livebooks blog

‹ Home

Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa)

Donald M. Jones of Great Gray Imagery has been a full-time Wildlife Photographer for the past 25 years. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 10 seasons following college (B.S.’ Forestry and Finance) before his Photography career. It was during those years that he honed his skills and began selling images to outdoor publications around the country.

With the blessing’s of his wife, he went full time and didn’t look back. Donald M. Jones’ coverage spans the North American continent rather than the entire planet, as he thought it was more important to be a good husband and father than a globe trotter – he has no regrets…

Jones’ specialty is mammals, though birds are very close to his heart – just tougher to make a living with. All his subjects are wild – no Game Farms, pets or zoo animals. Jones’ clients are varied from most all the larger Natural History and sporting magazines to calendars, advertising companies, etc. His 12th book “Wild Montana” was just released this past March.

Elk (Cervus canadensis)

Q&A with Donald M. Jones

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

DMJ: Simple – Clean – Vibrant

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

DMJ: I update my “Recent Adventures” Portfolio about every 6-8 weeks. I add new images to my existing portfolios as I produce images that I feel will bolster a particular portfolio.

Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) mother and pup, Price William Sound, Alaska.

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

DMJ: My homepage is simple. The name of my business is “Great Gray Imagery” Named after the largest Owl in North America. As a kid I always wanted to see a Great Gray Owl, I was fascinated by them so I named my business after them – yet I still had never seen one. Time has past and I have had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time with them (I will this weekend as a matter of fact) so what better homepage image than a full frontal of the “Gray Ghost” the Great Gray Owl.

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

DMJ: The uploading of new images is very simple and having the ability to design from my office desktop, awesome.

Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus)

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

DMJ: I’ll comment on what I know and that’s Wildlife. If you are showcasing portfolios on a certain species be sure you show your depth of your coverage. I see too many sites where an individual wants to showcase a certain species, i.e. Elk – yet there coverage is all taken from a two week period once a year – I feel you don’t want a portfolio to look like you shot it over the holiday week. You want to have your perspective clients to say “if he has this, this, this and that, what else might he have.” I find it’s better to have 10 subjects done well than 100 subjects superficially done.

I find my website to critically important to those new clients but it’s my searchable database through my website that is the gift that keeps on giving with old and new clients alike. Let your website be a sampling of who you are but let those that care to review your entire library (or nearly entire library…) at there whim day or night.

See more from Donald M. Jones here: https://www.donaldmjones.com/

Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

With liveBooks Design Editor, you can make edits to your website easily! With the back up design feature allows you to keep your changes saved and use as you please. Before we go deeper into the array of possibilities this enables, let’s go on a quick tour of these three little buttons that make design experimentation easy.

Go to your design editor. The buttons are located on the bottom of your website preview window.

1. Back up Design: This is your Save button. When you find a design that speaks to you, click that button, give your saved design a name and Save Backup. (Note: Saves do not overwrite. Saving your designs under the same name will result in multiple saves with the same name.)

2. View Backups: This is where you’ll find all your saved designs. Click on the one you want to use and the editor will load all the changes associated with that save.

3. Reset to Published: if all else fails and you are not satisfied with any of your design changes, there’s always the option of switching back to your published design. In order to have full control on your progress, our advice is to publish your website only when you’re completely happy with the outcome.

Best case scenario: You created a design that speaks to your needs and aesthetics. That’s great! All you need to do now is publish your website and start sharing your new look.

Worst case scenario: You’re stuck. Nothing looks like you imagined it would, the colors you chose are not you and wish you could go back to your previous design. There are two ways to go back: 1) Load a previous save of your backup design. 2) Choose to go back to the published version of your website.

There’s plenty room to play around on our design editor: from major layout changes, to different fonts and colors, gallery layouts, text alignment and padding are just a few of the many changes you can make. And while choosing a design and sticking to it is the best approach for a familiar feel that makes your returning visitors comfortable, there comes a time when you feel change is greatly needed for your online presence. It’s a time to experiment with the design editor to see the many features it provides.

We encourage clients to use this feature for marketing campaigns they wish to run on their website. A campaign’s visual appearance might differ from your overall design, depending on your strategy. In this scenario you can adjust all design settings to match those of your campaign. Once the promotional period is over, you can easily go back to your initial design, and the next time you wish to run the same, or similar, campaign, all you need to do is load your saved design and publish it.

Seasonal design is something you might like but weren’t entirely sure how to do without permanently changing your website design. A clean, colorful look with a grid type gallery is very appropriate for summer, while a full bleed home page image and a custom mistletoe background for your navigation bar brings the holiday spirit to everyone who visits your website. All these changes and reverting to your original design are possible on the liveBooks platform thanks to those three little buttons on the bottom of your design screen.

So, go on, take a moment to experiment! Make changes you’ve always wanted or changes you don’t think you need just for the fun of it. You might be surprised at the outcome, you’ll definitely be more confident on knowing how your website design can work for you and will surely give you new ideas of how to use design to grow your business. This playground opens with every new website you create.

Ready to check out the liveBooks editor? Sign up for a free 2-week trial today!

Within the last few months, Google has announced that it will be changing its algorithm to rank mobile-optimized websites higher than ones that aren’t as mobile-friendly. This will be taking effect next month, and if your business’ website isn’t prepared, you could see a significant drop in website traffic.

And this isn’t just a big issue for SEO: more than half of all web users today are browsing websites on mobile devices. This means your overall user experience for your online customers matters now more than ever before.

If you aren’t sure if your website is up to the proper standards, here’s how to check for mobile-responsiveness.

First: Understanding Mobile-Friendly Design

Have you ever stumbled across a website on your phone or tablet that looks like a tiny version of what it looks like on desktop? Many websites that are not mobile-friendly require users to “zoom in” (as if you were expanding an image on your phone) in order to read information or make the buttons appear big enough to click on with a finger.

In contrast, websites that are mobile-friendly or responsive have a unique design that fits well on smaller devices. The text will appear at an appropriate size, the buttons are big enough to select, and the navigation menu is clear and easy to use without you having to search for it.

Using Google’s Test

One of the easiest tools available out there is the Mobile-Friendly Test provided by Google. Simply enter your website’s URL and the test will be completed within a minute or two.

Then you’ll see “a screenshot of how the page looks to Google on a mobile device, as well as a list of any mobile usability problems that it finds.”

If your results say that it has no loading issues and is mobile-friendly, you’re good to go!

Or Try it For Yourself

Another way to test for mobile-responsiveness is to visit the website on your own mobile device(s).

Try loading your website on your iPhone or Android device and see how it functions. Can you explore the website easily? Does it load quickly? Is the text legible?

You might even double-check by borrowing phones or tablets from friends or family to see how your website appears on different devices and browsers.

What to Do if Your Website Isn’t Responsive

Whether you had less-than-stellar results on Google’s mobile test or you saw for yourself that your website is indeed not mobile-friendly, no need to panic!

Instead, work on tackling the problem at the source. Start your free trial on liveBooks today! liveBooks offers mobile-responsive, customizable website templates for creative professionals and businesses worldwide.

The best part? Our website designs are ready for search engines and look great on any mobile device!

We’ve also got a top-notch support team who’s here to help you every step of the way. Start for free here.

Michael Grecco is an award-winning internationally renowned director and photographer of celebrity portraits, advertising and editorial commissions, private collections and fine art.

One of the most respected and sought after visual storytellers in the world, his conceptual vision and signature dramatic lighting create distinctive images that are evocative, sophisticated and comedic. Grecco has been shooting iconic portraits of the most recognized entertainment stars such as Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Will Ferrell and Penelope Cruz.

Known not only for his high-concept imagery and his ability to light like no other, Grecco is also valued for his innate ability to connect with each subject to bring out surprising nuance and a conceptual twist that makes even the most recognizable faces intriguing and fresh. Photographing intimate portraits of celebrities, boxers, rappers, scientists, and business leaders, Grecco’s images captivate our attention and imagination. Thus he delivers on every aspect of his client’s vision, satisfying the most recognized brands including Apple, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Direct TV, and Pfizer.

On the pulse point of cutting edge technology and innovation, Grecco is a regarded expert and celebrated speaker on creativity, photography and his signature lighting and directorial technique worldwide. As a Hasselblad Master he is a sought after trainer, traveling the globe speaking and leading informative and hands on workshops.

His provocative documentary movie and accompanying book Naked Ambition has earned critical acclaim. His award winning still images are published the world over in magazines such as Esquire, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Time.

Grecco is often referred to as the Master of Lighting. He is the author of the best-selling photographer’s guidebook: Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Celebrity and Editorial Photography, which is now available as an eBook. His lectures on photography are popular and he has been profiled extensively in key photographic trade journals.

Michael Grecco is based in Los Angeles. He is a devoted father to three children. In his spare time he can be seen exploring his hometown subcultures on his Triumph Bonneville with his favorite camera in tow, ready to find, capture and inspire.

Q&A with Michael Grecco

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

MG: EVOCATIVE. CINEMATIC. INSPIRATION.

Q2: How do you choose the work you display on your homepage?

MG: I worked closely with my film editor in picking images, Cinemagraphs and motion segments that would work together in the director’s real. All the images are from the portfolios on the site and then he made the final selects to use in the finished piece.

Q3: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

MG: That they have an already formatted backend that makes changing the content easy.

Q4: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

MG: Take your time and do it right. We redid things that did not work, and it makes a difference in the end product.

Q5: Tell us about a recent project that you’re proud of.

MG: I am currently working on a 6-part documentary TV series, documentary film, book and fashion line based on some of my archival images.

“To shoot dramatic and conceptual portraits, I create moments to capture with my lens that unlock the hidden story of our innermost being to reveal the drama, comedy, and irony of who we really are.” – Michael Grecco

See more of Michael Grecco’s work here: www.michaelgrecco.com