livebooks blog

Fine art photographer Michael Zide has some of the most thought-provoking and calming photographs that we’ve ever seen – and his website design follows much the same theme. We wanted to feature his website this week to show off all the gorgeous black and white aesthetics he employs, as well as his clean-cut navigation.

Read on to see what he had to say specifically about his site – and head on over to www.michaelzide.com for more gorgeous shots!

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

MZ: Elegant, Persuasive, Striking

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

MZ: Currently my homepage has only one large image, a night time photography conveying some of the feelings of wonder, mystery, and surprise that I felt when I made this photograph.

Q: How often do you update your website?

MZ: I update my website as I find new photographs to feature or have things of interest to share. Its ease of use allows me the freedom to make changes as frequently as needed.

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

MZ: What drew me to liveBooks was the simplicity and the “smartness” of its designs. It enhances the look of professionalism like no other website design I know.

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

MZ: Keep things simple. It can be a very challenging and daunting task to create a website that supports the quality of your work and is an accurate reflection of how you wish to be perceived. I cannot speak highly enough of the help the liveBooks staff gave me at every turn.

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

Photographer Mimi Haddon has one of the most eclectic, colorful, and eye-popping sites we’ve ever seen. We absolutely love the simplicity and intrigue that comes with every new page – which is why we chose her as our featured website this week.

Check out what she had to say about her site and make sure to head to www.mimihaddon.com to see more beautiful photos!

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

MH: Color, Costume, Life.

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

MH: My cover image on my homepage is a notebook, which I really love. My work is a sort of diary of my life, my thoughts, my fantasies – the notebook is my attempt to convey that.

Q: How often do you update your website?

MH: I go through waves. Sometimes I go months without updating it. When I have a solid project to upload then I will add it. I try to keep the site as edited and simple as possible so it is easy to navigate. I have many artistic interests, so it’s easy for me to want to throw everything up on the site, but I had an excellent professor in college who said, “you’re only as good as your worst piece.” This was in terms of putting your portfolio together. It’s a way to force an artist into editing their work, which is perhaps the most difficult but important process in presentation.

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

MH: I love the ease with which I can upload my work. It’s a clean and beautifully designed platform. I  also love how easy it is to create a quality web gallery. I use this often to shoot quick portfolios of a specific work to clients.

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

MH: Less is more. I started off as a graphic designer and studied the art of visual communication for many years. When a client looks at your site, you want to show a confident, solid body of work. This of course ties back to the art of editing. If you have someone you trust, ask for help in the culling process.

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

Award-winning photographer Andre Baranowski’s work has been featured on the covers of national and international publications such as Saveur, Departures, Garden Design, Better Homes & Gardens, Shape, Men’s Health, and many more. We were so impressed with his clean and easy-to-navigate website design that we just had to feature his website this week!

Check out what he had to say below and then head on over to www.andrebaranowskiphoto.com to see more of his amazing pictures!

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

AB: Simplicity, Beauty, Authenticity.

Andre Baranowski for Tiffany, New York.

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

AB: I think a photographer is as good as his last job. I try to publish on my website the best work I have done and at the same time try to get more work just like that.

Q: How often do you update your website?

AB: As soon as I create something I am very pleased with, and have a good response from my clients, I update my website.

Andre Baranowski for Standard Hotel Miami.

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

AB: Simplicity and speed of interaction with liveBooks as well as the choice of aesthetics.

Andre Baranowski for Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

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

AB: We live in a busy and complicated world saturated with irrelevant information. Make it beautiful, simple, and fast.

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

In today’s world we are rarely ever found without our cell phones within arm’s reach. It seems our devices have become an extension of ourselves in every possible way – relying on them for even the most basic of functions. While many things we do on our phones can be frivolous and unnecessary, there are actually a lot of ways in which they enhance and make our lives easier. We’ve compiled a list of must-have apps specifically for photographers – to make your lives easier and your businesses run smoother.

The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE)

The Photographer’s Ephemeris is incredibly valuable for natural light shooters and landscape photographers. The app uses your current location ( or prospective shooting spot) to tell you the heading and angle of the moon, the hours of twilight, the size of shadows, upcoming celestial events, golden hour times, and more. This app also has a “visual search” feature which will tell you the exact date and time the sun and moon will be in a specific location in the sky for a given shooting spot.

$8.99 – iOS

$4.99 – Google Play

Easy Release

If you’re a street photographer or work with a lot of models, Easy Release is the perfect on-the-go app for you. With Easy Release, you can set up a custom release form (or multiple ones for different situations, depending on the type of work you do) that can be signed using a finger. This will instantly generate a PDF document that you can email to everyone that require a copy of the release. Bonus: major image houses like Getty and iStockPhoto approve of its use. However, we always encourage you to consult a lawyer on any legal matter to make sure your releases and contracts are legally binding.

$9.99 – iOS

$9.99 – Google Play

Instagram

We know, we know. Instagram isn’t necessarily an app just for photographers. However, we think it’s important and beneficial enough for your photography business that we had to include it here. Instagram is a way to showcase your amazing photography with the world – literally. Utilizing hashtags correctly can result in thousands of new followers and tons of engagement with your work – which can all lead to increased business and name recognition. Plus, by following other photographers or hashtags that are interesting or relevant to your business, you could learn new things, become inspired to try a new type of shot, and even network with people around the world. We could go on and on about the importance of this app, especially for newer photographers looking to establish themselves, but we urge you to check it out for yourself. Already have an Instagram account? Follow ours – @liveBookswebsites – so we can follow you back and #regram your best pics!

Free – iOS

Free – Google Play

iWatermark

With the increase in photo sharing on social media, there is a higher risk that someone might be able to steal your work. However, we believe that the benefits of sharing on social media gar outweigh the potential risks, and with apps like iWatermark you can further protect yourself. This app gives you the ability to add your logo to images before you post them. You can either water with text or imagery (like your logo) and save the photo back to your camera roll or share it directly to social media from the app.

$1.99 – iOS

$1.99 – Google Play

Photographer’s Tools

Photographer’s Tools provides easy access to some of photography’s most commonly used properties. This app includes a depth of field calculator, sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset times, twilight, blue, and holden hour windows, plus an ND filter calculator for determining how much to compensate an exposure. We also really love the clean, uncluttered format that the app presents everything so that you can quickly access what you need and get back to what you really want to be doing: shooting.

Free – iOS

Free – Google Play

Wireless Mobile Utility

This app creates a two-way wireless connection between Nikon cameras and iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. This means that pictures taken with the camera can be downloaded to any iOS device, and the camera can be controlled remotely, using the iOS device. Plus, the photo sharing feature makes it super easy to upload pictures to social media sites and attach them to email messages.

Free – iOS

DropBox

We think any cloud storage app is always a great idea (long gone are the days of crashed hard drives and losing all of your work!) DropBox is our favorite because it lets you access all of your photos, documents, and videos from anywhere and share them easily. Plus, you can access any file you save to DropBox on any of your devices, computer, phone, tablet, etc.

Free – iOS

Free- Google Play

What are some of your favorite photography apps that you just can’t live without? Let us know in the comments below or feel free to email us at social@livebooks.com.