My new photo site c&c

oshead

I have been busy over the last few weeks creating my new website. Dedicated to insect Macro Photography, It's called Its a BUGs Life.Net.

I've been able to test it a fair bit but I've only got 2 systems (XP & Vista with browsers firefox & IE) so I might be missing something.

I would be obliged if some people here could critique it for me. Whats good, whats not, what dosn't work. That sort of thing.

Thanks

Dave OS

AnimalRights

I'm no web expert but love the totally diff layout you have, love the Green and love the way it's just so original, pictures load really fast.
Just had a quick look through it but will have a longer browse tommorow.

challengemaster

Cool...

I'm not sure what else to say

Dodgykeeper

:eek:Couldnt spend long on it as the content scares me:eek:

But the layout is top class!

Good Luck with it!

pixbyjohn

Excellent site, loads fast. Superb macro shots.
Well done

MagicMarker

Wow!

It is very nicely laid out, and some of those shots are absolutely amazing! Well done!

Bookmarked!

MagicMarker

Oh yeah, i'm using Safari and it looks fine, no obvious difference from Firefox.

ike

Hi David really like the site its a bit different from ususal miminalist offerings, but at the same time not overly busy. Lots of info on the site and some nice links to other photographers. A bit like picking up a magazine.

I'm very interested in shooting bugs as well so I enjoyed looking around. btw I mamanged to capture me a grasshoppper yesterday something I have'nt seen for years and I'm still trying to get a hoverfly hovering!

oshead

Thanks for the comments and for checking out the site guys. Is there anyone out there with a Mac system? Would you mind looking at it?

Thanks
Dave OS

Valentia

Great work Dave. Excellently thought out and it encourages a visitor to explore. Well ware!!

MagicMarker

oshead wrote: »

Thanks for the comments and for checking out the site guys. Is there anyone out there with a Mac system? Would you mind looking at it?

Thanks
Dave OS

.

MagicMarker wrote: »

Oh yeah, i'm using Safari(Mac) and it looks fine, no obvious difference from Firefox.

oshead

Thanks for taking the time to look and comment Valentia.

MagicMarker.... Sorry my bad. I'd only woken up and still hadn't finished my 3rd coffee.. . Thanks again for your input.

Dave OS

Fajitas!

On Safari & FF here, is all put together grand.

I'm wondering (Not in a bad way) what the site is? Is it a blog on macro photography? A how to? Or a showcase with more text?

I think that's something you need to clarify on the site.

Also, I think you need a cleaner front page - When I first logged on, I thought "Woah! Where do I look now?"

Depending on what you want out of/want to put into the site, I think a splash page, with say, a random image/image a day/whatever, and then something along the lines of the

* Home
* Archive
* Galleries
* Contact
* Search
* FeedSubscribe

The colours on the site work well, so kudos on that - I've seen green sites go horribly wrong

The banner up top... Personally... looks very... 1998 (I don't mean to bash, but I've seen the quality of your work, and you can do a lot more with the clarity of it than that )

Best of luck with the site thoguh - I hope my comments are some use.

Phototoxin

Im not going to remark on th photos as thats seperate - however they are brill!!

Overall I do like the website, ideal colour and theme. However it seems as if there is a bit too much information and looks more like a blog than a photosite.
Maybe have the blog seperate?

Also some borders around the thumbnails on the 'blog' section that link to the galleries would be nice to seperate it from the low- contrast green background.

oshead

Hi Fajitas & Phototoxin. Thanks for taking the time to have an indept look and comment, appricated.

When I started to conseptualise the site my initial toughts were a simple photo gallery. In a Minimalist kind of style. So I built it. It was good... but a bit boring with no real substance. It didn't really convey what it takes to do do this type of photography. Too many pictures and no text.

So I set about writing up some small articles about technique, gear, post processing etc.. That was ok but the site seemed a bit satatic (web 1.0). With not enough going on that would encourage repeat visits.

I then decided to try and incorporate the Galleries into a blog. After testing a few different open source releases I decided on blogengine.net. It seems to work fine but it does take away a little from the Gallery aspect of the site. I may be able to bring the emphasis back to the gallery while still making the blog very accessable.

The Photo of the day on a splash page idea is good. I've actually been working on that for a while now. When its finished i'll definately include it.

A bit of text on a splash page defining the site is a good idea too. So is too, separating the blog. Making the site first and foremost a Gallery of images with an accompanying blog.

I get the point about the banner. I owe the colour scheme of the site to it.

Anyway, appricated.

Dave OS

labbad

Brill really liked the close ups

PixelTrawler

Very nice site Dave

oshead

Thanks labbad and Solyad.

I should have the alterations mentioned earlier, over the next few days.

Dave OS