C&C: New Website / Portfolio / Blog

[ijm5012]

Over Christmas break, I finally had the time do something I've been wanting to do quite a while now: create a website for myself.

My intentions for the website were pretty simple:

• Consolidate down to a single online hosting platform, as I do not want to pay for Flickr Pro (I had previously been using Flickr to host my images)
• Create a portfolio of my work that I can use to show potential clients
• Have some type of blogging platform, just so that I can put words to some of my images to help tell the story of a particular outing or event

At this point, I'm not looking to monetize my blog, or have people order prints directly through the site. If anybody does want a print, they can contact me and I will work through the details with them to get that order fulfilled. The good news is that if things like that do progress, SmugMug can be configured to handle all that through the site.

After taking some time and talking with @davidzvi (thanks again Dave!), I decided the Smugmug was the way to go for me. Smugmug provides unlimited storage, allows me to customize my folders & galleries for access (i.e. personal folders that I only want to share with family vs. having visible on my website), and was pretty affordable. I went with the "Power" plan, which is already pretty affordable at $72/yr., but I managed to get a year for only $43 (40% off) for my first year thanks to SmugMug's Black Friday sale.

Over the past couple weeks I've been tweaking the site and getting things to a point where I'm pretty happy with the layout, content, and design. However, I'm always interested to get other's opinions as well to see what they like, what could be improved, etc.

Here's a link to my site. I'm still not done populating it with content, but it's at a point where I am comfortable sharing it. I'd appreciate any comments/feedback you have on things you like, things that could make it better, etc. Thanks in advance!

 

[jbird]

I like your site. It is well laid out. The Petit Le Mans article was well written.

 

[Allan]

I like your site too. BTW, I use Smugmug for my site too.

 

[ijm5012]

I like your site. It is well laid out. The Petit Le Mans article was well written.

Thank you jbird for taking the time to check out my site and read the blog entry. I felt that having a blog was important just so that I could put some context to some of the images and tell the story behind them. I plan on writing a few additional blog entries for races I attended this past year.

I like your site too. BTW, I use Smugmug for my site too.

Thank you Allan. So far, I'm pretty happy with SmugMug. It seems that you can get the site to do just about anything you want, you just need to know the right settings (or find a snippet of code to modify a particular behavior).

You've got quite the collection of bird images on your site. It does a nice job of showcasing your talent.

 

[davidzvi]

@ijm5012, I use a little drop shadow on my galleries. I should probably tone it down a bit, but if you want the code let me know.

GM5 Sample - BlueberryPhoto

 

[Butlerkid]

I like your simple, clean and easy to navigate design! Of course, the images are extremely good also!

I, too, have used SM for years. I really like the flexibility they offer...AND....there customer support is superior! If I have a question or problem, I usually get help within 24 hours!

 

[Jonathan F/2]

Looks good Ian! I've been planning to migrate to Smugmug as well. I think I'll do that soon. My only criticism from a typographic standpoint, is to match the fonts with your logo font, which is san serif. It might give it more uniformity.

 

[Palouse]

Ian, very nice. I like the clean look.

 

[Allan]

Thank you Allan. So far, I'm pretty happy with SmugMug. It seems that you can get the site to do just about anything you want, you just need to know the right settings (or find a snippet of code to modify a particular behavior).

You've got quite the collection of bird images on your site. It does a nice job of showcasing your talent.

Thanks. Full disclosure - I hired someone to help with the site.

 

[ijm5012]

I like your simple, clean and easy to navigate design! Of course, the images are extremely good also!

I, too, have used SM for years. I really like the flexibility they offer...AND....there customer support is superior! If I have a question or problem, I usually get help within 24 hours!

Thank you Karen. So far, I'm please with SmugMug for my wants/needs. It gives me what I want at an affordable price point.

Looks good Ian! I've been planning to migrate to Smugmug as well. I think I'll do that soon. My only criticism from a typographic standpoint, is to match the fonts with your logo font, which is san serif. It might give it more uniformity.

Thanks Jon, I'll play around with the fonts this weekend. I know that my logo is done in Heiti SC which isn't available from the SmugMug text selector, but I'm sure there's something that's close enough.

Ian, very nice. I like the clean look.

Thank you very much Nick, I appreciate you taking a look and offering your feedback.

Thanks. Full disclosure - I hired someone to help with the site.

Allan, it's money well spent. Personally, I enjoy digging in to the details and learning a bit about things I knew nothing about previously, so it's a good endeavor for me.

 

[DynaSport]

Very nice. You have some very good images as well.

 

[crazy]

You have a good layout with a pleasing array of images, Ian. The Porsche lead image of the motorsports section is outstanding, in my opinion.

 

[davidzvi]

Thanks. Full disclosure - I hired someone to help with the site.

I hired someone for the previous version of my site. But when they converted to the current customization tool set I did it myself with help from their support heroes.