Members Ani Posted May 15, 2007 Members Share Posted May 15, 2007 I've been messing around with different web galleries trying to find one that I liked well enough to present some of my photos to potential buyers and most of the templates have been obnoxious to attempt working with or hideous in their functionality. Rather than continue to try and find something already "set", I decided to look for code that could be adjusted to meet my needs. I located a free code generator and then played around with the script after my code was generated. Just minor things such as replacing fonts with gifs, altering the number of images and such. There are known problems in viewing the photo galleries generated by this script in Netscape browsers, but it's supposed to work fine with IE. I'm just curious as to how it looks to others. All of the photos are originals of mine and I placed the virtual frames around the images for the sake of display. http://musicbizbuzz.net/kansascity.html Thoughts, opinions, and critique welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr. Botch Posted May 15, 2007 Members Share Posted May 15, 2007 It works fine in Apple Safari. Some very nice photos there, Ani! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Looks very good! I like the golden start. All works fine on IE. The photo navigation is outside my screen resolution of 1280x1024 when the site opens, to navigate I have to scroll down. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members audioicon Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 I've been messing around with different web galleries trying to find one that I liked well enough to present some of my photos to potential buyers and most of the templates have been obnoxious to attempt working with or hideous in their functionality. Rather than continue to try and find something already "set", I decided to look for code that could be adjusted to meet my needs. I located a free code generator and then played around with the script after my code was generated. Just minor things such as replacing fonts with gifs, altering the number of images and such. There are known problems in viewing the photo galleries generated by this script in Netscape browsers, but it's supposed to work fine with IE. I'm just curious as to how it looks to others. All of the photos are originals of mine and I placed the virtual frames around the images for the sake of display. http://musicbizbuzz.net/kansascity.html Thoughts, opinions, and critique welcome. Hey Ani, I have been purchasing images/pictures/graphics from this site www.istockphoto.com A lot of people are selling their stuff on there, maybe you can check them out and see if you can sell your images on there. They appeared to be very authentic and standard. Audioicon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Great pictures, but I think I would crop some of the first couple city/skyline pictures for better composition and focal points. KC westside skyline is great, but I would crop out the lightpole and balance the cityscape and the moon together. Thanks for sharing. I love pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 P.S. The page background is cool, but I think it's a bit much. Maybe a 10x10pixel gif/jpg the same color as the fonts. I like the header image and I think the background kind of detracts from it. And it's kinda tacky (the background-sorry), great for myspace or similar...but I think a clean, but coordinated background would look more professional for the scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Oh yeah, FF 2.0.0.3. 1280x1024 screen resolution. No problems loading, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Worked fine in FireFox 2 for me! I thought the page background was neat but distracting. I thought you had some really nice photos and a couple that would probably sell a lot someplace like iStockPhoto (of course, that's volume over dollar amount)... but more than a couple looked precariously off-horizon. (The Smithville marina shot -- all those masts and the sense that the water was tilted.) But a couple of those shots were really smack on as far as publishability/desirability goes. The KC Eastside shot should be trued up a little and sold to the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, STAT. A really nice shot. (But, again, the skyskrapers being off perpendicular is troubling.) And I'll bet "Morning at the Mill" is just ready for a greeting card or maybe a calendar. It'd just fly off iStockPhoto, I think. (Don't forget to create on-demand calendars and whatnot of your own, of course, at places like CafePress.com.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Worked fine in FireFox 2 for me!I thought the page background was neat but distracting.I thought you had some really nice photos and a couple that would probably sell a lot someplace like iStockPhoto (of course, that's volume over dollar amount)... but more than a couple looked precariously off-horizon. (The Smithville marina shot -- all those masts and the sense that the water was tilted.)But a couple of those shots were really smack on as far as publishability/desirability goes. The KC Eastside shot should be trued up a little and sold to the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, STAT. A really nice shot. (But, again, the skyskrapers being off perpendicular is troubling.) And I'll bet "Morning at the Mill" is just ready for a greeting card or maybe a calendar. It'd just fly off iStockPhoto, I think. (Don't forget to create on-demand calendars and whatnot of your own, of course, at places like CafePress.com.) And Wiki has a image repository of public domain/fair use images you could add to. I downloaded some killer images there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 The photos are awesome! You have a good eye. THe background is a little busy & distracting. The page loads nicely in Firefox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Thanks for all the replies everybody... Heh-heh... Funny you guys mention the background. After creating it and loading it into the page, I told my daughter that I thought it was was too busy for the page and she INSISTED that I leave it in because she thought it was AWESOME Should have gone with instinct and went with my initial gut reaction up front. I'm reworking the background right now, toning it down some. I had thought about the black table on a solid gold tone color, but I'm playing around with it some to see what happens. I have a lot of better images than "some" of those posted, but I'm throwing this together quickly because I "do" have an open door right now... I'm just NOT prepared. I contacted a local agency, a rather large entity, and inquired as to possible contract work as a freelance photographer. I received a call back that told me that they did not usually deal with freelance, and most all of their photography was done by in house photographers, but they asked me if I had a website available to where they could view my works..... I'm trying to get this done as quickly as possible so not to let the opportunity expire. BTW, it's NOT Hallmark I'm looking at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members franknputer Posted May 16, 2007 Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Nice photos! I agree - tone down the background, it looks too "Myspace"...also, I found the frames distracting. Maybe you could pick one, or at most a couple, instead of it changing each time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 16, 2007 Nice photos! I agree - tone down the background, it looks too "Myspace"...also, I found the frames distracting. Maybe you could pick one, or at most a couple, instead of it changing each time? Thanks! Which background did you view Chris, the one with the puzzle looking background or the one that has more of a glaussen blur with just the color tones? The original one was multiple blocks of the city chunked into a puzzle looking collage. The newer one that I put up just highlights the colors in the city more or less. Is the newer one too busy, still? Also, I've already began redoing ALL of the photos and I'm going with one simple flat frame format to distinguish the photos from the black background. I'm going with just a white border since so many of my shots are night scenes. I've already got one of the new pic's with the white border up; it's a duplicate of one of the others with the fancy frames. Since the works are being presented to a potential buyer, I need to keep it more professional and consistant and get away from the "artsy" side of presentation. I may, however, set up a separate page that shows what can be done with the framing of blown up photos. I've also been digging through some of my more adventurous shots and pulling out some of my lake scenes... I love boating. AND I love capturing the fun of boating on camera... It'll go faster with the simple frames, but there's still a lot involved in getting this thing put together. I like the golden Kansas City header, as one mentioned, but I also concern myself with the idea that the use of the header does make one have to scroll down to access the navigation. I had thought about that too, and someone mentioned it here in this thread to affirm my concerns. I'm still brainstorming as to what the best possible presentation will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 18, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 18, 2007 Okay, so I've completely ditched the busy background and I've gone with a subtle goldish tone solid color background behind the table. I tried the white border, but it just JUMPS out at you. A lot of photoshop hours ... sigh... This time, before I redo ALL of the photos, on the front page only; does the frame on this one look nice with the rest of the page layout? I've written down all of my specs so that there will be absolutely no guesswork in repeating the frame for all images. Also, when I go through the effort this time around, the frames will be properly centered. When I was doing the white borders, at one point I got off center and continued to do so throughout the remainder of the images.... grrrrrr... trying to push too much through at one time without double checking the work periodically until it was finished. Also, I ended up jumping to the button designer midway through, which gave me an entirely different perspective on the frame. Now that I've got something more solid in place; I'll be more cautious when I go to make a final showcase. I'm more pleased with the outcome of the first page than what I've been with the other attempts.... I'm still looking at attempting to get the image viewer within the parameters of the initial window without having to scroll the page. Without linking to a separate page, it would almost require me to lose the kansas city skyline header at the top of the table; I'd rather not do that because I like the vibe it has on the overall presentation.... I dunno.... http://musicbizbuzz.net/kansascity.html Thoughts???? PS ( I know that the secondary images need to be reframed.... just got ahead of myself in trying to get it done too quickly.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synonym Music Posted May 18, 2007 Members Share Posted May 18, 2007 "Mytic Monday" ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 18, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 18, 2007 OH MY, that's a typo.... it should be Mystic Monday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted May 18, 2007 Members Share Posted May 18, 2007 Sorry, I checked it out last night but never got around to replying. Looks great! I'm still not 100% on the background color. Maybe some other matching scheme might be worth looking at. Keep us posted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alfonso Posted May 18, 2007 Members Share Posted May 18, 2007 On a 1280 x 800 laptop screen, there is a little problem, the picture and the navigation buttons don't stay all in the page, I must scroll a little to get the whole picture or to navigate the pictures. You could reduce the distance between the navigation buttons and the picture, that's not a necessary distance at all. To my taste I would dramatically reduce the size of all that's around the main object, nothing is more annoying than having to scroll to reach something and if you can't get a total look at the page all the good work is useless. Consider that a lot of people uses laptops and 1280 x 800 is very common. If you are also able to give a compatible look to those buttons it would be nice, because that cold and lifeless grey doesn't really fit in the overall warm look of the site. Beautiful pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 19, 2007 Thanks again for all the input guys; this is really one of the reasons that I LOVE this place. Having folks available to give a different perspective on things takes all of the second guessing out of the equation! A lot of really good tips and suggestions have cropped up in this thread and, although I've been pretty much reliant on pre-written codes, I've learned a lot by playing around with the scripts and adjusting them to the needs of what I'm attempting to achieve. In working with the actual raw script instead of a forms handler, it's a bit more challenging. Thanks!!! I really like this suggestion Alfonso; the gray buttons really did look drab, and I hadn't even thought to attempt changing them until you pointed it out. If you are also able to give a compatible look to those buttons it would be nice, because that cold and lifeless grey doesn't really fit in the overall warm look of the site. It took me a bit to find the script that I needed to hone in on, but I was able to reduce the distance between the navigation buttons and the photos, and also to customize the coloring of the navigation buttons. Without reducing the size of the actual photos themselves and going to a small screen display, I haven't found a way to get the title in the same window as what the photos and the navigation buttons are... do I still need to keep trying, and perhaps shrink the overall size of the image viewer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 19, 2007 Looks great! I'm still not 100% on the background color. Maybe some other matching scheme might be worth looking at. Keep us posted... I tried something completely different with the foundation background. Rather than distract with a busy collage of city lights, or use a dull solid color tone, I went with a more subltle vertical line with the deeper richer tones that accent the photo in the header. Let me know if this one is better.... personally, I LIKE IT!!! It's the most complimenting one that I've done, and the first one that I'm completely satisfied with... Of course, I "am" open to critique if it's not right. I'm thinking about dropping the gif of "Kansas City's Finest Views" located at the top of the gallery and redoing the actual header to where the title of the gallery is burned into the header instead of just using the words "Kansas City" There would be no title immediately above the gallery other than what's in the header. Just thoughts..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 19, 2007 I created a mock page of the actual gallery to show what it would look like without the title at the top of the gallery..... I haven't redone the header yet, because it'll take a bit to relocate the actual photo I used and then "shop" it. Here's the mock gallery... the other one is still in tact. Once I get set on the overall feel for the site, then I'll correct the images with a standardized frame (like the first image) as Chris suggested, and then I'll make sure there are no X boxes where images should be. http://musicbizbuzz.net/kcgallery.html Thoughts??? Yeas, Nays???? Here's the original link since this has gone into page 2 http://musicbizbuzz.net/kansascity.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members franknputer Posted May 19, 2007 Members Share Posted May 19, 2007 Much nicer, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted May 19, 2007 Members Share Posted May 19, 2007 The pics I have seen look great, good color, light, good settings..you have TWO good eyes.. A favor? If you ever get to Weston....take a pic of the house at 827 Summer and email it to me? I used to own it... I always felt that the spirit of the house 'liked' my family, and when we left, it was the beginning of the end of my marriage, but I still dream (literally, as in remember painting, etc..) of fixing that house up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 19, 2007 The pics I have seen look great, good color, light, good settings..you have TWO good eyes.. A favor? If you ever get to Weston....take a pic of the house at 827 Summer and email it to me? I used to own it... I always felt that the spirit of the house 'liked' my family, and when we left, it was the beginning of the end of my marriage, but I still dream (literally, as in remember painting, etc..) of fixing that house up. I've been working on some of the shots that I took at Weston... although, I didn't happen to drive by Summer St. I wouldn't really know where the individual streets are at; I can barely find my way to Snowcreek and the lookout point that's tucked away in an obscure location. One of the pics that I "thought" I had up, by the name of Autumns Ridge, was overwrote by the silhouette of a horse standing at the fence ... ironically on a ridge... That photo was taken up at the lookout point in Weston that overlooks the river from WAY UP HIGH.... it's gorgeous... There's also a photo that I'll be putting up called "engraved" that is of a tree in Weston's park that has hearts carved into the tree with a wooden bench built around the tree. It was a very nice park and I've only been there once. I may return there before too long. Had I thought about it before it began getting warmer out, I might have driven up there to see if there were any river eagles flying about up there. Everyone that's giving the input..... Thanks for the kudos on the changes.... I really appreciate all of the pointers and feedback. My kids would have the site looking like MySpace if they had it their way. My son was disappointed that I changed the busy background. Then he wanted me to alter the gold tones and change them out to something darker... NOT!!! I like the gold tones.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 20, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 20, 2007 It's coming together quite a bit better now and it flows more smoothly with (hopefully) a consistant frame. It's too late to continue with this tonight, but I'll be adding more and possibly removing some that are average to mediocre photos.... I should be able to contact the lead on Monday with something to show... God willing! I've got some different photos up and several more that are web ready; I've just got to write the code to add them into the gallery... they have already been uploaded to my site. Once I get the code more in place, then I'll rearrange the display to my liking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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