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Building a Photography Website

Building a photography website is the natural end-result of owning a digital camera... all the cool kids are creating one these days! You don't need experience with web publishing or any special software. You also don't need to be a professional photographer.

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Whether you want to share your photos with your friends or family, impart your knowledge about photography, sell your photos, or further a professional career, a website is the way to go.

How to Build a Photography Website

From snapshots of the baby's first bath or a professional portrait shoot, building a photography website caters for all. Sharing your photos is great fun - and millions of people across the globe are starting to realize that you don't have to be a pro to be able to speak the universal language of photography.

Requirements for Building a Photography Website

This is what you need to get started with building a photography website:

* A camera and a basic understanding of how it operates. (Feel free to browse my basic photography pages to go over the essentials.)

* A computer and an Internet connection; and

* Photo-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop, Paintshop Pro, The Gimp or Picasa.

A photography website is a piece of dynamic art. Just like the Internet, it's in a state of constant change as you upload new pages and images, and visitors contribute content too.

The style of your photography website is a combination of layout, design and photography. These three elements give your visitors an idea of what you're all about.

There are a few basics that will help you get ahead of the pack:

Keep it Simple

Some of the very best photography websites are very simple in design, for example stunning photographs on a black background with white text, or on a grey background with black text. Visitors enjoy a layout that is clean, efficient, and easy to navigate.

If you would like to know more about how I built this website, make sure to visit Site Build It! for more information.

Express Yourself

Building a photography website is in its most fundamental sense a platform for you to express yourself. Website styles and themes differ greatly, but what remains true is that the demand for a unique look or voice is always high. The more you stand out from the crowd, the more visitors you will have and the longer they will stay.

Grab your Visitor's Attention

It's important to pack a punch with the home page, and grab your visitors' interest in the few seconds they first scan the page. That doesn't necessarily mean over-the-top design and flashy banners, but definitely some captivating words and images. Make sure the most important and enticing images or message is “above the fold” – that is, can be seen without scrolling.

Focus on your Art

If you want to promote your art, don’t overpower it with lots of flashy effects. A clear uncluttered screen, easy to read text, and a design focused on decent sized images are what is called for. If you use a gallery or slideshow script, try to choose one that is functional in every browser, but simple. It should be an unobtrusive aid to getting about the site, not a showcase for the programmer’s skills. If the navigation gets in the way of the pictures, you are wasting most of the effort you put into the site.

Make it Personal

Work on establishing a personal connection with your visitors and potential customers. It really is a critical part of the sales process - and on the web, you have to be as personal as you can, since the chances are your visitors will never meet you in the flesh. Use your site to establish what makes you different from all the other artists out there: show and tell your visitors what inspires you to create your art.

Provide the Necessary Details

Think about what else a visitor might want to know: where you live, how to contact you, what you specialize in, and how to buy your work. And in conjunction with the ideas in the section above, let them know why they should buy your work or commission you, rather than the many other people working in the same field. If you specialize in a specific location, make the most of it by including enticing descriptions and photos to engage your visitors. That will also have the useful side-effect of improving your search engine ranking for the location! Or if you travel widely to get your inspiration, record your reactions to places and people in a compelling way.

Be Selective

Your web site should be a showcase of your very best work, not a collection of everything you have ever done. Although you may be keen to show a wide variety of what you can do, balance that against the fact that not having a coherent body of recognizable work might be diluting your impact. It’s often better to concentrate on a few strong themes and exploit them to the maximum.

Putting it All Together

Remember that building a photography website is a work in progress, so even if you don’t get it completely right at first, you can always change things to improve it. I’ve attempted to follow the principles here on this website, as well as my personal gallery at Mia Rose Photography but I know there are areas I need to improve: finding more time to add images and adding online ordering for example. If you can think of any others, please let me know! Building a photography website has been a richly rewarding experience for me in both a personal and professional context. It has helped me to grow as a photographer and a writer. It has also afforded me the privilege to make friends with like-minded people all over the world! There’s really no excuse not to get on the web one way or another: so, my advice to you is to go for it!

* Building a Website with Site Build It!

* Free Photography Tutorials

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