the right place. For example, you have 40-50 lines of "spacer.gif" at the end of your main gallery page. The reason your gallery images are sliced, is you have sliced the navigation on top, and in order to make a table for that, Imageready has sliced the photo, too. An example of the table you created is shown in the photo. See how convoluted the table is? This is contributing to the slow download of your site.</p>

 

<p>Alt tags are text that is displayed when the photo isn't shown, for instance, when it loads, or when using a text-only browser. You need to look in the markup to see this. It will look like this: alt="". You would put something like "black and white photo of bride and her father before the wedding".</p>

 

<p>You can look at other people's website markup by going to "Edit, View Source" in Explorer (or equivalent in other browsers). This will help you see what I'm talking about and how to do things. Don't steal people's code, though. I'd recommend you do some reading. For starters, get Elizabeth Castro's book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321130073/qid=1109879438/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/103-0346579-5280612?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">HTML for the WWW...</a>. Email me if you have more questions.</p><div></div>

Some comments:

<ol>

<li>Not valid markup: See here: http://validator.w3.org/</li>

<li>I assume you will add a title and some meta tags for description, etc.</li>

<li>I highly recommend you use CSS at least for colors, etc. And I recommend you use it for positioning, too, and get rid of the tables.</li>

<li>Add alt tags to help improve your search engine ranking</li>

<li>Make the background big enough that it doesn't end on large monitors (I'm running 1600x1200 and there are white blocks on bottom and right side)</li>

<li>You might consider server-side includes for navigation, etc. to make it easier to change later. I would use the same navigation on every page. For example, if I'm in the gallery and I want to skip to the "Contact Us" page (when it exists), I have to go back home first.</li>

<li>The image slicing thing is annoying. I'm on a T1 and it still looks "weird".</li>

<li>Your markup is bloated with extra image spacers and stuff.</li>

<li>check size, # of images, etc. here: http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/index.html

Your pages are pretty big - some will take 45 sec. to download on 56k connections - personally, that would make me leave.</li>

<li>You do have some extremely nice photos there.</li>

</ol>

I'm not sure why you'd shoot slide film at a wedding, but if I had to for some reason, I'd shoot Astia 100F, no question.

I'm not a lawyer, but I would guess it depends on how prominent the bumper sticker was in the photo. If it is a close up and it takes up a good portion of the frame, then probably. If you have a street scene with lots of cars, etc., then probably not. For example, I wouldn't try to sell a photo of just the McD's arches, but if I'm shooting a street scene and there happens to be a McD's sign in it, I wouldn't worry about it. I would ask a lawyer about this particular photo.

Thanks. That was very helpful.

Can anybody tell me what an excellent condition Pentax SMC-A 50mm

f/1.2 lens is worth (NOT the f/2.0). I tried looking at completed

auctions on ebay, but they don't come up for sale much (or at all).

Can you direct me to info regarding their present value (used camera

gear site, auctions, etc.)

 

Thanks,

Mike

Check photos by this guy on <a href="http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=2368">photosig.com</a>

Bracket: Stroboframe Press-T. Where and when is this wedding? Sounds like the Bay Area?

Ed- you must be in SLC. That's Garden Park Ward, right? Did you have much competition from other photographers when you were there? During the warmer months I've been there with a dozen or so other photographers. Nice photos.

Tyler, I live in SLC. I'm not really in the market for an assistant, though. Send me a link to some of your stuff, though, I'd like to have a look. You might consider posting something on the magnetic board at Pictureline in SLC. I see assistant ads there often.

<a href="http://www.acdsystems.com/english/products/acdsee/index">ACDSee</a>

I have little to no experience with a shot like that, but here's my $0.02 if I was asked to do it.

 

I would need someway to get them on levels, like steps, etc. or I'd have to be on a ladder so I could see everyone.

 

IMO, 200-300 people with faces discernable at 20x30 print is next to impossible with 35mm format. I'd say you need 6x4.5cm at minimum, 4x5inch would be better.

 

Lighting: natural lighting would be far easier, but if you cannot, you are definitely going to need more than one flash - likely you'll need at least 2 powerful heads, probably more. You'll probably want to drag the shutter to catch the ambient background.

 

Others here will have lots better info, but I thought I'd throw in the above for starters.

Sorry for the double post. The site froze up on me. Anyway, I thought about using godaddy (I originally registered my domain name there), but they don't give you shell access, if that is important to you. FYI. They were a good, cheap registrar though.

I signed up with <a href="http://www.bluehost.com/track/pynephot/20050201pdnpbf">

BLUEHOST.COM</a> a month ago on the recommendation of a web designer friend. I'm still building my website, so I only have test page up, but so far I'm happy. They have lots of features, and it's priced right. Have a look. Disclaimer: If you sign up through my link, I do get a small referral fee, but I have nothing to do with the company other than I'm a customer.

I signed up with <a href="http://www.bluehost.com/track/pynephot/20050201pdnpbf">

BLUEHOST.COM</a> a month ago on the recommendation of a web designer friend. I'm still building my website, so I only have a <a href="http://www.pynephotography.com">contact info page</a> up, but so far I'm happy with the uptime (~99.9%). They have lots of features, a good web interface control panel (you can demo it on their site), and it's priced right. Have a look. Disclaimer: If you sign up through my link, I do get a small referral fee, but I have nothing to do with the company other than I'm a customer.

In addition to the advice you've already been given, please consider (if you haven't already) the following:

 

1) health insurance. If you have a day job that gives you coverage, how will you pay for self-employment policy.

2) Make sure you use some of the money for competent legal and financial advice (unless you already have that covered from your part-time endeavor)

3) Make a business plan, partnership agreement, budget, etc.

 

Just some things to remember.

I started with the contract in Tad Crawford's book, "Business and Legal Forms for Photographers". Check amazon for it; comes with forms on CD, too.

 

I recommend that you talk to a local attorney for specifics of your area, though. My attorney specifically told me things to change that weren't relevant. I also recommend that you get separate model releases. Email me if you have more questions (googleid2003@yahoo.com).

I've used the round version of the pre-inked stamp here: <a href="http://www.superiorrubberstamp.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SRSSI&Category_Code=ENC">Copyright stamps at superiorrubberstamp.com</a> They work well.

You might also consider a Sunpak 383 Super.

<a href="http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=2368">This guy on Photosig</a> uses Tri-X from something like 100-25,000+ EI. Check out his photos and the comments for more info.