I also use Adobe Portfolio. It's fairly easy to use and lets me share my images with friends and family. I don't sell, but if friends ask I will print a few for them. It's abwolfson.myportfolio.com
Building a Photography Website
- Thread starter Abinoone
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Annette
Active member
http://www.annettesiegel.com/ I‘ve just built my photography website with a program called RapidWeaver it’s basically code formed into “Stacks” so you don’t have to write your own code. I found it to have lots of flexibility. You can find tutorials, templates and also Foundry or Foundation for greater customization. I get along with it but everybody’s different! As far as ecommerce there is a sie called Ecwid by Lightspeed that offers a free option for sales under a certain amount…I was going to try in on my website but haven’t put it together yet.
Your website is great. I also just started with Adobe Portfolio but it’s not looking as professional as yoursI used Adobe Portfolio to build my website….and I’m very pleased with it for my purposes. However, I’m not doing any sort of e-commerce (which I don’t think is possible with Adobe Portfolio). Plus, it’s free for anyone who already has an Adobe CC subscription (or rather it’s included in your monthly fee).
It was very simple to do, and there are quite a few templates and customizable features. I wanted a simple and clean layout, and I feel like I accomplished that. Feel free to check it out:
Wild Shot Photography
I am a nature photographer based in Texas, who can provide services for wildlife, ranching, real estate, and other outdoor photography-related needs.wildshotphoto.com
Did you purchase your own URL?
Would you please post links to your two sites?
Figaro
New member
If you want simple and free to Nikon users, there's "Nikon's Image Space".
Here's an example: http://img.gg/QHE9zQj
Here's an example: http://img.gg/QHE9zQj
I've used Photoshelter for years, specifically designed for photographers and built in features for commerce that I never used and they even streamline picture orders to third party printers. Different pricing plans depending on image volume and features, it was affordable: www.adiringer.com
I'm now switching to my own website on Wordpress, and I'll use a photography plugin (Imagely) that creates a pricing structure you can add to your images. I do want to promote other services and option on the website, that's why I'm switching artemisartworks.com (work in progress)
I'm now switching to my own website on Wordpress, and I'll use a photography plugin (Imagely) that creates a pricing structure you can add to your images. I do want to promote other services and option on the website, that's why I'm switching artemisartworks.com (work in progress)
iczek
Member
I have been wondering for a long time, and I still wonder, what is the point of maintaining your own website to publish your photos? Paying for a server, paying for a license for a CMS system, for a mail server, etc.? Does this make sense?
There are plenty of well-prepared presentation portals, such as 500x, ArtLimited, X3, Flickr, Smugmug, where you can place your entire portfolio. You have a ready-made affiliate system, tracking system, etc., but above all, you are part of a certain community.
The other part of the Internet has been taken over by social media, where most of us post photos in 1200px format and our recipients are fully satisfied. Same on Facebook etc...
The role of classic websites that present photos in a way that is not connected to any community is probably starting to die.
I have been running a blog on my website and I have there galleries of my works for over 15 years, but the number of visits to the galleries themselves is getting lower every year.
Nobody goes to my website gallery since I have the same photo on Instagram and in the blog post.
We got a little carried away with it all
There are plenty of well-prepared presentation portals, such as 500x, ArtLimited, X3, Flickr, Smugmug, where you can place your entire portfolio. You have a ready-made affiliate system, tracking system, etc., but above all, you are part of a certain community.
The other part of the Internet has been taken over by social media, where most of us post photos in 1200px format and our recipients are fully satisfied. Same on Facebook etc...
The role of classic websites that present photos in a way that is not connected to any community is probably starting to die.
I have been running a blog on my website and I have there galleries of my works for over 15 years, but the number of visits to the galleries themselves is getting lower every year.
Nobody goes to my website gallery since I have the same photo on Instagram and in the blog post.
We got a little carried away with it all
My sites are listed in this text, but how the site looks depends on you and your goals. You can set it up anyway you want, use a template and then drag and drop text, headings, boxes where you want them to go. www.cassinettophotos.com and www.cassinettowildanimals.com.
Mary Williams Hyde
New member
This is my first post on this site. I have been in the publishing business and a professional photographer for more than fifty years. I have used SmugMug for a couple centuries at least and it has nearly 900,000 photos on it....my favorites of the nearly two million photos I estimate I have taken in my lifetime. I take hundreds of thousands of photos a year.... I am a ranch rodeo and ranch photographer in addition to being a wildlife photographer. and have sold thousands of dollars worth of photos on the site over the years. www.buckaroocountry.smugmug.com. SmugMug's many templates help me to have a professional looking viewing and selling space...it is easy to setup prices and any other features I would like including a slide show on the home page. I pay for StatCounter to keep track of visitor traffic on my SmugMug site so I can track who is looking at what.....and how often. I drive traffic to smugmug from my three main Facebook pages which, together, have more than 800,000 followers: https://www.facebook.com/mary.w.hyde/ https://www.facebook.com/BuckarooCountry https://www.facebook.com/buckaroocountry2
For my business website www.maryhyde.com I used WordPress but I don't use Wordpress anymore because keeping all of the software that makes it work up to date is a nightmare. If I build a website for clients, I love Wix. Here in the Klamath Basin of Oregon , our National Wildlife Refuges were allowed to dry up so a friend and I have created a refuge restoration and wildlife advocacy website with WiX which does everything we need it to do. www.klamathbasinbirding.com
Also in case my house burns down, SmugMug allows me to have off-site protection for my photo archives.
For my business website www.maryhyde.com I used WordPress but I don't use Wordpress anymore because keeping all of the software that makes it work up to date is a nightmare. If I build a website for clients, I love Wix. Here in the Klamath Basin of Oregon , our National Wildlife Refuges were allowed to dry up so a friend and I have created a refuge restoration and wildlife advocacy website with WiX which does everything we need it to do. www.klamathbasinbirding.com
Also in case my house burns down, SmugMug allows me to have off-site protection for my photo archives.
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Steve Cooke
New member
I use Wix for my website. Easy to start for someone like me with zero knowledge and a decent support system. www.scdronemedia.co.uk
I use SquareSpace Since almost two years ago. The first year, the price for subscription was ok. The second year the renewal was too way high! They increase their prices too much. When if my renewal in July will increase again, i am going leave them.
As a web designer, need to say to you - they did a good job for you
WIX is a program I develop in quite often for businesses or individuals that wish to manage it on their own after the initial design (or with minimal professional help).
In the spirit of the rules of the community here I won’t do any vendor bashing. I’ll just say this: my trust in any of the hosting companies is minimal. If a buck can be made from the data they host, they’re going to do it, sooner or later. Be aware of that.I switched to Google because of what they said, and I hope the abide by their promise. Good article here:
Are your Google Docs safe from AI training?
With AI continuing its slow rise to prominence, consumers are concerned their personal content is being used to train Google's generative service.www.zdnet.com
Tom,
I actually decided not to sync my LR with the website. I found it was much easier (for my workflow at least) to simply upload the images I want to use on the site. I can update my site with new images in a matter of minutes.
I did purchase my own URL….once purchased, it’s very simple to link your new URL to your Adobe Portfolio site.Your website is great. I also just started with Adobe Portfolio but it’s not looking as professional as yours
As the OP on this thread, I found everyone’s comments to be very helpful - thank you all for your suggestions. I was looking for a solution that was low cost, simple, easy to use, and not necessarily oriented towards commerce since I’m not interested in trying to sell images online. I ultimately went with Adobe Portfolio since it fits my needs, and because I already subscribe to Adobe CC. I’ve been pleased with it so far, and was able to put together this website (https://bynaturephoto.org/home) in just a couple of days (and yes, I did buy my own domain for a whopping $6.75). I’d be curious to know what everyone thinks about it.
Thanks again for your many suggestions. Your willingness to share your experience is one of the many reasons why BCG is such a great community of photographers.
Thanks again for your many suggestions. Your willingness to share your experience is one of the many reasons why BCG is such a great community of photographers.
nice galleries. I really like those old trucks in the West Virginia gallery.
I've been using Zenfolio for more than 10 years. For me, the greatest value is hosting my event photography and providing fulfillment. But it also serves as a very good website with lots of options for layouts. There is an integrated app, support for downloads if needed, and intellectual property protection such as optional watermarks and size options.
Many thanks!
MarkB
Member
I've been using Zenfolio for many years and have generally been pleased with it. I primarily wanted a place to share my photos with family and friends. I feel like the cost of Zenfolio has been low historically. But lately they have started raising the price (I used the lowest level unlimited storage plan). And what I don't care for is that they've started "archiving" galleries that are older or not lately accessed and it takes days to restore them. Given that recent limitation I'm looking for alternatives.
What I've not see posted here is some cost info; I am curious what it would take to create my own web page? I presume there are fees for the domain name and for the hosting service and maybe some fees for whatever service one uses to create the web page??
What I've not see posted here is some cost info; I am curious what it would take to create my own web page? I presume there are fees for the domain name and for the hosting service and maybe some fees for whatever service one uses to create the web page??
Mary Williams Hyde
New member
Many years ago I started with Shutterfly. When I lost all my photos stored in external hard drives at home due to a power serge, I switched to Smugmug because, in addition to the $5000 I had to pay to have most of them restored, Shutterfly charged too much to restore the ones that weren't restored by this company. Now I have nearly a million photos loaded to Smugmug and I really like knowing that if I had another power serge or my house burned down, I can easily, and at no charge, restore my photos to my computer at home if I need them for any reason. For example, I am working on a calendar right now, and I go to Smugmug, look thru the photos, and easily download the ones I want to use. I could look thru the same photos I have archived on external hard drives, but it isn't nearly as easy.
I am a ranch rodeo and ranch photographer in addition to being a wildlife photographer. I offer a full menu of buying options and the sales system works extremely well. I don't make a living solely from photo sales, but they are an important part of my yearly income in addition to my graphic design business income. It is true that Smugmug doesn't do any marketing, so I primarily use Facebook to drive traffic to my photos on Smugmug. I also pay for the StatCounter service so I can monitor visitor traffic to my site. I also can get prints made for myself at very reasonable prices if I choose to.
I love how I have been able to customize the look as they have many theme choices to pick from. I also frequently refer business prospects to my Smugmug where I hopefully impress them with the professional appearance of the site. I also design web sites and I have been using WIX to do so after being very frustrated with how Wordpress sites work, but I don't think I would use WIX to sell photos. It is very easy to organize the huge number of photos I have with folders and galleries. They charge me for the amount of space I am using on their servers so I pay around $500 a year. I think that is reasonable for the service and peace of mind I get from having my best photos safely stored on Smugmug. Here is the link to see how I have put things together: www.buckaroocountry.smugmug.com
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joe43
Well-known member
Wade, I really like your Wild Shot Photography site. It has given me something to think about, and maybe do myself.I used Adobe Portfolio to build my website….and I’m very pleased with it for my purposes. However, I’m not doing any sort of e-commerce (which I don’t think is possible with Adobe Portfolio). Plus, it’s free for anyone who already has an Adobe CC subscription (or rather it’s included in your monthly fee).
It was very simple to do, and there are quite a few templates and customizable features. I wanted a simple and clean layout, and I feel like I accomplished that. Feel free to check it out:
Wild Shot Photography
I am a nature photographer based in Texas, who can provide services for wildlife, ranching, real estate, and other outdoor photography-related needs.
Edward L
New member
I browsed many websites where photography enthusiasts communicate and found here, that there is a rich communication and friendly atmosphere. Now I muster up the courage to respond to this topic and share my practice.
As a photography enthusiast, I want to organize the photos I take in a systematic way. Now, making a video to present a short story completes the original intention of filming.
Specifically, after I go home from each shooting, I select and edit the photos I took, and use the add-on program "Clipchamp" on Microsoft computers to create them, match them with appropriate background music, and turn them into a short video. The music in the video is licensed for free on YouTube, so there is no cost issue.
When looking back at my own works, sometimes music and images can bring many sensory touches.
In addition, it is very convenient to share it with friends.
The following is my URL on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@E.L.Photographer
As a photography enthusiast, I want to organize the photos I take in a systematic way. Now, making a video to present a short story completes the original intention of filming.
Specifically, after I go home from each shooting, I select and edit the photos I took, and use the add-on program "Clipchamp" on Microsoft computers to create them, match them with appropriate background music, and turn them into a short video. The music in the video is licensed for free on YouTube, so there is no cost issue.
When looking back at my own works, sometimes music and images can bring many sensory touches.
In addition, it is very convenient to share it with friends.
The following is my URL on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@E.L.Photographer
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One of the features I enjoy with SmugMug is the LRC plugin which makes uploading and maintaining the site pretty seamless. (I’m currently rebuilding my site, so nothing to share at the moment.)
Your photography images are stunning! Excellent work!