I have been slowly building up the courage to do this. I have shot as a second several times and have done several Senior sessions. A friend of mine, Lori Cox, has been my mentor and my encourager. She, like so many of you, has taken the time to give back what someone taught her and well, here I am.

I am scared to death. I do have a fulltime position. I teach history in a local high school so my schedule is conducive to photography in this area.

If you would look over my website and blog, I would greatly appreciate your CC. I am not anywhere close to much of the caliber on this forum, but I am trying. I got my first DSLR last year and have been shooting with several since. Rebel XTi first, then 20d, 5d, & 40d. I am learning PS skills as I go. I did go with Blu for the website and so far am really pleased with their CS.

Again, CC welcome.

I really like the clean look of your website. Its easy to navigate. And congratulations on getting started!

cc: you've got some great pictures (really great) in your wedding gallery, but to get to those, you've got to navigate through some so-so pictures (and some that are pretty close duplicates of each other). I would reduce the number of pictures you have and only put in the great ones. As you shoot more, add more.

I kind of like that you only have slideshows on your blog, but the pictures are pretty small and kind of hard to see. If I were a potential client, I would probably get bored and navigate away. I think it depends if you're using your blog to communicate to current clients (in which case it is fine because they will go straight to their slideshow) or to reach out to potential clients (in which case, you might want to showcase a couple of the best images - as large pictures - from each shoot and then add the slide show at the end of the entry.

Best of luck!

You are off to a great start. I am not a fan of flash websites, but yours is as nice as any. You also has some nice work, don't sell yourself short and keep on. Don't let fear stop you.

Grace and Peace,

Crystal

You've got some nice work on the site! Great start!
I would definitely give your blog a little bit of a facelift though. I feel that it's too dark, very "blogspot" type, the photos are way too small too. I prefer the larger format photo blogs with happy, vibrant colors! It makes it alot more enjoyable to look at and read.

Keep up the great work
Bartek

Music on a wedding website helps with the mood. And if there's a stop or pause button that's easily seen, I have no problem with it. They seem to go better on flash websites because of the movement that flash websites provide. Your flash website does not provide your visitor with the option to turn off the music. It's nice to have options.

But music on a blog? In my opinion, a big no-no. It doesn't add to the mood. People will frequent your blog more than your website and your frequent visitors will have to listen to the same song over and over and over again. They'll get tired of it. First they'll have to figure out which tab the music is coming from. Since most blogs don't have music they'll look for a long time. Then they have to figure out how to turn the music off on your blog. Since it's on the very bottom and not at the top where it's easily seen right when you go there, again it will take them some time. Then each visit to your blog, they'll have to scroll all the way to the bottom to turn off the music and then scroll all the way back up to start reading your blog. Then pretty soon, they won't bother coming at all.

Again, that's the scenario I have in my head because that's what I would do.

Besides that, great start! I like the clean look over your website. Wish the pics on your blog were larger to give them a more "wow" factor but that's a personal preference.

Rebecca,Thanks for the CC. I have a problem choosing which pics to show, but after reading your input I began "mowing". I will remove photos that don't contribute to the story. BTW, I have followed your work on here for awhile and love it. I thank you. I need to figure out a way to display the pics on the blog better- just haven't done so yet.

Crystal,Thanks for the encouragement. Just out of curiosity, why don't you like flash sites?

Rich,Excellent point about the blog. I have been going in every couple days and changing the order. I think I will just remove it.

Oh yeah and I second Rich's opinion about music on the blog, I'd also get rid of it

Cheers,
Bartek

Music is gone from the blog. Thanks, guys.

Hi Chris,

Congrats on taking the plunge! I think your "modern senior" pics are nice - I especially like the rain boots with a prom dress. I have a TTD senior coming up who is doing the rain boots & dress thing too!

For the wedding section, I thought the florida beach wedding photos really "popped" more than the ones that were in front of them. Maybe move the beach ones up to the front so those are the impact shots? In particular, cool action shots - like the whole party throwing stones into the water - are the ones I would want to see as a bride.

OK, now I gotta ask... what is that fish picture about? Is that a giant live fish in a tank on a wedding table??????

Wow! Thank you. Made my day

Daisha,

Yes, that is a live fish in a small aquarium. He loves fishing and is in tournaments quite often. It was a small bass that the guys had caught earlier. That was what he wanted on his table. I have used goldfish before, but never anything like this.

The Destin shots do pop more. I don't know if that is post or if it is the fact that they occured at two different times of the day and both were outside. The first wedding was at 4 with blazing sun in a concrete ampitheater beside the river with very different colors (black, white, & red). The beach wedding was at 4 on the beach. I like your suggestion, though.