# My hopefully memorable website and work



## coffeefilter (Jun 24, 2014)

Just looking for a little critique, some ideas about what I can do to make it better, what does and doesn't belong, etc. 

Mainly, I'm using this as a portfolio simply to show what I've done. It's very basic, as I usually lean toward minimalistic design.  It's also categorized for easy navigation. 

So, what do you think?
Matt Ragan Photography


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## e.rose (Jun 24, 2014)

Right away, your avatar next to your name doesn't load for me.

I've also never really been a fan of SmugMug. Personal preference.

I just don't feel it's as easy to navigate for the user as it could be. Too much clicking around to get to what you want. 

JMHO. ::shrugs::


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## JohnnyWrench (Jun 24, 2014)

Your watermarks are little heavy-handed for me. Very distracting.


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## coffeefilter (Jun 24, 2014)

e.rose said:


> Right away, your avatar next to your name doesn't load for me.



I wouldn't know where to start. It loads for me :/


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## coffeefilter (Jun 24, 2014)

JohnnyWrench said:


> Your watermarks are little heavy-handed for me. Very distracting.



Size reduction?


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## JohnnyWrench (Jun 24, 2014)

coffeefilter said:


> JohnnyWrench said:
> 
> 
> > Your watermarks are little heavy-handed for me. Very distracting.
> ...



That's a start. The positioning and typeface could use some work too.


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## fooby (Jun 24, 2014)

The first thing that really stood out was the left side orientation. I don't like how there is nothing on the right

I like your work! I shoot a fair bit of climbing too. My advice would be to narrow it down. It's very hard to navigate and people looking at your website want quick, easy access to your best content. They don't need every image from a shoot, buried deep in sub-folders. I would recommend taking a selection of your very best images from each category and displaying them all in one, easy to navigate page, or at the very least, choose the very best in each category. There's just too much content.

Anything important should be right there in your face, and anything else must be available with a maximum or two or three clicks.


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## e.rose (Jun 24, 2014)

coffeefilter said:


> e.rose said:
> 
> 
> > Right away, your avatar next to your name doesn't load for me.
> ...



I get a question mark... like the link to the file or online file is broken. I dunno.


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## The_Traveler (Jun 24, 2014)

You have waaaaay toooo many pictures that look very much alike.
The not-so-good ones dilute the impact of the very good ones.


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## sscarmack (Jun 24, 2014)

I left within 30 seconds, sorry


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## coffeefilter (Jun 24, 2014)

sscarmack said:


> I left within 30 seconds, sorry



But _why_?


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## MSnowy (Jun 24, 2014)

Some nice stuff, but like Lew said too many pictures that look alike. I also use Smugmug and think its great. Smugmug offer all sorts of customizing options. You need to check some of your Gallery setting to make sure all your pictures are right-click protected.


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## wyogirl (Jun 24, 2014)

I spent about 15 seconds. I had to click way to many times to get into the "fire" gallery and actually see all of the pictures.  While we are talking about that gallery... your cover photo should be the best, and its really the softest of the 4.

Nothing about the cover photo for the "flower" gallery even made me want to open it.  If that was your strongest image then I'd say you need to nix flowers from your portfolio until you come up with something more interesting.


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## coffeefilter (Jun 24, 2014)

I'm doing a photo culling and reworking my watermark.

Also, to fix the clicking problem, would you all recommend placing galleries on the front page, and no folders?


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## e.rose (Jun 24, 2014)

coffeefilter said:


> I'm doing a photo culling and reworking my watermark.  Also, to fix the clicking problem, would you all recommend placing galleries on the front page, and no folders?



Yes. Get rid of folders.

Sent from my iPhone using PhotoForum


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## sscarmack (Jun 24, 2014)

coffeefilter said:


> sscarmack said:
> 
> 
> > I left within 30 seconds, sorry
> ...



Didn't like it. Felt like a Facebook page. Big icon to the left of your name and a big thumbnail with huge empty space to the right. Didn't seem very 'professional', imho.


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## coffeefilter (Jun 24, 2014)

So from a lot of advice on here, I've deleted lots of photos (still may have too many, but I'm having deletion panics and a lot of them are gone already), gotten rid of most of the clicking by changing the gallery layouts, removed the cumbersome title, and reworked the watermark to be less invasive. 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. What do you think about the changes?


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## elizpage (Jun 24, 2014)

I really like your work! But the first thing that stood out to me was the layout. I simply don't like it. I don't like your watermark either, but that's just my personal preference. I think it just really takes away from your work, because you have this gorgeous image and then a watermark in this weird italic font.

I think it'd be much more effective if you didn't have the glaring: "SmugMug Pro" sticker on the top left.. if there is a way to get rid of that I'd do so. Just make it a little easier to use and more streamlined.. Also mobile-optimized if you can  And get rid of the folders, like Emily said. Everyone else has some really good criticism as well. It was kind of hard use and didn't really make you want to click around more.


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## coffeefilter (Jun 24, 2014)

elizpage said:


> I really like your work! But the first thing that stood out to me was the layout. I simply don't like it. I don't like your watermark either, but that's just my personal preference. I think it just really takes away from your work, because you have this gorgeous image and then a watermark in this weird italic font.
> 
> I think it'd be much more effective if you didn't have the glaring: "SmugMug Pro" sticker on the top left.. if there is a way to get rid of that I'd do so. Just make it a little easier to use and more streamlined.. Also mobile-optimized if you can  And get rid of the folders, like Emily said. Everyone else has some really good criticism as well. It was kind of hard use and didn't really make you want to click around more.



I left the flowers folder because there is a lot in there, and I'm needing to take a break. 

What type of layout is preferred for gallery sites? The way I have it set now, the galleries are on the front page (besides flowers, that's for later), and one click gets you into the photos that are displayed in a large size, so clicking on the image for detail isn't always necessary.


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## fooby (Jun 25, 2014)

It looks much better already Matt! Personally, I would remove the categories all together and just have all of your best work there on the home page, and then display images similar to each other in close proximity.

Take a look at Joey L's portfolio: Quick Portfolio | Joey L.

All of his best images are there, and although there are no folders or categories, you can see that he has clearly taken lots of time organizing the order of the images so that they flow into each other, as against having for example the Ethiopia pictures right next to the suited up Nat Geo ads.


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## sscarmack (Jun 25, 2014)

Joey does GREAT work. Truly an amazing photographer.

I believe he was known for his twilight photo, that started his career?


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