livebooks blog

Lisa and Mark Staff are a husband and wife team that have dedicated their career to photographing various mediums such as weddings, fashion, and commercial photography. To see more of their work, visit their liveBooks8 website: www.markstaffphotography.com.

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

L&MS: We are a husband and wife team…I know…not very original…that thrive on documenting people and their lifestyles whether for them personally or through advertising campaigns. We have been doing this for twenty years full-time, even though most of our friends and family still wonder when we are going to get a real job. This is as real as it gets. Doing what you love. Having a zest for life and sharing that and working with like-minded people.

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

L&MS: Clean, Elegant, Easy.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

L&MS: Since it is easy to do – at any time but usually every couple of months.

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

L&MS: If a photograph speaks to me and evokes and emotional response in me besides just being “pretty” it will make it to our site.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

L&MS: Fave feature…that it looks great on all platforms and there is an intuitive ease to working with it. You don’t need to be a technical genius or hire a team to do your site and if you do have a question, the customer service is tip top with answers that you can easily find with a click or have a representative respond in a timely manner, which is such a bonus.

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

L&MS: The design of your site is your “first impression” and you can’t disregard or minimize the importance of this. In our business as photographers it has to represent our brand and our vision in all ways. This is our “portfolio” online and the way we can get 99% of our business so it needs to be tip top. You need to choose the company that can help you achieve this. liveBooks make all of this happen easily for us. Anything that we had envisioned, they had a way to deliver and improve on it.

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

Keith Ketchum is travel, lifestyle and action sports photographer. He obtained his degree in Studio Art from University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) where he drew, painted, designed, and focused in photography. He has worked for clients such as Travel + Leisure, ESPN, New York Post, Rolling Stone Italy, Surfline, Free People, Engadget, Freesurf, KaiKini, Jawbreaking, Slide, Kauai Lifestyle Magazine, Indie Swim, and ESM. To see more of his work, visit his liveBooks8 website: www.keithketchum.com.

I got my start in photography through surfing. I traveled most winters to get away from frigid North Carolina, where I’m from, and would bring a cheap film camera, a couple of surf boards and a journal. Eventually disappointed with the quality of work I was producing at such beautiful location led to an investment in better equipment. This in return led to a decent portfolio and my first official staff photography job with a surf, art, music, and fashion magazine. That was a fun job. It was an eclectic group of creatives from different outlets coming together to form a quality publication. What started as a regional magazine eventually went world wide for a couple of issues. This all happened while I was studying studio art (drawing, painting, photography, design, etc) at UNCW. The magazine lasted until shortly after I graduated college before dying, like most print does, but by then I was established shooting fashion, weddings, assignments from other publications, fine art, and had a little studio space. My wife and I moved Kauai for a change, to settle down and start a family. It was always one of those places that felt more like home than home. I always called it my neverneverland. It’s also hard to take a bad photo here. We’ve been here for a few years now and I’m extremely happy with my work and the people I get to work with on the island and from around the world.

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

KK: Clean, effective, and quality.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

KK: I try to keep things fresh on my blog and depending on how busy I am, I skim back over the recent assignments posted there and pick the best few images from my website. Sometimes I update every month and sometimes a few months go by before I’m able to sit down, catch my breath, have a glass of wine and go over recent work with Bimini, my wife, asking which images she likes best.

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

KK: Homepage images are like the teaser trailers of your website. They are very important and extremely difficult to decide on. You want to get the audience interested with composition and color (a.k.a.: eye candy) without giving too much away. You want to show what you do but only slightly. They have to click a few buttons to get the full effect. I also try to pick generic images that people can put themselves in. So, slightly pulled back vs. up close and personal.

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Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

KK: It’s hard to narrow down one favorite new feature about liveBooks8. I love how simple and designs are. They are clean and they let the images do the talking. The Scaler quality is amazing. I also love how easy it is to update, enter metadata, upload, view the mobile version, jeez…like everything.

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

KK: My advice for most anything art related, website included, was given to me when I was young from photographer Aaron Chang. “Less if more”. Many art instructors in college would eventually give the same advice. I think over time and I came to realize the true meaning of it, but those would be the wise words passed down from creatives I look up to. “Less is more”.

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

Nancy Ney’s website is our first featured website of the week for 2017! Nancy has dedicated the majority of her career to Advertising Photography. As a result of traveling for the last few years, she has shifted some of her career focus to be dedicated to fine art travel images. To see more her work, visit her liveBooks8 website: www.nancyney.com

I started working in NYC as a production assistant when I was in my early 20s. I was very interested in photography and began shooting production stills on the set and developing and printing them to give to the clients. From there, I started testing with models and put a fashion book together. I got a big client right away. Jacques Cohen Espadrilles with a full color ad in French Officiale. It wasn’t too long before I opened my first studio on Union Square and started working in fashion and advertising. I had a long career in N.Y. eventually buying a loft at 620 Broadway in 1996 and selling it in 2011.

Winner of IPA International Award in 2016

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

NN: The aesthetic of my website in three words would be Fine, Art, Travel.

How often do you typically update your website?

NN: I will update the website after I come back from visiting a new locale. So usually about four times a year with some updates in between.

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

NN: Choosing the photos to display is a painstaking task. Since I shoot in a 2×3 ratio and the homepage images are square, usually it is an image I love that crops well to a square!

What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

NN: I guess my favorite new feature on liveBooks8 is the ability to see the way all the different platforms will look in the design center.

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

NN: If I were offering advice about designing a photography website, it would be to keep the format simple and clean and be ruthless about your editing.

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

John Johnston is an advertising and editorial photographer based in Denver, Colorado. His client base includes Chipotle, Ford, Forbes, Guiness and Newsweek. To see more of his work and liveBooks8 website, visit: www.johnjohnstonphotography.com.

I’m originally from Southern California, but now live in Denver with my wife and two girls. I went to art school to be a painter/printmaker, but decided to go into photography. I fell in love with it and found a way to do both photography and my artwork. I shlepped bags for photographers out of school and decided that I was ready to go out on my own. I called everyone I worked with and told them that I was done working with them to pursue my own career. I have been shooting now for 16 years.  I shoot advertising and editorial work. I love meeting people, I love going places, I love that I get to live in a creative world. I am really fortunate to do so many fun things every day.

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

JJ: Clean, honest, storied

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

JJ: With the new site it is a lot more often. I like to update with at least a group of 6-8 images. If there is something I am super excited about, I will update it right away.

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

JJ: There is definitely a connection to the photos. They can be brand new or something that is a little older. There is always a story about the location or maybe the person I met. I add the photos that make me happy.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

JJ: Overall it’s pretty easy to get around. Its simple enough that you could change the entire look of the site in just a few minutes.

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

JJ: Keep things simple. Try and make it easy for people to navigate through your site. They probably won’t stay long, don’t confuse them with lots of buttons or menus.

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