livebooks blog

Jane Gottlieb has been expressing her joy of art with paint, shapes and colors since she was very young. She started as a painter, evolved into a photographer, and eventually began hand-painting on her Cibachrome prints over 35 years ago. Before Photoshop she found a way to express a new magical reality with the vivid, saturated and unrealistic colors she painted into each photographic print.

“My passion is to paint, collage and enhance them with Photoshop, creating my own idyllic wonderful uplifting world! I have had my website with liveBooks for many many years & have always been proud of my site & I am told over & over how people love my website!”

Right now Jane is having a 4 month exhibition entitles “Jane Gottlieb Photographs France” at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UCSB!

Q&A with Jane Gottlieb

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

JB: Colorful, easy, engaging.

Q2:. How often do you typically update your website?

JB: Never enough…every 3-6 months!

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

JB: My favorite image at the moment!

Q4: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

JB:For me it’s the thumbnails running on the bottom…

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

JB: Try to keep it simple…& utilize the great help offered by your friendly service people!!

Jane’s art has been shown worldwide in many solo exhibitions including:
Butler Institute of American Art, Ohio; Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA; Laguna Art Museum, CA; Petersen Automotive Museum, LA, CA;
LA County Natural History Museum, CA; Monterey Museum of Art, CA; Nancy Hoffman Gallery, NYC, NY; L’Image Gallery, Rome, Italy; Louis Stern Gallery, West Hollywood, CA; Wall Space, Santa Barbara, CA.

See more of Jane’s work here: https://janegottlieb.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

Wendy Hope began with her photography background rooted in “music and celebrity” driven campaigns and advertorials. Eventually she segued those relationships and my body of work into “beauty and cosmetics” which is her current arena.

Wendy studied abroad and while in Paris she was introduced to a photographer who mentored Mark Seliger and at the time Mark was Chief Photographer of Rolling Stone Magazine and on contract. When she returned, she landed an internship with him! She learned the business & etiquette, lighting, cameras & film, and all things darkroom. Then, Wendy branched out and began assisting other photographers until she learned enough and was able to make the jump with my own identity.

Q&A with Wendy Hope Photography

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

WH: Clean and Chic.

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

WH: That depends on how busy I am and the schedule and release dates of new published work. I try to update monthly however it’s more often a bigger overhaul bi-monthly.

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

WH: It depends which opening image looks modern & fresh and which is my favorite at that moment. I also consider where I am (NY vs. LA) and who I’m targeting at that time. Usually I look for something with whites so it works with my design and also has a bit of graphic punch for high impact.

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

WH: It’s easy to update manually with options to change fonts and design.

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

WH: Keep your design clean so the focus remains on the content and the work itself. Keep in mind loading time as well, it’s important.