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It is one question often asked of Enter – how do you get your photographic work noticed?
Cool Kit is the feature where what's available for the professional photojournalist is examined. And here we look at one of the best solutions: a good website.
The internet has provided professional photographers with a new, flexible
and impressive way to expand a range of clients.
There is often still a requirement for a physical photographic portfolio which
can be expensive to produce and bulky to transport.
But a good-looking website, put together quickly and cheaply, can be delivered
by simply emailing a potential or current client the home page address.
Sounds easy? Well, it can be. And there are a number of options, some of which need website-building skills and some which do not.
One way to get started is if the company which provides your internet connection
gives you web space and some page-building tools for free.
Many of these webpage programs are limited but they are a start. Watch out
soon for Google's new page builder, which is very simple and currently in the
final testing stage prior to release. It is likely to cost nothing if you have
a Google Mail account.
Almost as simple if you own Photoshop, particularly the new CS2 version, is
the built-in web gallery builder. There are a number of templates (ready-made
pages for your content) both HTML-based and Flash.
You can edit the provided home page to personalize your gallery and, with a
little HTML knowledge, add a page or two of explanation.
Remember, if web space is not provided by your internet service provider –
and even if it is, there may be a serious size restriction - you will need some
and a good, memorable domain name.
Once you have thought of your domain name, you can do what is called a “who
is?” lookup to check if it is still available (there's a web link at the foot
of this article).
Then you will need to register the name, which costs a few dollars. There are many sites providing virtually every web service and competition is fierce, so shop around.
For a really professional look for your web site or gallery – and to save hours of work setting them up – it might be best to use one of the many companies which provide this service.
You can either work with the company to produce a site tailored to your specific
needs, which can be costly, or use a ready-made template.
The site will often be hosted by the company, so no need to look for web space.
And remember - spend some time searching the web for the best deals that suit
you.
Once your site is up and running, make sure people know about it. Circulating
the web address is vital – if you have an email signature, include your site
on that. Email clients and the picture editors of publications with the address.
And make sure your site is optimized for web search engines so it is well displayed.
There's plenty of advice on how to do this and a link at the end of the article.
You can also sell prints from your website. E-commerce services are often available within a web-hosting package but at the very least you can ask potential buyers to email you directly.
You can always get ideas for your site from looking at other photographer's offerings. Links to a couple of portals are listed below.
Yet another option is to sign up with an agency or stock picture library which
sells images and takes a cut of your fee. But you'll be up against strong competition
within the library and most likely face a quality-check before the site will
accept your pictures.
Those pictures will probably need to be a minimum of about 50 mb each in size,
so you'll need professional resizing software which can be expensive.
Finally, there are a couple of golden rules for constructing a successful web offering. The first is to keep it simple. Remember, you are displaying your photographic work, not your talent at designing cutting-edge – and very probably over-complicated and confusing – internet sites.
Secondly, make sure navigation is easy to use and that means planning it well, on paper, before you start. And when the site is finished, get some friends to try it out and if they find it difficult, change it. The customer is usually right.
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