livebooks blog

Landscape photographer Steven Friedman does not believe in manipulation of his images – and they are all full frame and uncropped. His new liveBooks8 website showcase the beauty of these images perfectly – with full-screen design and gorgeous colors. We are so excited to have him as our featured website this week!

Check out all of the interesting things he has to say about what went into the creation of his website and then make sure to check out www.friedmanphoto.com to see more beautiful images!

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

SF: Clean, Modern, Elegant.

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

SF: I pick one image from each portfolio that is my favorite that conveys the spirit of the portfolio. As well, the image I select from each portfolio is the image that has sold best as a fine art print.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

SF: Typically, I update my website after a major shoot. My work is represented in galleries around the world and I like to keep the updates to Spring and Autumn so the galleries know when to expect new work.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

SF: The ability to have the images as large thumbnails three across is my favorite new feature of liveBooks8. It allows the galleries that represent my work to see complete portfolios of images quickly, enabling their customers to be sure they have picked the right image for a large print. As well, the simplicity of the design allows me to quickly and easily update my site with a new look or with new images.

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

SF: To have patience and only put up imagery that shows your vision for your photography. Choosing photos can be a difficult task. Sometimes it takes days or weeks to get a shot and I may have hiked a long distance. I tend to be emotionally attached to certain images because of the effort it took to capture the image. After a major shoot I don’t look at imagery for a few weeks. I want to detach myself from the energy I put into getting the images so I have an unbiased view.

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

Doug Scott’s architectural photography is marked by a strong sense of life, dimension, shape, and materiality – and we think his website design perfectly embodies all of those things. We love the uncluttered, clean look and the ease of navigation so much that we just had to feature it this week!

Read below to see what Doug has to say about his site’s creation, and head over to www.dougscott.com to check out more!

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

DS: The aesthetic of the new website may best be stated as inviting, personal, and professional.

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

DS: Image selection for the homepage (Portfolio) is in three steps; first, what images do I like, second, will those images reach a  meaningful market, and third, is my homepage representing a variety of project types. This last point is quite important considering some viewers may not choose to tour the “By Type” gallery.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

DS: Once my initial refining has run its course with the new website (which is nearly daily although already published), I will settle into an update routine of anywhere from weekly to monthly. Of course, this depends largely on the content of the current shoots.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

DS: The overall appearance and function of the new site is more refined on the front-end. The backend editor is simpler, yet allows for far better control and offers many more design options. liveBooks was savvy in giving us creatives such a great editor. I am looking forward to a “Client Access” feature for reviewing proofs.

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

DS: To those preparing to design, consider grouping your images according to the menu(s) you will use. Upload them to the image gallery in the editor in these groups for easier selection during the population process. Secondly, if the depth of your archives allow, whittle away hard through multiple edits at what you actually present. In my case, personal fondness for a particular image must be balanced with the reality of the actual impact of an image – other objective team members can really help out here.

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

Few things are as important on your photography website as your portfolios. Why? Because they showcase your actual craft and portray your images in the way you want your audience to view them. However, putting together effective and action-inspiring portfolios is much more than uploading images and throwing them into folders and calling it a day. So much goes in to selecting the images you want to showcase, the order in which they appear in the portfolios, and even the layout of the galleries. We have just a few tips for the best ways to get started creating the perfect photography portfolios – check it out!

Plan the Layout Before Uploading

Before you dive in to the process of deciding which photos will make the cut for your website portfolios, make sure you have a general outline or plan of how you want your galleries to be laid out. Do you want your images displayed in a slideshow format? In a collage? In a sliding format with visible thumbnails? Do you want full-screen images or photos with borders? This layout will most likely be subject to change once you actually begin building your portfolios, however using it as a starting point will get the ball rolling on how you want your images to be viewed.

High Resolution Images ONLY

While this should go without saying, make sure that the content you choose to populate your portfolios is only of the highest quality. This may mean sacrificing some of your favorite, more candid shots for ones that are clearer and more professional looking (those other shots belong on a blog or your social media accounts).  While higher resolution photos may make your galleries take just a few seconds longer to load, it is well worth it to wow your potential clients with stunning imagery.

Be Picky, Very Picky

As a professional photographer, all of your images are beautiful. However, take on the mindset of leaving your audience wanting more after they view your portfolios. Do not put up every single photo you have ever taken – be extremely picky when determining which photos make the cut. Better yet, have team members, friends, peers. and other people take an objective look at your images and tell you which ones have the biggest impact for them. Make sure to keep in mind your target audience when making final decisions – if you are a wedding photographer but like to shoot landscape photography on the side, do not clutter your website with a landscape portfolio when your target audience is engaged couples.

Order Your Images Strategically

Once you’ve decided which photos to include within your portfolios, you’ll need to decide where to put them. The order of your images is extremely important, and will have a subtle, yet extremely impactful, effect on your audience. Place your strongest photos at the beginnings and ends of the portfolio so that you will make the biggest impact at the beginning and leave a lasting impression at the end. Weaker photos should be placed in the middle because you cannot guarantee that your viewer will always click through the entire gallery.

To Caption or Not to Caption

Providing additional details and descriptions of your photos is completely subjective; on one hand, it is nice for the viewer to have some more context surrounding the image and get a sense for your style. On the other hand, sometimes it’s better to let the imagery speak for itself. In determining whether or not to caption images always think about your target audience and whether the additional context will provide value in swaying them to make a decision to hire you, buy your work, or contact you. Whether you choose to include visible captions, always make sure to include keyword tags, titles, and descriptions for each photo so that search engines can pick up that content and rank you higher in search results.

Spring is officially here – the time of year where we can start putting away our winter coats and boots and get excited for warm weather, sunshine, and being outside. Spring is also the time of year that allows us to take inventory of the old, polish it up, sweep it out, and dust it off. This same concept of “spring cleaning”  should apply to your business as well – and most importantly your website. When was the last time you really did an overhaul of your site? If it’s been awhile, now is the perfect time and we’ve compiled a list of things to focus on first to get you started!

Content Clean Up

Make a conscious effort to do a truly comprehensive content clean up. This can range from something as simple as going through your portfolios and galleries and deleting older photos, adding new work, or moving images around, to actually digging in to your analytics and seeing which pages get the least amount of traffic and editing from there. Website design trends are moving toward cleaner, simplistic, and clutter-free – so really evaluate whether each page of your website is absolutely necessary and providing value to your audience.

Update Your Events Page

One of the things we see all too often is event pages that are far outdated – even by a few years. Take the opportunity to make sure your website is updated with your upcoming workshops, speaking engagements, photo expeditions, or any other important events you’re partaking in. Nothing looks more unprofessional than inaccurate information on your website – plus, this will be a great way to promote the events you care about and hopefully garner more attendees.

Be Intentional About Calls to Action

One thing we’ve often noticed that’s missing from photography websites are clear calls to action. While most of the focus should be on your imagery, you also want to make sure you’re telling your audience what you want them to do. Whether that’s booking you for a job, project, ad campaign, or even buying prints, tell them what you’d like them to do and make it easy for them to do it. Have your contact information readily available in multiple locations on your website so that anywhere they look, they can contact you.

Check Your SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should be something you focus on all year ’round, but if it’s not your strong suit definitely take the opportunity now to pay extra attention. If your goal is to increase traffic to your website (which we think it should be!) then make sure your keywords, tags, descriptions, titles, and content on your website are working for you. If you’re not ranking as high with search engines as you’d like, it might be time to overhaul your old SEO tactics and start fresh.

Update Your Website Design

We know that completely changing your website design is a huge undertaking – but small, subtle changes can be made to create a fresh new look without all the stress of a total re-design. Switch up the images on your homepage. Change the names/titles of your portfolios. Add a new page – such as a blog – to your website. All of these changes will keep your website up to date, as well as give returning clients new things to look at and explore.

What “spring cleaning” are you conducting on your website? We’d love to know!