would you commision me?

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digitalmaniac

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Based on my website-would you if you were looking for a portrait or wedding photographer think my work and my site was good enough and then commision me.

Just give me an idea-so i know if I have to work harder at anything to get customers to come through the website.

Thanks
 
not a bad looking site
couple of points:

The image on the home page is excellent, but I would expect to see a "portrait" or "wedding" pic if that is your main business.
The damsel should be on the stock page

towards the end of the home page, there is a question "How many other..."
neds a "?" at the end!

transparant should be spelt transparent

You have your name on the home page, but not the contact us page:thinking:

finally the use of the word Proprietor, which may be accurate, is a bit arcane

hth


like the pics btw!
 
This is not meant to sound harsh but there are a few things I think you could change to make it better. So please take this in the spirit that it is intended :)

The weddings page. You show a picture of a church. Where is the bride and groom? The church is easy to shoot, the bride and groom more technically challenging so you need to get top quality pics on there. You need the WOW factor and it is currently missing.

The portrait page. Oh dear. That's not the most flattering image I've ever seen, she has a really dour expression, is poorly dressed and presented and appears to have a very large flower growing out of her shoulder. You need to get a good quality shot of a well turned out person on there. You are selling yourself on your website, make it your best work.

The schools page is a little better, just looks a little cluttered and the dominant picture is not the best on the page, change it so that it is.

I really hope that you don't take all that badly but that you use it to improve your offering, good luck! :)
 
Two things struck me. First the featured photo was a good shot with the bride caught in the DoF-I think this is too way out for most people's perception of a wedding where the bride is the focus of the attention. Second the portraits need to be of people who you would turn your head if you saw them on the street - I don't think the web site should show people you might see everywhere, although that is the sort of person you might get to photograph. Apologies if they are your nearest and dearest.

I was undecided about the style of the text presentation. I don't like lots of bullet points and the font was not engaging enough for me. Less is more when it comes to text; more pages with fewer words works for me.

I hope this is not too discouraging, I was trying to be constructive.
 
No not at all-all points valid. the portrait is of my daughter and is just a casual portrait and thats her expression-the flower is supposed to complement the colour of her top. But your point is taken-I need to get some more formal studio shots done-in hand-also wedding in july will supply me with some better shots for that.

Thanks gys-at least you only have minor points against it-means im in right direction
 
might want to run a spell checker over it

Thankyou = Thank You

licenced = Licensed

commision = Commission

childs = Child's

Transparant = Transparent
 
No prices.


sorry my mistake I a donut.

yes I would be interested by your website and prices.
 
The spelling on the school page needs serious attention

Professioanl

creditation

unauthodox

prescence

commision (twice on the page)

fottball

prodest


Portrait page

miriad
 
digitalmaniac said:
No not at all-all points valid. the portrait is of my daughter and is just a casual portrait and thats her expression-the flower is supposed to complement the colour of her top. But your point is taken-I need to get some more formal studio shots done-in hand-also wedding in july will supply me with some better shots for that.

Thanks gys-at least you only have minor points against it-means im in right direction
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Some of the posts have identified that there are errors in the text. You do need to put all the text through Word and correct the errors - there's too many errors in there, both spelling and grammar. Also please change the font, try Verdana, Lucida, Tahoma and Comic Sans which are more fashionable than Arial. Under no circumstance contemplate Times New Roman, and avoid serifed fonts in general.

I don't like scrolling down the page so please make the pages shorter to the point of no scrolling necessary. One page per type of wedding deal would work better for me.

Good luck with the wedding.
 
I only have 8 pages available at the moment-as the extras with this site will cost me extra£180 which isnt worth it until i get more work-I changed the text to arial because someone else said didnt like the font I uused which was georgia-point taken about spelling mistakes-which I hate because I was a writer once but have been lazy with proofing as yet-will get to it and rectify.

Thats what years of lazy internet typing do to you. LOL
 
digitalmaniac said:
I only have 8 pages available at the moment-as the extras with this site will cost me extra£180 which isnt worth it until i get more work-I changed the text to arial because someone else said didnt like the font I uused which was georgia-point taken about spelling mistakes-which I hate because I was a writer once but have been lazy with proofing as yet-will get to it and rectify.

Thats what years of lazy internet typing do to you. LOL
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I would investigate clikpic then. I have a site on it which costs £80 for the year and £12 for a URL. I have loads of pages. clikpic would put you in charge of the content and how it appears. I am sure that there are some others, but I don't use them.

Georgia is a serif font so you were right to get away from that. If you dump your text into Word then you can look at a load of other fonts and see which you prefer.
 
I maybe should say sorry before I start the critique - its not meant to offend but it is an honest one.
The answer to your question is no. The main reason for my answer is purely one of personal image style.... and the wording.

I think the wording needs to be reworked. I would be put off by your statements; other photographers offering cheap deals.... we will not be price beaten.... price match...... do not be fobbed off ...... almost sounds like a door to door saleman IMO it sounds more professional if you work on your strengths alone.

On the weddings portfolio page, I agree the focus on the back of the vicars head/neck doesn't really work for me at all.
 
Treesie said:
I maybe should say sorry before I start the critique - its not meant to offend but it is an honest one.
The answer to your question is no. The main reason for my answer is purely one of personal image style.... and the wording.

I think the wording needs to be reworked. I would be put off by your statements; other photographers offering cheap deals.... we will not be price beaten.... price match...... do not be fobbed off ...... almost sounds like a door to door saleman IMO it sounds more professional if you work on your strengths alone.

On the weddings portfolio page, I agree the focus on the back of the vicars head/neck doesn't really work for me at all.
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Dont aplogise-I am making a statement. Too many companies do do this and keep prices away until the bill comes. im not changing that. I want people to know we are different.

Personal image style-ok-bit vaigue
 
Lets take it from the top shall we? All comments are IMHO.

Thankyou for visiting Image World, the friendly professional photographers.
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"Thank you" not "Thankyou".

On these pages you will see samples of our work and will be able to purchase items from the pages.
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Badly structured. "On these pages you will see samples of our work. Purchases can be made through the website."

If you are visiting us to view your recent event images please enter your password in the box provided and place your order-thank you.
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I think you are trying to say "If you are visiting us to view images of your recent event, please enter your password in the box provided and place your order." even on my 22" monitor the front page needs scrolling to reveal the password box...

If you would like to take a look at our stock images - some of which are royalty free and others licenced, please click on the stock button from the main menu.
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Dashes or commas, not a mixture of the two.

For schools photography please take a look at our portfolio and events pages - earn your school commision and add to the much needed school fund.
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Should be links to the pages from the words portfolio and events. The section after the dash is superfluous - put that on the schools photography page - no wait, you don't have one!

Don't just think school photography has to be traditional posed images, as they can be contemporary images.
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This should also be on the non existent schools photography page. It should also be in better English. something like "School photography is typically traditionally posed; we have found that a contemporary approach can be as successful"

Or you could even arrange a weekend shoot with the parents, so they are able to be included in their childs portrait.
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Why start the sentence with Or? childs should be child's. You could also rewrite the language somewhat but I can't be bothered.

This is a very popular new area of school photography, which can mean you bring in even more revenue for your school.
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This again should be on the non-existent school photography pages, not the front page.

What a nightmare - I really shouldn't go on because by this stage I won't be hiring you - regardless of the quality of your pictures.

Shall we continue with the rest of your shop front?

Please contact us for more details
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This should be at the end of the page, not in the middle.

We will not be beaten on price - whilst never sacrificing quality
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Should be the other way round.

We will price match any product offered with the exact same quality product ( upon a written quote ).
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Actually meaningless. No competitor else is going to supply exactly the same product as you, so you can always wriggle out of a price match. Why bother with this on the front page anyway?

We strive to keep our prices as cheap as possible, but will always use high grade materials from some of the top name suppliers in the country.
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You just said this in the first bit of the bullet point. Don't repeat yourself, it makes you sound a bit condescending.

Amongst our suppliers are Spicer Hallfield, one of the largest suppliers of professional photographic products within the U.K
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Spicer Hallfield are one company are they not? so why not say "one of our suppliers, Spicer Hallfiled, are...." yet again, why is this on the store front? surely it is background and not something that a customer will need to know on first contact.

* How many other companies have you seen who actively display their pricing structure. Once again luring you in with cheap deals on a portrait sitting including a framed image no larger than your average family snap.
* Whilst we believe you should be fully aware of what is available to you before you even pick up the phone.Transparant, honest, reliable service at a price which doesn't break the bank.
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I really really think that you should take a long hard look at what you are trying to say and where you are trying to say it.

The front page of any website should be snappy, clear, easy to read and get the message across. You need people to see you can take pictures, cover schools and events. That is all. Waffle has no place on the front page.

All your mangled prose conveys to me is that you aren't professional enough to get someone who knows about language to author/edit your site content and probably the site design needs a good look at as well.

Sorry for the criticism, but although you are a reasonable photographer, on the basis of your website I would not hire you. A lucky escape for us both I think! :D

Oh and don't what ever you do, use comic sans as a fount!

Ben
 
Sorry I should have been a bit clearer, it's not about the pricing for me, by all means have a pricing page loud and proud and make it clear on this page of your policies but IMO as is comes over a bit pushy.

Personal image style - a taste thing I think most woman do. We look at certain styles and like them or are not keen on them. Your wedding image in black & white of the two guests (I think) at an angle, for me personally is the best image and more of a style to my liking. Like I said its just a personal thing.
 
rh1944 said:
...there's too many errors in there, both spelling and grammar...
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Tee hee. Sorry - I couldn't resist.

There are a lot of errors.

Additionally, I think the writing style is wrong. As Treesie said above, it doesn't come across as professional. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative. Who said that?

You could pay someone to write your copy. You might also want to have a look at professional photography websites (your competition) to see the styles they use. Have a look on Amazon. I'm sure there are lots of books on writing sales copy.

I understand that you are trying to put something of yourself into this, but it isn't working currently.

hth

Good Luck!
Brian

...I hope I haven't made any grammatical errors. :)
 
BenMottram said:
Lets take it from the top shall we? All comments are IMHO.



"Thank you" not "Thankyou".



Badly structured. "On these pages you will see samples of our work. Purchases can be made through the website."



I think you are trying to say "If you are visiting us to view images of your recent event, please enter your password in the box provided and place your order." even on my 22" monitor the front page needs scrolling to reveal the password box...



Dashes or commas, not a mixture of the two.



Should be links to the pages from the words portfolio and events. The section after the dash is superfluous - put that on the schools photography page - no wait, you don't have one!



This should also be on the non existent schools photography page. It should also be in better English. something like "School photography is typically traditionally posed; we have found that a contemporary approach can be as successful"



Why start the sentence with Or? childs should be child's. You could also rewrite the language somewhat but I can't be bothered.



This again should be on the non-existent school photography pages, not the front page.

What a nightmare - I really shouldn't go on because by this stage I won't be hiring you - regardless of the quality of your pictures.

Shall we continue with the rest of your shop front?



This should be at the end of the page, not in the middle.


Should be the other way round.



Actually meaningless. No competitor else is going to supply exactly the same product as you, so you can always wriggle out of a price match. Why bother with this on the front page anyway?


You just said this in the first bit of the bullet point. Don't repeat yourself, it makes you sound a bit condescending.


Spicer Hallfield are one company are they not? so why not say "one of our suppliers, Spicer Hallfiled, are...." yet again, why is this on the store front? surely it is background and not something that a customer will need to know on first contact.



I really really think that you should take a long hard look at what you are trying to say and where you are trying to say it.

The front page of any website should be snappy, clear, easy to read and get the message across. You need people to see you can take pictures, cover schools and events. That is all. Waffle has no place on the front page.

All your mangled prose conveys to me is that you aren't professional enough to get someone who knows about language to author/edit your site content and probably the site design needs a good look at as well.

Sorry for the criticism, but although you are a reasonable photographer, on the basis of your website I would not hire you. A lucky escape for us both I think! :D

Oh and don't what ever you do, use comic sans as a fount!

Ben
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Sorry-why isn't there a schools page-are you blind. What is more professional doesn't mean paying Geoffrey Archer to write it for me LOL

I think this is now getting a bit silly and wanted general cc not character assasination-the average person visiting a site doesnt care if its a best selling book.

Dashes or commas not both-do you know what a dash means and a comma. A dash is a sudden change of content within a sentence and a comma is a breather.

The cat ran across the field-fox chasing swiftly behind, with a taste of cat in its mouth.
 
........ Ben has hit the nail on the head for me.
You should not take it personally as it certainly isn't.
Its about professionalism. I feel I am a little qualified
after running a business for over 20 years now.
 
I think what some of the replies are getting at DM is that as a sales job (which is what a commercial website is) it is sending some messages that professional sales people are taught to avoid.

Here are some general pointers.

Avoid using the word cheap. Nobody likes to be thought of as a cheapskate. Use value for money instead.

Call your photography and means of presentation a product. It is after all your output as a professional.

Use the word quality as if you mean it.

Keep it short and make statements with what you do write.

The empasis should be on your product i.e. photography rather than text. You don't need to try to talk someone into buying a product, you actually need to create a want. So make people want your pics.

OK? :)
 
One thing someone said is take a look at your competitors-I did. Some of them have very poor websites-but seem to be doing ok. That is my point.
 
digitalmaniac said:
One thing someone said is take a look at your competitors-I did. Some of them have very poor websites-but seem to be doing ok. That is my point.
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I wonder what your evidence is for your claim that they seem to be doing OK.
 
Is giving away the hi res images on a disc for them to print really the cheapest one of the options?

Id have thought that you will then be giving away copyright and any chance for further print orders for yourself so it should be one of the most expensive of the options. :shrug:
 
Janice said:
Is giving away the hi res images on a disc for them to print really the cheapest one of the options?

Id have thought that you will then be giving away copyright and any chance for further print orders for yourself so it should be one of the most expensive of the options. :shrug:
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Well maybe janice-you might be right
 
brianfarrell said:
I wonder what your evidence is for your claim that they seem to be doing OK.
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Well often they have many portfolio sales images-but hey if people dont like it-I have to change it!

A lucky escape Ben-for who? Me or you? LOL
 
When you say "fully professional" photographer... is that based on qualifications or youve done lots of weddings, or do it full tiime or what.

The website seems a little hesitant all in all, and I dont know if thats the photography thats hesitant and you havent been doing it long, or just the wording on the site.
 
Janice said:
When you say "fully professional" photographer... is that based on qualifications or youve done lots of weddings, or do it full tiime or what.

The website seems a little hesitant all in all, and I dont know if thats the photography thats hesitant and you havent been doing it long, or just the wording on the site.
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It means Janice someone who will not turn up with a point and shoot and wearing jeans and flirt with the bride. LOL

Im not sure what you mean by hesitant. Yes I am just starting out in weddings and stuff-but lets not go there eh. im not going to put I have been an ardent photographer for 20 years and am now doing weddings now am I?

With regard to clik pic someone said earlier-they do not offer online sales. This is with the image file who offer all this and stock sales.

Anyway im changing the whole site-the other day i got good feedback from people-today its changed-so i have to change it.
 
The menu buttons look good until you roll over them, the roll over image is poor, that's not a major problem but something you could look at.

As others have said I reckon the first image people see on the wedding portfolio should not be an out of focus bride, choose one that makes potential customers go aaah!

Portrait portfolio, use the image of the blond blue eyed lass for the opening shot, she' a stunner and a real eye catcher.

Spelling, others have pointed out mistakes, wether or not you agree with them, you are in this for the profit so take every possible step to give the best impression, be better than the competition not the same as.
 
Steep said:
The menu buttons look good until you roll over them, the roll over image is poor, that's not a major problem but something you could look at.

As others have said I reckon the first image people see on the wedding portfolio should not be an out of focus bride, choose one that makes potential customers go aaah!

Portrait portfolio, use the image of the blond blue eyed lass for the opening shot, she' a stunner and a real eye catcher.

Spelling, others have pointed out mistakes, wether or not you agree with them, you are in this for the profit so take every possible step to give the best impression, be better than the competition not the same as.
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Yes thank you. The blonde blue eyed girl is my other daughter. Of course both my daughters are wonderful to me. I know what your saying but didn't really want to be false. I mean I could hire pro models to build website, but is that reality?
 
AAARGGH far too comical for me... terrible fonts!! :gag:
 
digitalmaniac said:
I mean I could hire pro models to build website, but is that reality?
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Absolutely not, you want the website to sell 'your work' and you'll do that best by being honest, but play to your strengths, if you take a shot that's great, stick it up there with neon lights round it to maximixe your chances. Be harsh with yourself, remember that potential customers will rarely spend more than a few seconds looking at a web site unless you catch their attention.
 
To be honest if i had the spare cash I would pay for a bloody good web designer to design a site for me-but i dont as yet and also need one to be linked to my online sales.

I gota start somewhere
 
Steep said:
Absolutely not, you want the website to sell 'your work' and you'll do that best by being honest, but play to your strengths, if you take a shot that's great, stick it up there with neon lights round it to maximixe your chances. Be harsh with yourself, remember that potential customers will rarely spend more than a few seconds looking at a web site unless you catch their attention.
Click to expand...

The average time spent on my site is 10 minutes. with a 25% bounce rate-so not too bad
 
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