‹ Home

Photographer Codie McLachlan’s images tell a story, and we think his website does, too. Recently redesigned using the new liveBooks8 platform, we wanted to show off the clean-cut navigation, beautiful imagery, and sleek design in our featured website this week.

See what Codie had to say about his site and be sure to go to www.codiemclachlan.ca to browse!

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

CM: The reason I picked the template that I did (I went with Satellite) was that it’s so clean and uncluttered. It’s important to me that a photographer’s website be as clean and free of distracting elements as possible, and the Satellite template is exactly that. So the three words I would use to describe my website’s aesthetic are clean, elegant, and straightforward.

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

CM: Being a photojournalist, I wanted to showcase photos from a variety of photographic genres on my homepage, but I also wanted to pick aesthetically appealing pictorial-type photos. It took me awhile, but I narrowed it down to about ten images that I thought would show the wide variety of subjects that I handle day-to-day.

Q: How often do you update your website?

CM: I probably don’t update my website as much as I should. When I was a newspaper staff photographer, it would be a matter of years. In fact, before going out on my own as a freelancer earlier this year, I’m ashamed to admit that my last update was in 2012 – four years ago! Now that the onus is on me to promote myself and sell my business, however, I anticipate the site being updated every couple of months at least.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

CM: I really like the new liveBooks8 website editor. The old editSuite was all well and good, but it was a little clunky and the previous incarnation of liveBooks just didn’t have the degree of flexibility that my new site has. I could go in and rearrange the site to look completely different right now if I wanted to, and I wouldn’t have to call anybody or wait on a service ticket. With the new editor, the website layout is entirely in my hands.

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

CM: Look at other people’s websites for inspiration. The new editor allows you to edit right down to the page level, so you can make things look how you want, and it can be nice to have an idea of how you want it to look right off the bat. Do you want every portfolio page to look the same, or do you want variation? Would text add a desirable element to that photo essay? Do you want your menu at the top of the page, the bottom, the right or the left? There are so many choices. Also, make a simple Photoshop action to resize and prepare your images. Going through and changing image size for every individual image can be very tedious, especially for those who have tons of photos on their websites.

See more of Codie’s work and adventures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.