Opinion on my website ?

John Young

Senior Member
I asked for opinions on my website a while ago and since then I have made quite a few changes.

I would be grateful to get some opinions on my website.

http://www.johnyoung.co

One point is that I have noticed loads of wedding photographers use white or very pale colours, what people's opinion on my dark scheme. I choose that to be different and to make the photos stand out more... do wedding photographers websites need to be while or pale ?
 

Lurch

Senior Member
Simple and straight to the point.
The only thing I'd add is that if you've gone to the trouble of installing wordpress for the blog; I'd have had it power the whole site. Just a thought.
Only criticism would be the text on the front page is a smidge on the small side.
Dark/Light - each to their own. *Personally* for photography stuff, I like the lighter shades. But thats just me.

*EDIT*: Here: http://www.johnyoung.co/links.html Where's the link to Nikonites? :p
 

John Young

Senior Member
Thank you for your time in giving me feedback...

The wordpress was only installed to power my blog and to be honest not wanting to offend anyone but everyone especially photographers seem to use Wordpress as a bases for their website. Like the colour I am trying to be a little different, break the mould so to speak.....

The text size I have altered so many times, I had it larger a while back but thought it looked to amateurish
 

MinnBen

Senior Member
Overall, I believe it has a nice look to it. I agree that the fonts are rather small and the small blue, especially, is difficult to read. I understand that it may look more "professional" as is, but you do want people to be able to read it.

One thing that bugged me was that when I got to your blog, there was no way back to the main site. Dangerous thing to do as it may lead to potential customers leaving your site prematurely. I would also leave the navigation in place on the "General" page in your portfolio.

Is there a reason you don't want to put the prices for the portraits on the page without forcing another click?

The images on your Links page seem to be missing.
 

John Young

Senior Member
Thank you for the feedback....

I will certainly look at the text and I will also sort out the navigation on the blog. I think there is a link on there but obviously hard to find

The portraits section I am thinking of removing completely as I don't advertise I do them and all my work is weddings. But in the meantime I will have a look and make the pricing clearer

I will also check out the links

thanks again.....very helpful
 

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Thank you for the feedback....

I will certainly look at the text and I will also sort out the navigation on the blog. I think there is a link on there but obviously hard to find

The portraits section I am thinking of removing completely as I don't advertise I do them and all my work is weddings. But in the meantime I will have a look and make the pricing clearer

I will also check out the links

thanks again.....very helpful


John,

I like it quite well and say Nice Job.. I would suggest leaving Portrait. The reson is that it ties so well to weddings and people there for wedding reasons may get the bug to also (or instead) get a personal or family portrait sitting. It does not hurt...

One minor typo (I think)

My portrait session is £40 within 10 miles of DH7 9AU but I will be happy to travel further with reasonable fuel costs added. I will edit each and every photograph before uploading them to my private online gallery with prices shown below
Please note the £30 is for up to four people but more people can be added for a small added fee.

It says 40 on the 1st line and and then 30 at the bottom, and its 30 on the map. Also, (this is picking nits) I did not know what DH7 9AU was?? Assume it was some coordinate system.. If it makes sense, so be it but I would have put "within 10 miles of my home, clink LINK for map."

Anyway, good job!!
 

AC016

Senior Member
I like it. It's nice to see that you have all the links for "contact me", etc. at the top of the page. I hate websites where you have to go hunting for links like that. Keep up the good work and congratulations :)
 

riverside

Senior Member
I like it. Content delivers the message of what you do, what it costs, your flexibility and desire for customer satisfaction. A big plus is it loads fast, you didn't clutter it with endless images. I can't tell you how many photography websites I click out of due to impatience with distressingly slow loading times. Optimization and selective content do prompt viewer interest.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Maybe I'm a little picky, but as was brought up in the Portfolio thread, if the English is not up to snuff, I could care less about the photos. Here's an edit of just the first section from an American, but I believe it holds "across the pond".

My name is John Young and I am an experienced, friendly Durham and North East Wedding Photographer. Along with my wife Katie, we are ‘John Young Photography’. We cover the whole of the North East including Newcastle, Durham, Gateshead, Sunderland and Northumberland, but we would be happy to travel further if needed. We are passionate about wedding photography and mix reportage and traditional to capture those little, never to be repeated moments. It is your wedding, and as your wedding photographers we will work at what suits you best, capturing the moments that you will look at over and over again, revealing the fun, laughter and, of course, the love that was your day.

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life, so it's critical that you have a wedding photographer who is not just professional, friendly, courteous and unobtrusive, but most importantly someone who you are comfortable with. As your wedding photographer I strive to keep the day fun and the mood light, because after all, your special day should be as stress free as possible.

Katie and I work as a team to capture the complete story of your day as it unfolds, making sure to capture all those once-in-a-lifetime moments and memories in photographs that you will cherish forever.

We are professional Durham Wedding Photographers, and promise to provide you the absolute best, most professional service possible.

Your logo states "John Young Photography", not "Young's", so I'm assuming the logo is correct, though the copyright at the bottom is possessive. Regardless, you need to be consistent. From that point on, you've improperly used "it's" throughout. You also refer to you and your wife repeatedly, so you should likely use "photographers" to reinforce that. Also remove the '....' after the section headings, it looks a bit of a mess.

You also need a comma after "Professional" in the page header.

Ah, hell, here's the rest.......... just let me know where to send the bill.;)


We are YOUR wedding photographers

It's your wedding day, and that’s very important to us. You have trusted us as your wedding photographers and we will uphold that trust with the professionalism, respect and dignity you and your family deserve. We will never ask you to do anything you are not comfortable with for, after all, YOU are the one in control. A wedding is a joyful occasion, so we will make sure that joy, fun and even a little laughter are a part of the process of capturing the entire experience, making it all that much more enjoyable.


After the wedding


As soon your wedding is over we immediately archive all your photographs, so you know they will always be safe. I then personally edit each and every photograph, making them as perfect as your day. Once completed, your photos will be uploaded to your personal, private online gallery where you can view them all. And if you so choose you may share the gallery link with friends and family. Once you have had a chance to fully review the photos we will work together to create a stunning and modern book with the best photos from your day - a keepsake that you will cherish forever.

Our job doesn't end there

At John Young Photography we will always be here when you need us. We keep your photo gallery online for a full year after your wedding. After that, if you need more prints or decide that one of your favourite wedding photos just has to be printed on a canvas, all you need to do is get in touch and we will make sure you get everything you desire.
 

John Young

Senior Member
John,

I like it quite well and say Nice Job.. I would suggest leaving Portrait. The reson is that it ties so well to weddings and people there for wedding reasons may get the bug to also (or instead) get a personal or family portrait sitting. It does not hurt...

One minor typo (I think)

My portrait session is £40 within 10 miles of DH7 9AUbut I will be happy to travel further with reasonable fuel costs added. I will edit each and every photograph before uploading them to my private online gallery with prices shown below
Please note the £30 is for up to four people but more people can be added for a small added fee.

It says 40 on the 1st line and and then 30 at the bottom, and its 30 on the map. Also, (this is picking nits) I did not know what DH7 9AU was?? Assume it was some coordinate system.. If it makes sense, so be it but I would have put "within 10 miles of my home, clink LINK for map."

Anyway, good job!!

Thank you for the detailed feedback..... Yes that is an error it should both be £40 and my wife said the same as you and told me to leave the portrait section alone.

The DH7 9AU is a post code which is the same I think as the US Zip code. But yes I see what you mean it could be clearer I will look at that also



I like it. It's nice to see that you have all the links for "contact me", etc. at the top of the page. I hate websites where you have to go hunting for links like that. Keep up the good work and congratulations :)


Thank you... Yes I try to make my website as clear as possible. I have been to many websites were the prices etc are all hidden away.


You seem to have some nice pictures on the site but I can't get any of them big enough to see.

Thank you.... Don't you think the photos on my slider or portfolio are big enough ?

I like it. Content delivers the message of what you do, what it costs, your flexibility and desire for customer satisfaction. A big plus is it loads fast, you didn't clutter it with endless images. I can't tell you how many photography websites I click out of due to impatience with distressingly slow loading times. Optimization and selective content do prompt viewer interest.

Thank you I appreciate that..... I also don't like websites that take ages to load or have to much stuff on them. I actually only added the portfolio area recently as I only had the slider before then. I thought I better show off some more photos but its hard to get a good balance so as to have enough photos but not to much. The photos I used were sized exactly to fit the page so they load fast...
 

John Young

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie - Thank you for all that work and you are right my English is not brilliant by any means.

Yes I have noticed myself I have John Young and John Young's so that certainly needs sorting .. thank you for reminding me
 

John Young

Senior Member
It's nice, I like it. Btw, is this a Zenfolio template, by chance?


Thank you.... No I use Zenfolio for my clients but I actually tried to make Zenfolio like me site not the other way around. The website is all made by myself

But one of the reasons I asked on here about my site is on another forum a few people started ripping my site apart even though I had not asked for any opinions on it. I had actually put up a photo and they instead decided my website was to dark and to amateurish and why don't I use wordpress like others etc... etc...

One of the the lads who was laying into me had just spend £15,000 on getting his gear and website sorted so maybe he did not like mine which is all home made and cost me nothing but time and hosting
 

riverside

Senior Member
Thank you.... No I use Zenfolio for my clients but I actually tried to make Zenfolio like me site not the other way around. The website is all made by myself

But one of the reasons I asked on here about my site is on another forum a few people started ripping my site apart even though I had not asked for any opinions on it. I had actually put up a photo and they instead decided my website was to dark and to amateurish and why don't I use wordpress like others etc... etc...

One of the the lads who was laying into me had just spend £15,000 on getting his gear and website sorted so maybe he did not like mine which is all home made and cost me nothing but time and hosting

I've had that experience on a web design forum. Unsurprisingly, I received several private emails offering to redo my website at a "discounted" rate because I was a forum member. Naturally the offers came from the harshest critics.
 

John Young

Senior Member
Yeah touting for work no doubt....

The forum I was on was a photo forum and the guy in question was quite local to me so maybe the competition worried him
 

grandpaw

Senior Member
Thank you for the detailed feedback..... Yes that is an error it should both be £40 and my wife said the same as you and told me to leave the portrait section alone.

The DH7 9AU is a post code which is the same I think as the US Zip code. But yes I see what you mean it could be clearer I will look at that also






Thank you... Yes I try to make my website as clear as possible. I have been to many websites were the prices etc are all hidden away.




Thank you.... Don't you think the photos on my slider or portfolio are big enough ?



Thank you I appreciate that..... I also don't like websites that take ages to load or have to much stuff on them. I actually only added the portfolio area recently as I only had the slider before then. I thought I better show off some more photos but its hard to get a good balance so as to have enough photos but not to much. The photos I used were sized exactly to fit the page so they load fast...

I don't know what is going on but that is a totally different site than I was looking at before.
 
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