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The process of uploading images to your liveBooks8 website doesn’t have to be a daunting one! With some planning and organizing, your images and portfolio galleries will begin to take shape before you know it. From recommended image sizes to uploading your images in order to create image galleries, this tutorial will help get your galleries on their way to perfection!

Casey Curry is a celebrity, portrait, and fashion/beauty photographer based in Los Angeles, California. Casey has worked with A-list celebrities such as Michael Caine, Kate Winslet, Billy Bob Thornton, and many others. To see more of work, visit his liveBooks8 website: www.caseycurry.com.

I’ve been studying light and taking pictures since I was the was a child although my start in the industry began with an assisting job for David LaChapelle. His creative approach fused with the talented photo crew he surrounds himself with set the bar for the level of production I wanted for my sets. From then, it’s been a slow burn of testing, developing my craft, and shooting commissioned work. As my aesthetic matures, so does my need to push the limits of what I can deliver for my clients – this can only be found through constant testing. I’ll often watch a film or look at a classic painting and think, “Oh that look would be great for this band/upcoming project.” It’s a continual path of discovery. I never stop learning.

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

CC: Clean, minimalistic, modern.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

CC: Since I started constructing the layout and curating work, it’s been a daily effort. From here on out, I plan on updating my site on a bi-monthly basis.

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

CC: The homepage is intended to give viewers a taste of each section of the website. Additionally, each image is meant to showcase the diverse approaches I’m capable of.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

CC: It’s been years since I use the old liveBooks, so I can’t attest to how much it differs. I can, however, say that it is the best self-managed website I’ve user, and I’ve used quite a few of them. The functionality is superior. It is not only user-friendly, but also technically superior with the built-in SEO and design customization capabilities.

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

CC: Although it’s important to stay true to yourself, get feedback from peers in your field – or better yet, from those you draw influence and aspiration from. I always try to surround myself with people who I feel are better than me, and I took the same approach when building my site. Also, you need to strictly limit the content you display (that’s where the help of others can really come in handy). It should only be the best of what you have to showcase and it needs to take your viewers on a cohesive journey. A good portfolio is one that doesn’t feel disjointed and doesn’t ever get boring.

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

The liveBooks team would like to wish you a Happy New Years. We know that with the beginning of a fresh new year, many people get wrapped up in new projects and goals. Why not make one of them cleaning up your website? Here are a few tips that will help get your website ready for a new year with a fresh start!

1. Update your image gallery

Sometimes you get caught up with work, whether it’s at photoshoots, editing images, creating editorials, and forget to update your website with the new images you’ve created. Updating your images is an important part of showcasing your work. This is especially important for your homepage. Now is a great time to look at your recent jobs and see which images would be best to showcase.

2. Check your links

It’s important to check your external and internal links continuously throughout the year. Links that don’t lead your audience anywhere create a poor user experience. They are less likely to go back to your website once this happens. It is especially important to check external links as other websites may change page names, website URLs, etc. Internal links are equally as important but are under your control. Check these every time you change a page name within your website.

3. Optimize your SEO 

SEO is one of the most important aspects of your website! The liveBooks8 platform allows you to control SEO on a page/photo level as well as as on a site-wide level. It’s important that all of your SEO tags, descriptions and titles be up-to-date. Now is a great moment to look over these parts of your website. Still need some help understanding what SEO is and how you can optimize it on your website? Read our SEO Everything™ article!

4. Remove any outdated information from your pages

As a new year begins, it brings the opportunity to showcase new works and events that you would like your clients to see and attend. Potential clients interested in attending your events and conferences could be lost if they see that you have not updated information for the 2017 year.

5. Update your website’s copyright footer

Your website’s copyright year will not automatically update. Make sure that if you have a copyright on your website, to change the year from 2016 to 2017! This is especially important in the footer – the place where most people forget to look through.

These simple tips will make your website look both cleaner and more professional. As the new year begins, make sure to set aside some time to complete these tasks. They will make your website look both more professional and will help attract the right clients in 2017.

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.