Resolve

A collaborative online community that brings together photographers and creative professionals of every kind to find ways to keep photography relevant, respected, and profitable.

Have an idea for a post?

Want us to find an answer to your question? Interested in becoming a contributor?Email us

‹ Home

Posts Tagged: photography

April 11th, 2018

Website of the Week – Erin Derby

Posted by liveBooks

Erin Derby discovered photography in high school, and the second she walked out of the darkroom with her first GOOD photo, she was hooked. Derby knew it’s what she would do with her life. In college, she was the photo editor of the daily university paper, and after college she moved to NY where she pursued both art and commercial photography.

Erin Derby feels lucky to be able to shoot various subjects that really interest her, rather than being forced to only pick one genre.

Q&A with Erin Derby

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

ED: Modern, bright, dynamic.

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

ED: I do a major update every year, which involves a total overhaul. And then throughout the year I do mini-updates…Approximately every month or so. Depends on what new work I want to share.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

ED: I pick something that is new and that I’m personally really excited about, and can’t wait to share. It also needs to be big and bold and striking. It needs to really set the tone for the site. And it needs to be NEW!

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

ED: My TWO favorite things are that the site looks so professional and polished without any effort, and updating it is extremely easy and immediate.

Q5. What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

ED: Don’t overthink it. Don’t spend months debating and delaying it. Just get it up there. You can always make changes.

Erin Derby has been with liveBooks since 2007! See more of her work here: www.erinderby.com

Michael Kirchoff grew up with a deep love of photography since he was a child. During a high school photography class he decided to make it the focus of his life, though he really didn’t know it was something that he could actually make a living doing. He began working at various jobs in the industry, from rental houses, to assisting, to production, because it’s what he loved (and had bills to pay!).

After several years Kirchoff started shooting product and still life work because he was simply patient with what that entails, and was fascinated with lighting and the challenges that that presented.

About ten years ago, however, he had lost a few of my big clients during a downturn in the economy, and took it as a sign to start making photographs that “quite frankly, came from the heart and passion that had started me down the road to photography as a career. I’d always made images for myself throughout my life, but this time I made fine art photography the direction I wanted to go.”

He also figured it would give him an opportunity to continue doing commercial work while showing potential clients that I could put more art into the images that I made for them. At the moment, fine art photography is where he is, and commercial work comes in only occasionally. He likes the mix and strives to get to a place where the work is split 50/50.

Q&A with Michael Kirchoff

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

MK: Clean, simple, easy to navigate, where the images come first.

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

MK: I do tweaks to the site a couple times a month normally. A few times a year there is a major change or overhaul made, depending on the amount of new work I’m looking to show. There are many artist statements on the site and I find myself writing and improving those quite frequently. liveBooks makes that super simple to do.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

MK: Images on the homepage are usually signature photographs from the different bodies of work in the portfolio section. Also, a few that have sold well as a prints over the years. The slideshow feature for the homepage works well for this and is simple to sequence.

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

MK: Navigation tools that make sense. Larger images that jump off the page while still loading quickly. The ability to mix text with images. These are all very important to me.

Q5: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

MK: Have patience. When I started I became frustrated quickly because I wasn’t sure which tools were going to apply to what I was trying to do. liveBooks has many options, so take your time and try them out before making any final decisions. You can put a site together rather quickly, but one that you will be happy with has to be thought through. Thankfully, the people at tech support were able to answer the loads of questions I had.

liveBooks actually has more to their sites than I need at the moment. Though, as I branch out into new forms of expression, I know that they are already there to support and showcase what I want to do as a photographic artist. I have plans to put some of them to use soon, and I know they will be there to help.

See more of Micheal Kirchoff’s work here: www.michaelkirchoff.com

Jerry Zolynsky of On Location Photography, professional business imaging, has been a photographer since 1980. He became interested in photography when he won a camera in a poker game! After that, he was hooked. After graduating from Central Michigan University with a degree in journalism with an emphasis on photography, Jerry wanted to expand his photography knowledge. He was hired by one of the largest in house production photo studios in the midwest where he learned studio lighting.

Jerry’s client list includes some European car companies as well as US fortune 500 businesses. He also does photography for local and smaller businesses. He like the challenge of different things to shoot because it “motivates me to learn new techniques.”

Q&A with Jerry Zolynsky

Q1:How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

JZ: The way I would describe my website in three words is…sleek, compelling and contemporary.

Q2 How often do you typically update your website?

JZ: I update my website whenever I feel I have a photo that I feel is strong enough to display. Typically once a month. Out with the old and in with the new.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

JZ: Finding photos for my homepage is a twofold process. First I look for photos that I feel reflect the work that I do best and secondly I like to display work that I enjoy photographing most.

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

JZ: My favorite feature of liveBooks is the edit suite. I love the convenience and the layout of it. I also have to mention the tech support. It is so nice to be able to have a one-on-one support session over the phone. It makes a big difference in making the site look the way I want in a timely fashion. In this day and age where a website is the photographer’s portfolio and clients want to see work that pertains to their business right away, I have to be able to get photos displayed quickly. If there is ever an issue I can talk to a real human being instead of writing an email and waiting 24 to 48 hours for a response.

Q5: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

JZ: The one thing I would advise photographers designing their websites is to display your best work. If you don’t feel strongly about the image or you’re on the fence about it…don’t show it. Play-up what you feel are your strengths and what you enjoy photographing most.

Believe in yourself and never give up. When I just started out a friend of mine told me that I would never make a living as a professional photographer. He said it was too competitive and I would never make it. He is still at the same auto parts store he has been working at for the past 25 years. See more from Jerry Zolynsky here.

Babs Armour’s entry into photography took place mid-career when she decided to leave her work as a teacher and return to the world of art, which had been a major focus when she was young. Babs was fortunate enough to study with a number of outstanding photographers and, in a short time, she was featured in shows and was winning awards. Today, her images are in corporate as well as private collections, and her work continues to grow and evolve!

Her signature “Store Windows”, her portfolio – which reflects the influence of her early years spent painting in New England towns and seaports – includes a series depicting Oyster farmers in Wellfleet, MA and images from New England to Paris.

Q&A with Babs Armour Photography

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

BA: Clean, elegant, inviting.

Q2. How often do you typically update your website?

BA: Now that I have liveBooks, I find myself updating whenever I have new images, want to update a portfolio or decide to make a small change in the design of a page or the site. That’s what’s so great about the new format.

Q3. How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

BA: I choose an image that is truly representative of my work and change it on a regular basis.

Q4. What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

BA: The ease in uploading photos, creating galleries, and editing and tweaking design elements. It’s all just so user friendly!

Q5. What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

BA: Be clear about your priorities and choose images carefully keeping in mind the viewers you want to attract.

I’m really thrilled with liveBooks and feel that the ease of using it will mean that my site is not static, but will be constantly evolving as my work grows and evolves! See more of Babs Armour’s work here: www.babsarmour.com

FREE EBOOK

Learn how to engage your audience and
build brand recognition across social
channels. Learn more...

Free eBook

Search Resolve

Search

READY TO GET STARTED?

Pick your package. Pick your design.
No credit card required.

Start 14-day Free Trial
Compare packages