Show Us Your New SmugMug Customized Sites!

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Comments

  • mbridge87mbridge87 Registered Users Posts: 85 Big grins
    edited September 7, 2014
    CarolR wrote: »
    Max, your site looks just fantastic! Very professional, clean, easy to navigate and all topped off with wonderful images. It makes me wish I had some little kids and lived in England ... I'd be calling you for a family shoot! The only thing I found even slightly confusing is the frequent reference to the "Your Shoot" section, when it's actually titled the "Shoot Guide". Best of luck with your photo biz!


    Hi Carol,

    Thank you so much for pointing that out! As you may have guessed the name recently changed and I must have forgot to change all the copy.

    I really appreciate your positive feedback as well!

    :)
  • vogtovogto Registered Users Posts: 6 Big grins
    edited September 9, 2014
    My New Website - Feedback Welcome!
    I must admit it took me a while to launch my new smugmug portfolio, not because it was difficult to customise but rather because of the general lack of time.

    Now, the time has come to show off :D

    Have a look at: www.artentic.net and let me know your thoughts. Thanks.
    Get inspired! Visit www.artentic.net to see my photos.
  • ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited September 9, 2014
    vogto wrote: »
    I must admit it took me a while to launch my new smugmug portfolio, not because it was difficult to customise but rather because of the general lack of time.

    Now, the time has come to show off :D

    Have a look at: www.artentic.net and let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

    I gasped.
    :)
    Well, a bit busy on the home page - a little too much "white noise", was my first thought.
    However, it's understandable since I also conclude you are from another planet. thumb.gif
  • symimagesymimage Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited September 18, 2014
    Hi guys,

    I'd appreciate any feedback on my site >> www.symmetryimages.com.au

    I want to setup a wedding slideshow for clients, similar to Flickr...I was wondering if this is possible? I haven't played around too much with slideshows, but any advice would be appreciated.
    Love this site BTW.
    TIA.

    -Adz.
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited September 18, 2014
    symimage wrote: »
    Hi guys,

    I'd appreciate any feedback on my site >> www.symmetryimages.com.au

    I want to setup a wedding slideshow for clients, similar to Flickr...I was wondering if this is possible? I haven't played around too much with slideshows, but any advice would be appreciated.
    Love this site BTW.
    TIA.

    -Adz.

    Couldn't see anything. In Safari, the only thing I got showing was your square blue logo at the top left and 5 feed icons below it. I waited 30 seconds. Blank page.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • symimagesymimage Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited September 18, 2014
    David_S85 wrote: »
    Couldn't see anything. In Safari, the only thing I got showing was your square blue logo at the top left and 5 feed icons below it. I waited 30 seconds. Blank page.

    That's weird...I can see the site in Chrome, IE and Firefox ne_nau.gif

    Edit: I've just checked Safari and it works perfectly.
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,373 moderator
    edited September 18, 2014
    symimage wrote: »
    I'd appreciate any feedback on my site >> www.symmetryimages.com.au

    I want to setup a wedding slideshow for clients, similar to Flickr...I was wondering if this is possible? I haven't played around too much with slideshows, but any advice would be appreciated.
    I like the clean look of your site. The only thing that jumped out at me is that you haven't chosen a feature image for the folder "Families and Couples" (which I accessed by clicking Portfolio on your navbar instead of choosing one of the sub-entries).

    For a slideshow, have you tried using a slideshow content block (from the Photos section)?

    --- Denise
  • symimagesymimage Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited September 18, 2014
    I like the clean look of your site. The only thing that jumped out at me is that you haven't chosen a feature image for the folder "Families and Couples" (which I accessed by clicking Portfolio on your navbar instead of choosing one of the sub-entries).

    For a slideshow, have you tried using a slideshow content block (from the Photos section)?

    --- Denise

    Thanks Denise :)

    Ok, great...thanks for pointing that out for me, I'll be sure to change that.

    I haven't really played around too much with the slideshow side of things, mainly cos I wasn't going to have weddings on my site, but turns out I'm a fool if I don't considering it's one of the areas I specialise in :)

    I was wanting to go for something that had the main image large and centre, with the gallery of the images below the main displayed image (if that makes sense) ?
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,373 moderator
    edited September 18, 2014
    symimage wrote: »
    I haven't really played around too much with the slideshow side of things, mainly cos I wasn't going to have weddings on my site, but turns out I'm a fool if I don't considering it's one of the areas I specialise in :)

    I was wanting to go for something that had the main image large and centre, with the gallery of the images below the main displayed image (if that makes sense) ?
    It's best to start a new thread with your slideshow questions instead on adding questions to this "sharing your site" thread. I believe you will get better attention in a separate thread.

    --- Denise
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,245 moderator
    edited September 18, 2014
    Re: simiMage. Your site works in Chrome for me. The fact that I can't see it in Safari might be related to why I can't even get into my own SM site right now in Safari, so disregard my previous post.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • corpuzrobcorpuzrob Registered Users Posts: 77 Big grins
    edited September 21, 2014
    Thanks Smuggers for all of your help!
    Here's my site:

    http://www.robcorpuz.com/

    It's still a work in progress, as I don't have everything quite as I'd like it yet, and I have a few more things I'd like to add, but it's definitely an improvement to what I had before, thanks to the help of many of you. Here are some people I'd like to mention and thank specifically:

    @leftquark
    @Hikin' Mike
    @Allen
    @bobbyhero
    @tomnovy
    @thenickdude
    @The Mechanic
    @jtring
    @Mesenko
    @denisegoldberg
    @Soul Gaze Photography
    @Darter02

    All of these people have either helped me directly or shared tips or info on other threads or their own sites that I used. If anybody has questions about the customization on my site I'll do my best to help, but I'm a newbie when it comes to coding, and couldn't have done much without the help of these people, as well as sites like stackoverflow.com, w3schools.com, & css-tricks.com.

    Constructive criticism is welcome! Particularly in terms of issues viewing in different browsers and screen sizes. I'm aware of some of the issues but I'm sure there are more. I also know already that I need to reduce the number of photos that I'm showing. Also, many of them have my old logo embedded in the jpeg somewhere and I'm in the process of trying to find the original psd and do new versions.

    Thanks again, and happy shooting!

    -Rob

    http://www.robcorpuz.com/
    http://blog.robcorpuz.com/
    https://www.facebook.com/RobCorpuzImages
  • jarboedoggartjarboedoggart Registered Users Posts: 270 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2014
    I have been trying to simplify my site a little bit and now I am thinking my portfolio galleries (especially wedding gallery) have too many pictures. What is everyones opinion on this? Is it OK and shows we have done many weddings, or is it just overwhelming and should cut it down? Any other comments about the site would be great too.

    Thanks

    http://www.jarboedoggart.com
    -Nate
    Jarboe Doggart Photography - jarboedoggart.com
  • nologophotonologophoto Registered Users Posts: 5 Big grins
    edited November 17, 2014
    HI :-)
    I'm new to this forum and have been using smug mug for a couple of months now. id appreciate any constructive criticism on my site.

    many thanks

    Al

    http://nologophoto.smugmug.com
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,373 moderator
    edited November 17, 2014
    Welcome!

    The first thing that jumped out at me is the presence of the smugmug header and footer. You don't need either of these and both give your visitor a click off of your site. I'd recommend removing them.

    Next, your homepage shows a gray (+ photo) background and your galleries are against black. I find that change to be a bit jarring. I would agree that the background photo will distract from the photos in your galleries but I'd prefer to see the same gray background for all of your pages.

    Also - once the viewer leaves your homepage there is no indication of who owns the site. Why not add a logo block to your header?

    --- Denise
  • nologophotonologophoto Registered Users Posts: 5 Big grins
    edited November 18, 2014
    Thanks Denise
    I didn't realise i could get rid of the smug mug header/footer :-)
    Ill drop the photo into the galleries background to see if it works
    and i have tried to put a logo into the header but it didn't work great, i will give that another go as you are 100% right, once you go into the galleries there is no name present etc.
    great points, ill try these later after the day job.

    Al
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,373 moderator
    edited November 18, 2014
    Ill drop the photo into the galleries background to see if it works
    Dropping the photo into the galleries background will make it more difficult to see the photos. Why not just change the background color in your theme?

    --- Denise
  • nologophotonologophoto Registered Users Posts: 5 Big grins
    edited November 18, 2014
    Thanks Denise
    I have tried a good few different variations. Background pic really does'nt work so i went with a lighter grey, smugmug header/footers are away
    Cheers

    Al
  • austrikeraustriker Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
    edited November 18, 2014
    Hello,

    I started my smugmug adventure years ago and am finally jumping off the legacy bandwagon into the new setup. My site was quite primitive but now I'm envisioning it to join the modern century.

    Initially I had thought I'd get into sports photog and use smugmug to selll prints. But that didn't pan out. Ive only been shooting for less a decade and still working to find my niche. Photog isn't my day job just my side passion.

    I recently did some shooting for atech blog and thus my site got a lot more hit hence the reason for kicking my butt into gear to face lift it (gallery visible in product or site at www.bit.ly/DHDpp).

    I know a lot of my photos are more convenience driven then pure quality driven (I usually bring my camera with me on adventures as a former photoj shooter. Now I'm working on going out when light is best or having a sole goal of good photos). I still have a lot of content from the last year, stuff that I'm stoked to get. But in the meantime...

    Anyone mind taking a look and giving me some C&C on the site, design or organization?

    Sorry for rambling..

    Www.dlindahlphotos.com
    just starting out, been shooting for years but never made a website.. yay for smugmug.
    My Smugmug

    DG Forum Codes
  • BogdanBogdan Registered Users Posts: 2 Beginner grinner
    edited November 19, 2014
    Punkybeth wrote: »
    I've been having a pretty good time refreshing my site. Still tweaking it to make it look half-way decent, but overall, the transition went smoothly. I've been with SmugMug for over 10 years, so this change was pretty MAJOR!! Well done guys!clap.gif Now I just need to remake my watermark, since the last one I had was a bit crappy. It's a work in progress, but I'm sure I will be making changes more frequently now that everything is a little more exciting rolleyes1.gif.

    Critiques welcome :D

    www.robynlisone.com
    Robyn,
    That is a great looking website. Clean and beautiful. I like almost everything about it, even the white background and I usually like the dark ones. I said almost because I'm not a fan of submenus.
    I wanted to ask you what font did you use for your menu? How did you made your homepage have a slideshow and how did you add a thin black line around the photos?

    Bogdan
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,373 moderator
    edited November 19, 2014
    Bogdan wrote: »
    Robyn,
    That is a great looking website. Clean and beautiful. I like almost everything about it, even the white background and I usually like the dark ones. I said almost because I'm not a fan of submenus.
    I wanted to ask you what font did you use for your menu? How did you made your homepage have a slideshow and how did you add a thin black line around the photos?

    Bogdan
    This thread is not a good place to ask questions and expect answers from the individuals who posted their web sites for viewing. It is intended to be a place to share sites as opposed to ask and answer questions.

    If you have questions about how to do something on your site I'd recommend that you post a new thread in the New SmugMug Customization forum. Ask specific questions and always include a link to your site. That's easiest for all if you add it to your signature here on DGrin. Click the clipboard icon on the navbar above, then Edit Signature. Begin your link with http:// to make it clickable.

    --- Denise
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,373 moderator
    edited November 19, 2014
    austriker wrote: »
    Anyone mind taking a look and giving me some C&C on the site, design or organization?

    Www.dlindahlphotos.com
    The first thing that jumped out at me is that your menu is unreadable as placed on a transparent banner on top of your homepage slideshow. Even elsewhere on your site it is difficult to read - dark red against black may look pretty but it is hard on the eyes. And the font is much too small. The menu should be readable at a quick glance.

    Text on top of the homepage slideshow is also uncomfortable to read. Either use a full page background slideshow without embellishment or rethink your home page.

    You're limiting your photos to Large. I know, I know, what's shown in a browser can be easily downloaded - even with right click protection on. But honestly, I believe that your largest size photo is too small to enjoy when browsing your site.

    Clicking peruse in your menu then clicking on something seems to take me to the same place regardless of the photo that I clicked. That feels like something is wrong.

    --- Denise
  • KatherineCKatherineC Registered Users Posts: 9 Beginner grinner
    edited November 20, 2014
    austriker wrote: »
    Hello,

    I started my smugmug adventure years ago and am finally jumping off the legacy bandwagon into the new setup. My site was quite primitive but now I'm envisioning it to join the modern century.

    Initially I had thought I'd get into sports photog and use smugmug to selll prints. But that didn't pan out. Ive only been shooting for less a decade and still working to find my niche. Photog isn't my day job just my side passion.

    I recently did some shooting for atech blog and thus my site got a lot more hit hence the reason for kicking my butt into gear to face lift it (gallery visible in product or site at www.bit.ly/DHDpp).

    I know a lot of my photos are more convenience driven then pure quality driven (I usually bring my camera with me on adventures as a former photoj shooter. Now I'm working on going out when light is best or having a sole goal of good photos). I still have a lot of content from the last year, stuff that I'm stoked to get. But in the meantime...

    Anyone mind taking a look and giving me some C&C on the site, design or organization?

    Sorry for rambling..

    Www.dlindahlphotos.com
    Hey David - thanks for sharing your site (and welcome to new SmugMug :) )

    I feel you on the whole "working to find your niche" thing. It can be hard to focus on one thing when you're exploring your photography and the diverse events and experiences that inspire picture-taking. Your site (through the homepage slideshow and open-ended nav bar) does a great job of showing that you take a variety of imagery, but I think it could be helpful to guide your fans and visitors through a curated experience, meaning, group your images into "types". For example, you could modify your nav bar to call out your "sports/action", "product," and "landscape/adventure" work. If a viewer wants to go deep on your landscape imagery, awesome - grouping the landscapes together keeps their viewing experience pure and uncluttered. If they want to jump around to see your whole body of work, cool. They have the power to navigate around your site as they wish.

    P.S. Denise made some good points about your menu etc.
  • KatherineCKatherineC Registered Users Posts: 9 Beginner grinner
    edited November 20, 2014
    HI :-)
    I'm new to this forum and have been using smug mug for a couple of months now. id appreciate any constructive criticism on my site.

    many thanks

    Al

    http://nologophoto.smugmug.com

    Hey Al! Just want to say that it's so cool to see watershots from Ireland and the UK! The surfing culture up there doesn't get enough cred. I'm on the team that worked on Arctic Swell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBJyo0tgLnw), so I guess cold weather surfing is near and dear to my heart :)

    Regarding your site, I like how, on your homepage, you highlighted in a visual way the different types of events you photograph. Not sure if this is your aesthetic, but I like what Renee Robyn did here: http://prints.reneerobynphotography.com/Portfolio/Landing She basically modified the aspect ratio of the "Grid" layout to make it more eye-catching and elegant. Schmoo did something similar here: http://photos.schmootography.com/Clients

    Just an idea! Great job on your site design so far.
  • nologophotonologophoto Registered Users Posts: 5 Big grins
    edited November 20, 2014
    Thanks KatherineC. I really like the reneerobyn site and it has given me a few ideas to try. Just watched your video Arctic Swell, it looks beautiful, loving the drone work :-)
  • austrikeraustriker Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
    edited November 20, 2014
    KatherineC wrote: »
    Hey David - thanks for sharing your site (and welcome to new SmugMug :) )

    I feel you on the whole "working to find your niche" thing. It can be hard to focus on one thing when you're exploring your photography and the diverse events and experiences that inspire picture-taking. Your site (through the homepage slideshow and open-ended nav bar) does a great job of showing that you take a variety of imagery, but I think it could be helpful to guide your fans and visitors through a curated experience, meaning, group your images into "types". For example, you could modify your nav bar to call out your "sports/action", "product," and "landscape/adventure" work. If a viewer wants to go deep on your landscape imagery, awesome - grouping the landscapes together keeps their viewing experience pure and uncluttered. If they want to jump around to see your whole body of work, cool. They have the power to navigate around your site as they wish.

    P.S. Denise made some good points about your menu etc.
    The first thing that jumped out at me is that your menu is unreadable as placed on a transparent banner on top of your homepage slideshow. Even elsewhere on your site it is difficult to read - dark red against black may look pretty but it is hard on the eyes. And the font is much too small. The menu should be readable at a quick glance.

    Text on top of the homepage slideshow is also uncomfortable to read. Either use a full page background slideshow without embellishment or rethink your home page.

    You're limiting your photos to Large. I know, I know, what's shown in a browser can be easily downloaded - even with right click protection on. But honestly, I believe that your largest size photo is too small to enjoy when browsing your site.

    Clicking peruse in your menu then clicking on something seems to take me to the same place regardless of the photo that I clicked. That feels like something is wrong.

    --- Denise



    Thanks for the honest comments both of you! I appreciate the help.

    Im honestly considering a menu bar on the side of the page rather than the top because it does look awkward with the menu at the top but full page pics going in the background.

    I recently downloaded the images then reuploaded them into a specfic folder for the slideshow (unlisted) set for original size, so the slideshow quality issue should be fixed now I think. I dont think my best of the best shots are all in the slideshow (theres some poor quality ones too) so I need to give that some love and care.

    And yes, I totally agree, the color scheme, while "cool" (black and red) needs to be fixed for better visbility. And its too small. So many improvements to make! rolleyes1.gif

    My site organization sucks, if Im honest. I think I intially set up the galleries and folders haphazardly and am now suffering for it. I need to spend a whole afternoon on organization I think. Great tips though regarding different types of photos. What exactly do you mean by grouping the images? Are you meaning I should create a landing page that shows a 'preview' of a few images from each 'folder' (landscape/adventure, product, etc) ? Im just a little unfamiliar on how to best organize these and appreciate all assistance! :D
    just starting out, been shooting for years but never made a website.. yay for smugmug.
    My Smugmug

    DG Forum Codes
  • amf digital mediaamf digital media Registered Users Posts: 26 Big grins
    edited November 21, 2014
    pretty much done...
    Hey there, I do believe that I'm done with the design and layout of my site. You can check it out here:

    http://www.anthonyfphoto.com/

    Any feedback would be appreciated.

    PS I still need to add copy for the "About" page, and sift through my images to remove weak ones/add keywords. Oh, and the blog obviously needs some work too.
  • macromeistermacromeister Registered Users Posts: 490 Major grins
    edited November 22, 2014
    Hey there, I do believe that I'm done with the design and layout of my site. You can check it out here:

    http://www.anthonyfphoto.com/

    Any feedback would be appreciated.

    PS I still need to add copy for the "About" page, and sift through my images to remove weak ones/add keywords. Oh, and the blog obviously needs some work too.

    Hi Anthony

    It looks quite good - good clean layout and structure. One thing that puzzled me is I assume you are into photography for making money as well as personal interest. Yet your homepage doesn't really give an indication of that, although the section headings give a clue 'commercial' etc. Might be useful to have a few words on the homepage stating what you are in a simple tag-line? People who go to your site because you have given them the details will no doubt know you're commercial, but in other situations viewers will not be sure.

    I'd take out a few of the images (as you said) and just leave fewer examples of a cross-section of the styles, especially on thew wedding section.
    I'm Rob Ashcroft - MACROMEISTER IMAGES . . . .
  • amf digital mediaamf digital media Registered Users Posts: 26 Big grins
    edited November 24, 2014
    Hi Anthony

    It looks quite good - good clean layout and structure. One thing that puzzled me is I assume you are into photography for making money as well as personal interest. Yet your homepage doesn't really give an indication of that, although the section headings give a clue 'commercial' etc. Might be useful to have a few words on the homepage stating what you are in a simple tag-line? People who go to your site because you have given them the details will no doubt know you're commercial, but in other situations viewers will not be sure.

    I'd take out a few of the images (as you said) and just leave fewer examples of a cross-section of the styles, especially on thew wedding section.

    Thank you for the advice Macromeister. I agree with you completely, and am currently trying to put something together. While I can usually blab away on most outlets, it seems that I become inarticulate when trying to come up with web copy for myself. I'm dreading putting together the "About" section, and actually scrapped an entire "Pricing" section of my site. Think I may need to seek the assistance of a friend that works as a copywriter.
  • austrikeraustriker Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
    edited November 24, 2014
    KatherineC wrote: »
    Hey David - thanks for sharing your site (and welcome to new SmugMug :) )

    I feel you on the whole "working to find your niche" thing. It can be hard to focus on one thing when you're exploring your photography and the diverse events and experiences that inspire picture-taking. Your site (through the homepage slideshow and open-ended nav bar) does a great job of showing that you take a variety of imagery, but I think it could be helpful to guide your fans and visitors through a curated experience, meaning, group your images into "types". For example, you could modify your nav bar to call out your "sports/action", "product," and "landscape/adventure" work. If a viewer wants to go deep on your landscape imagery, awesome - grouping the landscapes together keeps their viewing experience pure and uncluttered. If they want to jump around to see your whole body of work, cool. They have the power to navigate around your site as they wish.

    P.S. Denise made some good points about your menu etc.

    Good tips. I completely changed the site layout/design based off a new template that should make the home page better. (Hows it look?)

    My next goal is to the change pages (basicallly every page except the landing) so my logo is at the top, with a horizontal menu bar across the top instead of using the left menu bar like the landing page. I know a site should maintain a simliar look across its pages but I hate how the left menu takes up so much space right now on the gallery pages.

    With regards to putting different types of photos in the menu - is it possible to build an overlay menu through smugmug or does that require HTML work?
    just starting out, been shooting for years but never made a website.. yay for smugmug.
    My Smugmug

    DG Forum Codes
  • annagarciadesignsannagarciadesigns Registered Users Posts: 6 Beginner grinner
    edited November 28, 2014
    I cannot contain my excitement!
    clap.gif

    For a while now, I haven't updated my smugmug because of frustration with not being able to achieve the look I wanted... months passed and it was time to renew my site.

    I realized that the new customization tools were so much friendlier in terms of fixing my site! wings.gif

    I have only updated the 'look' and not so much the content yet. With this new look, I will be motivated to update my "blog" regularly by posting my favourites from client sessions.

    If you have comments and feedback, I appreciate it very much.

    I am also considering looking into opening a "prints for sale" gallery that may actually push me to get the right shots! Do any of you have experience with WHCC? (which is Canadian based if my research is correct)

    Also, I am going through your websites to see how you've updated yours!

    Cheers!

    http://www.annagarciadesigns.com/
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