Hello all,

I'm out to look for websites that are nice, I'm on a mission to get myself a site up and running and have a very kind friend who's doing all the coding for me, what I need is to find out is 1. what I like/want and 2. what others out there like and think works well as a photography website.... SO show me a template/layout/thingy that turns you on LOL and no nothing dirty LOL

a few people have said they like this one cos its simple

Don't go for a flash site. Anything that is simple and clean (not cluttered) is good. Eye candy is a plus. No audio is a big plus. I hate it when I go to a photographers website and there is annoying music. Do they even own copyright to it? many ask that question. - If you have any trouble understanding what i wrote, please refer to my Avatar. Thanks...

Agree with Radlafx...make it clean and simple.  Remember not all folks have high speed...they won't hang around waiting for the flash or audio to load up.

Couple things for me,. 

Simplicity, not having to hit 3 or more links/thumbs to get to where you want to go. I've seen photography sites where you see a thumb you want to view, 6 pages later you can see it full size.

I know sites cost money to maintain, but nothing makes me close a window faster than when you click on a link or the "Play" button, and it loads an advert window before it loads what you want. I usually let it go the 1st time it happens when I visit a site, next time I leave.

Have to agree with Radlafx, no audio. 

I like photo sites that have a few links to the sites the artist visits themselves.

Good luck setting it up mate, can't wait to see your site.

I agree with simple. I like my Gallery on a friend's website. It's a ready-made software he's using with customizable options, I think. I can ask around if you're interested. He's bovi at Renderosity and the gallery is here.

Well it depends what you're looking for Kai and what market you wanna hit.

If you want people to come and browse and say that's nice, then go for HTML.

If you want the serious players who would actually contact you for a commission then you have to have flash. The presentation of a flash site shows who you are and what your style is. No Music it is totally annoying. Poeple with money to spend have the bandwidth to use flash. Plus all it takes is a 2Mb broadband line...

I would go with Flash personally. But then your friend might only know HTML.

I would say vist some amazinginternet clients sites or clikpic and you can see the difference in HTML instantly...

Attached Link: Animals Divine.

I agree with all that has been said. Create site with a clean look and intuitive interface. Keep page loading times to a minimum. Avoid FLASH preferrentially. Also, keep in mind you want the images too look good in the interface, not get lost in it. My own site is due for a redesign, it has become too cluttered (except for the start page). And I need to start hosting my own gallery, hahah. But I created a site for one of my wife's projects that garnered some acclaim, take a peek at the link I provided if you'd like. The galleries are pretty straight forward.

Just an example of a webdesign I like: Rendo Poser artist Awadissk's site:
www.dissian.com/Home/3degyptian/album0.html

(click on the '+ photos 66' link to see the gallery)
or the site's homepage:
www.dissian.com

I think it's classy, simple, elegant, inviting...

Edit for our Mods: I'm sorry, there is some nudity (Poser figures) if you click further than the linked pages...

Attached Link: CoolHomepages.com

Don't get me wrong, I like flash and think the sites Geert gave as examples, but I think a good gallery site can be built without it. Awadissk's interface is cool, but not very intutive at first. A large percentage of the world still connects to the internet via dial-up so speed is a factor and you want to reach as many people as possible, money or not. Contrary to what may be said, you don't HAVE to have a Flash site to be taken seriously, just a well designed one. **EDIT:** You want to see some neat sites for inspiration, go to CoolHomePages.com (link). Most of the sites there use Flash, but not all. Check out the Non-Flash link -- Mark Boyle's site is a good example of a classy non-flash gallery site.

Hi all,

Thanks for all the feedback here... Yeah I don't plan on having music on the site cause it is VERY annoying. Must say that Mark Boyle's site mentioned by Kort does seem one of the better I've see. So here's my attemp so far at creating a template for myself... feel free to critique it and all haven't started working on a gallery part yet cause I'll have to speak to my friend to see what he's got planned... Anyway once again thanks for all the help here.

I like it. Simple layout and attractive photos. I don't find white background particularly enticing but this is just me. :-D

Wonderful Kai! I like the way you use the reflection to indicate the active link, very clever. I do agree though that white is clean, but it is very bright on the eyes. My eyes anyway. But many people have no problem with that and many pro sites have white backgrounds. Hrmmm, I was thinking of using that dropshadow/reflection thing on my updated site as well, but it seems like I have seen several variations on it of late so may just pass...

Simple, clean and straightforward just how a site should be. Looking forward to seeing the finished site. I must really get mine updated but I since I started it I just don't seem to find the time, lol.

• Andy

Ain't that the truth! I have 2 sites to finish before I can get back to mine...buh! I like yours Andy -- were did you get the javascript for that featured image feature? :o)

Thanks guys... Yeah I'm not sure bout the white but then again I do want something 'clean'... Might look at trying to make it a light grey or something. Good to see you noticed the dropshadow/reflection things there Kort... not sure if it'll work like that on the real thing but I do like the idea. Also was looking at putting one of them nav link things where it goes home>gallery>cats>MAD CAT LOL but then again it's probably not needed... any thoughts?

Quote - Also was looking at putting one of them nav link things where it goes home>gallery>cats>MAD CAT LOL but then again it's probably not needed... any thoughts?

If you can do it with it being obtrusize, then I say go for it. I personally always liket that step by step nav. trail. And yes, I am pretty sure you could do the dropshadow for active links. I know how so I am sure your friend can make it work. Just remember, white is easy. Once you use a different background color, you open up whole new issues with color matching, etc.

That's true... Might just stick with white then plus hopefully there wont be near as much white in the gallery part cause most of it should be image and yeah it's going to be tricky adding that step by step nav thing and making it look like it belongs...

On a website no longer online, a co-worker and I designed a navigation that looked like puzzle peices being fit together as the trail navigation. But I would not do that in your case. In fact, I am not sure you would really need it. How deep would you go into your site, 4 or 5 steps at the most? It it were me, I would make sure you have a navigation bar at the top as well as the bottom of the screen. You could build the trail into the top Navigation if you wanted to. I mocked it up for you.

haha u love making things tricky for me dont you I like what you have there only thing I'm worried about is the amount of room it'll start taking up... but then again I guess I could always resize that text box a bit for the about page and all... Hrmmm

Like I said, if you only go down 4 or 5 levels, you should be okay. It could be done with the drop shadow, but you may want to not use it when you start trailing.

Hi Kort - Um... I really can't remember where I got the script from, I think I just poked about on several of the javascript sites until I found something that worked, then just added it to mine. 

Thanks Andy.