The homepage of my website includes a long bar consisting of the name of the site - "Lorna Rollings Photography" - and four hyperlinks to different pages of the website. The image on the homepage is from my current project Mori, which I used to replace the slideshow that came with the original layout design. I personally don't like slideshows to display work on websites unless the accompanying music (if any) relates to the work. I don't like ones with transitions as they remind me of the special effects I used to put on Microsoft PowerPoint slideshows when I was a kid - it feels childish to me personally. When looking through photographers websites, I often get impatient waiting for each image to change on the slideshow, so I'd like my website to reflect what I'd like to see from a photographer in terms of design.
I removed the original layout on the "About" page that featured a large image with text in a white box over the top of the image, as after a discussion with Shawn, we decided it looked like a text box and wasn't professional looking. I instead put in two smaller pictures from my project "Water". All images on pages like these can be found on the website in their respective project pages. The short bio includes how long I've been practising for, my university education in regards to photography, and the exhibitions I've participated in.
(Please note that this screenshot was captured by reducing the webpage in size so I could fit it all in one capture. The title does not appear like that on the actual page at 100%)
The "Portfolio" page shows all three projects I have uploaded to the website. Each image is linked to the corresponding page and gallery when clicked on. I have also included a small summary next to each picture to describe the work. The images are laid out in a zigzag style pattern as to not have too many blank spaces (as it would if all the images were aligned to the left of the page). I think this makes the page seem fuller, however I may edit this if I add more projects on.
As well as clicking on the images on the "Portfolio" page, you can access each project by hovering over the "Portfolio" link, where a dropdown menu listing the projects will appear.
Each project page features a picture from the project on the left, with a summary of the project underneath. The images in the project are displayed in a gallery on the right of the page, under the links. The images appear in portrait-composition crop thumbnails, which I do not really like. I will see if I can change this.
The images can be viewed full-size by clicking on the thumbnails, where they "pop-out" (as seen by the grey transparent layer to the rest of the page). Scrolling through the gallery can be achieved by clicking on the right and left arrows, while going back to the page requires clicking on the 'X'. Pretty simple. I don't really like the pop-out nature of viewing the images in a bigger size, so I will see if I can change that. It is also worth noting that images cannot be saved to a hard drive by right-clicking in this view, the one benefit, I suppose.
The other project pages have the same appearance and function as the page for Mori.
My "Contact" page features only an email address and a hyperlink to my professional Twitter page. I didn't want to include my mobile number or address, as I fear that that is too much personal contact information to be putting online and in extreme cases, could be a matter for personal safety. I did have a link to my Flickr page, but after a discussion with Shawn I removed it, as any of my best images should be only seen on my professional website. I also included a picture from Mori to decorate the page.
I also made a professional Twitter for myself as a way of promoting myself and as another way to keep in contact with people in a professional sense. I have had my personal Twitter page for almost four years, so I know how to use this form of social media very well. My icon is a picture of myself with a DSLR, just to reiterate that I am a photographer, and that this is a photography-based account. My bio features my occupation and qualifications, as well as a link to my website. The background is one of my unused medium format pictures from a previous project. I have retweeted posts on my personal account to advertise my professional account, and have gained 10 followers since I made it last weekend. I try to tweet on my professional account almost every day to keep people updated.
I think that my website is quite professional, however, there are a few things that I will look into changing. I tried to make my website like one that I would like to visit - simple, easy to navigate, with the right information and options for further contact. I will update it in time with more projects and continue to tweak the small things to improve it.
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