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Author Topic: Beta-Test: My new website  (Read 11392 times)

jenbenn

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Beta-Test: My new website
« on: April 11, 2008, 03:28:45 am »

G'day everyone,

I have just completed work on my new website and would like to get some feedback from as many people as possible, before I relaese it.

The web adress is:  www.photography-in-style.de

Conments, suggestions and constructive criticism welcome!

Many thanks for your help!
Regards
 Jens
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Nick Rains

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« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2008, 03:35:02 am »

Quote
G'day everyone,

I have just completed work on my new website and would like to get some feedback from as many people as possible, before I relaese it.

The web adress is:  www.photography-in-style.de

Conments, suggestions and constructive criticism welcome!

Many thanks for your help!
Regards
 Jens
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=188644\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Hi Jens

"Enter here" landing pages are not really a good idea, and your pix are 3 clicks into the site. They are what people what to see "upfront and personal", not buried 3 layers down.

Otherwise it looks fine, if a little dark overall.
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Nick Rains
Australian Photographer Leica

LoisWakeman

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« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2008, 09:49:02 am »

Jens,

I concur that the "splash page" is not necessary. People have very little patience surfing, and want to see who you are and what you do up front: so I guess you will soon lose the "redesign" text on the home page and make it more focused? That is probably interesting to you, but not the visitor who doesn't know you and hasn't visited before.

The graphic headings are not very easy to read, and have no ALT tags - tut tut. That's the first rule of accessible web design. Likewise, the contrast is not always high enough to read the text if you don't have 20/20 vision.

Impressum isn't that well-understood outside the German speaking world.

But it's a good start overall. I hope it works well for you.
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Paul Sumi

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« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2008, 04:18:02 pm »

Took a quick look, definitely too dark for my taste overall.  It's very difficult to read because of the thin type face and low contrast.  

I'm also a little confused about the purpose of the site.  Is this a personal site or one to solicit business?  You do suggest people contact you if they want prints and you also list stock affiliations and publications.  I'm confused.  If the intent is a "soft" sell, it's a little too soft for me.

Paul
« Last Edit: April 11, 2008, 04:18:41 pm by PaulS »
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Justinr

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« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2008, 03:01:21 pm »

I quite liked the site, it has a definite feel and atmosphere to it and if I am out looking for photo sites then I don't mind going beyond the first page to see what you have to offer. The leaf motif sets the scene for your style very well I thought. Having said that it's worth pointing out that not everyone can get broadband, we certainly can't, but that's a long sad story, so your pages took far too long to load and I moved on.

Justin.
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lbalbinot

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« Reply #5 on: April 12, 2008, 05:58:25 pm »

Quote
Otherwise it looks fine, if a little dark overall.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=188645\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I like the website, but I also think it's a little dark. And I don't think it's a design issue, I belive it's a monitor problem. Even the picture galleries are way too dark. Aren't you using gamma 1.8 on a Mac and exporting that way? I'm on a PC.

Regards,
Luis
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jjj

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« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2008, 10:54:42 am »

My observation would be - beveling!    
I didn't like beveling in the late 90s when the bevel filter appeared in PS and suddenly everyone started using bevels on buttons/text. Using it now makes your website lok 10years old.
The brightness of the images is fine. Whether the site design is too muted is just personal taste, at least you aren't so distracted by the stuff around the image.
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JDClements

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« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2008, 06:28:32 pm »

You can speed it up quite a bit by optimizing your images. I checked just one (the large Buch_gros image) and it is almost 100k. It could be one-quarter that. A Heidlberg panorama is 150k, could probably be half.

And add more pictures of Heidelburg! It's been 18 years, but I recall that in the top of the hill across the river is the ruins of a centuries old monastery and nearby that is the ruins of an amphitheatre built by Hitler. Very cool, as is Heidlberg itself.
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Panorama

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« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2008, 10:29:25 am »

First, I'd like to say good job getting the site up and available. I know it can be a lot of hard work so my suggestions are meant to help you improve the experience. You've received several good suggestions and I'll add/confirm my observations.

1) Alt text is nice, but you can easily add it at any time. Definitely not a deal killer right now and you have other issues that need some attention.

2) Why so dark? It's not mysterious, it's just dark and hard to read/see. Even for those of us that can still see 20/20 it's a struggle.

3) Heidelberg - I love the city, but after seeing your first shot, you showed it to me again, and then again. Or was there a difference?  OK, a little sarcasm there, but if you're going to highlight the city, then show the city, the fort, the powder magazine, etc. Make it interesting and not repetitive.

4) L TOC/navigation buttons - I felt that I was looking at the History Channel's web site and I was about to explore Roman Ruins. Sorry, that was just my initial, and repeated reaction. It's all personal so leave it if you like it.

5) Low contrast text - the "welcome" text is almost invisible. there's subtle, and then there's asleep. If you want to convey a feeling without overstating things, you'll need to be careful, but no matter what you need to pull it up a notch.

6) Impressum - Huh??? English is the most common universal language (sorry to the French). You not only incompletely mix English and German on the page, but you're going to lose a huge segment of your desired audience. Add a full English section and keep the German too.

7) I like your landing page, but I don't like to have to click again to see what i was already promised. The tease becomes a nuisance.


Good luck..
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AWeil

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« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2008, 05:56:32 pm »

Hi Jens,
the site is too dark for my taste and the colors seem way too oversaturated. I live in Heidelberg: There is such a soft and finely modulated light....

I like your images of people in India. But again, the images seem oversaturated to me.

In agreement with the previous poster: If you want to feature your home town, you have to include a variety of views. How about the Neuenheimer Feld, contrast old and new? People, details?

Impressum: That's the law in Germany. One has to state proper identification, in German - to make sure the authorities know what they are reading.

Loading speed is fine here and the structure of the site is well organized.

Good luck to you and greetings from Heidelberg
Angela
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LoisWakeman

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« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2008, 11:30:38 am »

Jenbenn,

Several people have taken the trouble to reply to your request now.

Did you find the feedback at all useful?
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dalethorn

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« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2008, 07:52:55 pm »

Personally, I would NOT reduce the image size. I'm using a cellphone and the speed is fine for your images. Very small sizes are useless for viewing landscapes.
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jenbenn

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« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2008, 09:12:48 am »

Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to give their comments.

Yes, I do find many comments helpful.

There seems to be a more or less general consent that the page is too dark. I have therefore decided to lighten up the red background a little bit to get more overall contrast. I recognize the fact that the headlines and are a bit hard to read, but I dont want them to become distracting to the eye. They will stay as is for the time being. Same goes for the buttons. I just love them. I guess its a matter of taste.

The "Impressum" button is required by German authorities as the site is hosted under a .de domain. Thats why it has to be in German.

Someone has pointed out that my images seem oversaturated. Well, thats part of my style. I do black and white  and normal saturated images, too, but so far these highly staurated images have sold a lot better through my agencies than any of the others.
By the way, the colors were achieved by slightly underexposing the Kodak Extracolor film with polarizer under strong morning/evening light.

As for more pictures of Heidelberg: They are coming.  However, I have the policy to only show my very best picture on this site. I wont include any picture that I am not 100% satisfied with, only to show more of Heidelberg. If anyone wants to see more pictures, they can be accessed through alamy.com. Link provided to my account with them under Agencies.

Alright, again, I am very grateful to all of you for your input. If you have more  feed back for me, I am looking forward to it. It is through criticism that we all become better.  I would also love to see your own websites, out of curiosity and for inspiration , of course.
 

 
Quote
Jenbenn,

Several people have taken the trouble to reply to your request now.

Did you find the feedback at all useful?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=191871\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
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Panorama

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« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2008, 01:44:15 pm »

Quote
Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to give their comments.

Yes, I do find many comments helpful.

There seems to be a more or less general consent that the page is too dark. I have therefore decided to lighten up the red background a little bit to get more overall contrast. I recognize the fact that the headlines and are a bit hard to read, but I dont want them to become distracting to the eye. They will stay as is for the time being. Same goes for the buttons. I just love them. I guess its a matter of taste.

The "Impressum" button is required by German authorities as the site is hosted under a .de domain. Thats why it has to be in German.

Someone has pointed out that my images seem oversaturated. Well, thats part of my style. I do black and white  and normal saturated images, too, but so far these highly staurated images have sold a lot better through my agencies than any of the others.
By the way, the colors were achieved by slightly underexposing the Kodak Extracolor film with polarizer under strong morning/evening light.

As for more pictures of Heidelberg: They are coming.  However, I have the policy to only show my very best picture on this site. I wont include any picture that I am not 100% satisfied with, only to show more of Heidelberg. If anyone wants to see more pictures, they can be accessed through alamy.com. Link provided to my account with them under Agencies.

Alright, again, I am very grateful to all of you for your input. If you have more  feed back for me, I am looking forward to it. It is through criticism that we all become better.  I would also love to see your own websites, out of curiosity and for inspiration , of course.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192011\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I'm glad you like the comments, but it's funny and if I'm not mistaken, you've discarded every single suggestion made, even those made repeatedly by viewers with nothing in common other than having viewed your site and comparing it to other sites that are are well received.

Not sure what that means other than if you're satisfied with it the way it is, simply keep it that way, but I'm pretty sure there's something else there somewhere too..
« Last Edit: May 02, 2008, 01:45:58 pm by Panorama »
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AndyS

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« Reply #14 on: May 05, 2008, 01:04:43 pm »

Hi Jens,

I would have to agree with others in that I find your site a touch too dark. I run with a calibrated monitor and still find myself having to look for the text more than I would like.

The other comment that I would make, as also made by Paul, is that it is hard to understand the purpose of the site - is it personal, or is it also to try and solicit some business?

This is a comment that can equally be levied at my own site! My own aim is to make my site more commercial over the course of this summer. Either way it is something for you  think about.

Ignoring the dark colours I find the design of the site easy to navigate - didn't find myself struggling to work out how to view things or how to get back to the main page. You have some fine images on your site - particularly enjoyed your India Landscapes.


Cheers,
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