Website solutions for photographers, what’s needed and what options do we have today?

This is Latitude Photography Podcast, Episode 78 for May 3, 2020

Links Mentioned in today’s show:

Guest Website: arielestulin.com

LPS Survey: https://forms.gle/JpFzi1vPvQzaPF8e8

Download the Image Optimization resource mentioned in this show from this page: https://brentbergherm.com/info/resources/

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Main Topic: Websites for Photographers

Today we’re talking about websites for photographers. I wanted to go through a few items and I’m glad you’re here to discuss these things with me.

First off, I want to cover just some bullet point items of what types of sections does a photographer need on their website. 

Start with WHY it’s important to have a website or online presence before getting into nitty gritty.

Example. If I hear or find a photographer I like, I’ll look him/her online and if they don’t have a website or a working website or a website that has poor usability I’ll kinda not bother. 

Harsh but you need a web presence today. Also no reason even the most tech illiterate person cannot have an online portfolio and presence.

What does your website need:

Your website should not be your life story. 

No one has time or the attention span today. You are a photographer, show me your work, and then if I’m interested I’ll read more about what you do and your philosophies. Too Harsh?? (no)

The opposite is sometimes true, I’ll read something really profound someone wrote on the subject of photography. Then I go see their work and it;s not very good. Just make sure your work speaks as loud as your words.

1. Photos Duh :)
2. About Page + Artist statement or vision
3. A way to contact or email the photographer, what’s your opinion on how to best achieve this? On the about page, on a separate page, or in a sidebar or the footer? Contact page, plug-in if using WP
4. Your own suggestions, feel free to intersperse them here.
5. Gallery page(s)
6. Blog? Anything else?
7. E-commerce for prints etc... 

Let’s talk about a few hosting types that photographers can use to host their websites (feel free to expand this list and/or expand each individual bullet item. Whatever you add, please add in green)

Super easy no effort to custom websites.

1. Instagram / Facebook - FREE

Less tech - Drag and Drop $$ - $$$

1. Squarespace.com - Not free
2. Zenfolio.com - Not free
3. portfolio.adobe.com/photography - Not free or free if you have Adobe CC already
4. www.photoshelter.com - Not free
5. Pixieset.com - Not free
6. Smugmug.com - Not free
7. Visualsociety.com

More tech involved $

1. Wix.com - Free or not free
2. Weebly.com - Not free or not free
3. Wordpress.com/Wordpress.org - Free but you need hosting + theme
4. Drag and Drop WP builder

Very involved $$$$$

1. Custom-coded WP or HTML site - Definitely not free

Drag and drop vs WP sites.

I’m a big fan of Wordpress.org sites. Let’s talk a bit about that for a moment.

1. Confusion with wordpress.com sites Wordpress.org vs Wordpress.com sites)
   1. Server 
   2. Domain (ie google domains)
   3. Technical know-how
2. Basic needs to host a site
3. C-Panel server admin software makes life very easy. (I use Kinsta for my hosting, no C-Panel but still a very convenient way to manage a WP site)
4. Plugins extend functionality of the site
5. Themes control the look of the site. If you “build it right” you should (theoretically) be able to swap themes like you do a pair of socks. You have the same structure going in to it but a different look on the outside. Sometimes themes behave more like plugins though and can get tied in to your content as well. I don’t like those types of themes.
6. Page builders make designing a site a lot easier, just another piece of software to learn though.
7. Bugs to squash with WP sites
8. Anything else
9. Keep on top of WP, WP, theme and Plug-in updates. Otherwise risk of site being compromised. Big headaches.

Other thoughts that need to be covered when dealing with websites for photographers.

What images to put on your website?

• Cherry pick your images. Pick the best of the best. I don’t need to see every picture you’ve ever taken. It’s not about showing 10,000 images on your website. Quality not Quantity.
• You want the viewer to see a handful of your images and say, I get who this photographer is
• FInding a niche. If you want to be a landscape photographer show me your landscape work not your wedding, studio portraits, or sports action. 
• If you want to show images outside your niche, use FB, Twitter or other social media for this.
• Show unique images. What does that mean? Google Horseshoe Bend - pages and pages of sameness. If you want to stand out, show images that are unique and make the viewer say, hmm. I’ve never seen that angle before.
• Make your website look good. If you don’t know what good is, ask someone who has a good eye for design.

Tip of the Week.

Brent: Experiment with the export settings in Lightroom and be sure to export using sRGB when saving out for the web.

Guest: The best place to shoot is exactly where you are, especially true in today’s environment.

Reminders

1. Find us on the web at http://latitudephotographypodcast.com
2. Find me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/brentberghermphoto/
3. Find the podcast facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1892577214293688/
4. Find me on instagram @brentbergherm
5. Find me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/brentberghermphotography
6. Find me online at https://brentbergherm.com
7. And finally, my online learning platform for photographers is found at http://latitudephotographyschool.com
8. Find Ariel Estulin here: arielestulin.com
9. Outdoorphotojourney.com
10. IG @ariel.estulin