In search of the perfect online gallery format

[Stuarte]

Despite spending quite a lot of time most weeks looking at photographers' work online (between bursts of paid work), I have come across very few site formats that I really like.  In fact I've often gone online to check out the work of photographers I've seen in print, only to find their online galleries don't do justice to their work IMO.

Of course it's all a matter of subjective taste.  My own preference is for an approach with a strong, clean graphics and not cluttered with thumbnails and text.  I certainly haven't figured out how to do it on my Smugmug site, but I live in hope.

So where are the outstanding sites - not necessarily in terms of content, but certainly in terms of layout and functionality?

[jecxz]

Perhaps you can begin by explaining, in detail, what you do not like about this site: http://photos.vivir-con-arte.com/

[jecxz]

Perhaps you can begin by explaining, in detail, what you do not like about this site: http://photos.vivir-con-arte.com/
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176686\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Just to clarify, so you don't think I'm insulting you, I think you're site is pretty clear and concise.

[englishm]

Personally I really like the combination of Lightroom, SlideshowPro for Lightroom, and SlideshowPro Director.  If you already have Lightroom, the SlideshowPro elements together will cost $US54; which has to be the steal of the century considering the functionality you get with this combination.

Galleries with SSP are extremely customizable, you an include or exclude the rolling thumbnails as you wish, and the image can be as large or as small as you wish.  Maintaining and updating your content with SSP Director is a snap.  It's almost like havng a Livebooks site at a fraction of the cost.  You can also easily embed your SSP galleries in an HTML page to add things like headers, menus etc.

[Stuarte]

Just to clarify, so you don't think I'm insulting you, I think you're site is pretty clear and concise.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176701\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for the clarification Derek - I was wondering .....  

What I don't like about my site is that it's a bit bitty and doesn't have the sense of graphical clarity that I like.  Smugmug offers a lot of scope for customizing the look and feel, and I've done some tweaking with my site, but it's not "there" yet in terms of layout, let alone content.  So I'm on the look-out for inspiration and tips.

[jecxz]

Thanks for the clarification Derek - I was wondering .....  

What I don't like about my site is that it's a bit bitty and doesn't have the sense of graphical clarity that I like.  Smugmug offers a lot of scope for customizing the look and feel, and I've done some tweaking with my site, but it's not "there" yet in terms of layout, let alone content.  So I'm on the look-out for inspiration and tips.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176715\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I re-read what I wrote and quickly realized that perhaps my sincere intensions may be misunderstood.

It is very difficult to design a pleasing website, you are not the only one with that frustration; just because we're photographers it does not mean we're graphic designers--they are two different fields.

One suggestion: print out your site, cut out the parts (header, top bar, menu, etc...) and arrange them on a blank sheet and move them around, it may give you a different perspective.

Try to make your site into the one you've been looking for. I hope I've helped.

[Chris_T]

Despite spending quite a lot of time most weeks looking at photographers' work online (between bursts of paid work), I have come across very few site formats that I really like.  In fact I've often gone online to check out the work of photographers I've seen in print, only to find their online galleries don't do justice to their work IMO.

Of course it's all a matter of subjective taste.  My own preference is for an approach with a strong, clean graphics and not cluttered with thumbnails and text.  I certainly haven't figured out how to do it on my Smugmug site, but I live in hope.

So where are the outstanding sites - not necessarily in terms of content, but certainly in terms of layout and functionality?
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

A few quick notes after viewing one of your France gallery:

- The layout is simple and elegant. I like having thumbnails and one enlargement on the same page. Including the number of images in a gallery and which one is the enlargement is a great touch.

- The auto scrolling of the thumnails is distracting. It can be rather annoying to navigate if a gallery is big, say dozens of images.

- Too many sales info.

Having said that, your gallery is one of the better ones reviewed in the following thread. My comments in there were made prior to investigating what Smugmug, Zenfolio and Lightroom Web Module can now offer. Many of my gripes seem to be addressed by these.

[a href=\"http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13890]http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....showtopic=13890[/url]

At the other extreme, the following site was coded with html by hand, and seems to be liked by some of us here:

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....showtopic=19369

You may receive more feedback at the User Critiques forum.

[Stuarte]

Personally I really like the combination of Lightroom, SlideshowPro for Lightroom, and SlideshowPro Director.  If you already have Lightroom, the SlideshowPro elements together will cost $US54; which has to be the steal of the century considering the functionality you get with this combination.

Galleries with SSP are extremely customizable, you an include or exclude the rolling thumbnails as you wish, and the image can be as large or as small as you wish.  Maintaining and updating your content with SSP Director is a snap.  It's almost like havng a Livebooks site at a fraction of the cost.  You can also easily embed your SSP galleries in an HTML page to add things like headers, menus etc.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=176709\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Nice tip.  I've checked out the site, and bought in.  I also checked out Pacific Light, Mark.  Did you do your whole site using SlideshowPro?  Looks great.

[englishm]

All of the "Galleries" are created with SSP and managed with SSP Director.  The rest of the site is cobbled together using Dreamweaver and some "canned" javascript for the menus.  I'm no programmer, but I think the site works reasonably well.

Thanks for the compliment.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

All of the "Galleries" are created with SSP and managed with SSP Director.  The rest of the site is cobbled together using Dreamweaver and some "canned" javascript for the menus.  I'm no programmer, but I think the site works reasonably well.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178153\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Mark,

I like your site, too. Elegant and easy to use. And nice photos. I'm going to look into SSP, too.

Eric