Total shash John.
Pesentation1 Presentation!!!!
No offence meant by this as with everything it's personnel taste. But take a look at the ops site. Sorry Ben. Put the plain look of the overall site... looks like it was made in the 50s when there was no internet.
The web site is your window it is you. Not just a vehicle to show work. It's more than that.... Guess uni did show you anything about presentation then John.
There is a chap on here called Cezare. His work is stunning, some of the best I've seen as a member on here. Then he got feedback from people on here that have oodles of style and personality and it went to plain uninteresting white wash shash.
You have an image and you have the surrounding presentation.
If most wedding photographers on here converted their portfolio into the old style of A1 size portfolio it would all look the great images stuck on white or grey card.
Lurvly.....NOT.
You are literally the only person I've ever met who says the websites visual look is important. I've discussed this exact topic with directors of ad agencies, art directors, creative directors, art buyers, graphic designers and other photographers.
The consensus is that if you're selling to an individual, that is, a private client, then a website will benefit from bells and whistles because an individual isn't able to work purely on the merit of someone's portfolio.
However, agencies and people buying for commercial clients, and this I have been told numerous times, don't care or even want a pretty website. They want one that is fast, functional, clean, and easy to navigate with as few distractions as possible. It has to load quickly and provide very little challenge to anyone trying to extract information from it.
There are instances where a stunning design can help. That is if you trade under the name of a studio rather than an individual, as a studio is able to market itself as a brand far easier than a person. Mostly, a beautifully designed website is something you can buy with ease, and does very little to express or enhance the photographer or his ability.
I didn't go to university, so can confirm that they taught me nothing about presentation. But, since I'm more successful than most people who did go to university, I'm assuming it didn't have much to teach me.
Now you know, since you said what you've said, I've gone and taken a look at your sites. I'd put my single commercial site up against all three of yours sites in terms of aesthetic quality and overall professional standard, and my website has absolutely no bells and whistles of any kind. Tell me if you disagree.
