livebooks blog

We have one word for photographer Blair Bunting’s website: stunning. Not only because of the stellar visuals and imagery, but we love the fluid, easy-to-navigate design that simply pulls the user in.

Read on to get the inside scoop in his site’s creation, and don’t forget to go to www.blairbunting.com to see more!

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

BB: Simple, Symmetric, Solid.

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

BB: The images on the landing page were chosen over a period of months. We would go through tons of images and specific crops of those images to see if the angles and colors were catching. When it was all said and done, we were lucky that the selection that was made also had a broad representation of my portfolio.

Q: How often do you update your website?

BB: I update some aspects of my site, like the blog, quite regularly. During the busier times of the year, I will add one to two posts a week. As for the main site, I update it when new work is allowed to be shown (usually after an embargo).

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

BB: By far my favorite aspect of liveBooks is their customer support. I spent many hours on the phone and corresponding through emails with them to make the site perfect. Not only did they make changes quickly, but they helped to give ideas to creative and stylistic ways to implement the changes.

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

BB: Make sure it represents you. All too often sites for photographers seem to be showing off the website designer’s strengths at the cost of showing the photographer’s portfolio in a way that is not distracting. When we designed my site, we asked ourselves, “what does it need to show?” Anything that wasn’t a necessity was left out, and what resulted was truly a clean representation of my work.

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

Commercial photographer Rush Varela specializes in advertising, fashion, and entertainment portraiture. His website design is so crisp and his images so captivating that we just had to feature his website this week.

Check out more on his site below and see the full masterpiece here: www.rushvarela.com.

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

RV: Dramatic, Colorful, Bold

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

RV: For displaying on my website, I choose photos that are a good representation of my style and can captivate the attention of the viewer.

Q: How often do you update your website?

RV: On average, my website is updated every two months and before I send out a marketing campaign.

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

RV: Scaler – I love the ability to have my images fill the screen.

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

RV: Before going live, experiment with the vast customization tools to find out what works best at showcasing your work to your viewers.

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

New liveBooks client and Philadelphia photographer Michael Confer specializes in Lifestyle and Landscape photography – with a distinctly elegant and classic style. We were so impressed with how he put together his website that we just had to feature it this week.

Read on for more on his site’s creation – and don’t forget to head over to www.mconferphoto.com to see it all!

Q: Did you use a pre-designed template or was your site custom-built?

MC: I used a Professional pre-designed website by liveBooks for photographers called “Landscape.” One Monday morning I downloaded four different pre-designed liveBooks templates so I could experiment and interact with the different strengths and design features of each template. While I liked many of the different aspects of each design, the “Landscape” template fit my personality the best. It features a professional, yet simplistic design that showcases my images and videos without additional fancy designs that can potentially distract the user. Once the “Landscape” template was chosen, I resized and uploaded my images, experimented with galleries and image order, wrote some background info and highlights, did a few tests, optimized the mobile aspect, spoke to customer service twice, and linked my Vimeo videos. I submitted the request to go live Thursday evening and was live Friday morning!

Q: How long did it take you to create your site?

MC: I experimented with templates for one day and learned all the features of the editSuite. The other three days were experimenting with design, image order, and background information. In the end it took me about three hours a day for four days. If I had all decisions made about my website, except for template choice, I could have done everything in one day. I had already owned my domain name with one of the major providers and called them for some confirmations; I was all set in 10 minutes.

Q: What’s your favorite aspect of your site thus far?

MC: A favorite aspect of my new liveBooks site is the simplicity, professionalism, and the showcasing of my work first and foremost. I hope everyone visiting my site feels the same!

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

Photographer and stylist Steven Menendez has one of the most vibrant, colorful, and beautifully styled websites we’ve ever seen. He says that his work has been greatly inspired by his travels – seeing exotic people and landscapes has influenced his creative perspective – and we can definitely see that same unique perspective in his website design.

We are so thrilled to have him as our featured website this week and we know you’ll love his site – www.stevenmenendez.com.

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

SM: I would describe the aesthetic of my website as uplifting, chic, and clean.

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

SM: The way I choose my images is finding the ones that speak to my aesthetic of classic, chic, and timeless.

Q: How often do you update your website?

SM: I update my website whenever I have new work.

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

SM: My favorite feature on liveBooks is the ease in uploading images and updating portfolios to keep the website fresh.

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

SM: The advice I would give others when designing a website is to keep in mind that the images should speak first and the website should be a beautiful canvas to display your work and not distract the viewer. For the most part I usually feel less is more when it comes to displaying your art. Research other websites and find out what looks good and what features you are drawn to. My motto is to keep it simple and let the work speak for itself.

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