First web site

[Saulius]

Hi all. Well I finally got off my butt and am making a new website for myself. http://www.eidukasphoto.com It's still in the developing stages but I was hoping some of you might take a look. Make sure nobody's having any problems loading or navigating etc. Thanks.

[matthew blais]

Galleries is spelled wrong on bottom menu bar...
I clicked on galleries, b&w, and the image I attached is what I got on my Mac. Firefox 2.0
That's as far as I went..kind of clogged up on right side. Why not keep menu bar at bottom-consistent?

[Marko]

Yes, I'm havnig the same problem in Safari 2.0.4.

Looking at the code, I'd say it is both positioning and floating problem on the menu list. Also, those Dynamic Drive and DHTML Goodies scripts may look neat, by they often have cross-browser issues.

As a side note, I would drop the Disable Right Click script alltogether - it's only hogging up the resources and it still doesn't work. :)

P.S.

I like your images very much.

[Saulius]

Thanks for the comments. I'm a novice at web site building as you probably noticed, I'll see what I can do. As for the right click disable function, yes there's ways around it but I guess I put it there as another reminder to people about copyrights. But what can you do? As an old high school teacher once put it, locks are to keep honest people honest. A thief always finds away around things. Glad you liked the images Marko, thanks.

[Marko]

Thanks for the comments. I'm a novice at web site building as you probably noticed, I'll see what I can do. As for the right click disable function, yes there's ways around it but I guess I put it there as another reminder to people about copyrights. But what can you do? As an old high school teacher once put it, locks are to keep honest people honest. A thief always finds away around things. Glad you liked the images Marko, thanks.

You're doing pretty good for a novice. :) Just like photography, web design is far from being rocket science but it does require some knowledge and lots of practice. The Devil is in the details, as usual.

As for locks, this particular lock, shiny and attractive as it may be, is more of a hindrance to the owner than anything else. You just need to get used to the fact that once on the Web, everything is public.

[Saulius]

Ok, got around to doing some changes and it seems to load just fine in Firefox now. In fact, I now use Firefox instead of IE as my browser. It's still a bit rough, not too many images yet but it's a start. Constructive feedback is appreciated. :)

[roteague]

As for the right click disable function, yes there's ways around it but I guess I put it there as another reminder to people about copyrights.

Don't. That is rude and inconsiderate.

Remember, while you may own the pictures on the website, you don't own the persons browser nor their computer. A lot of people, like me, use the right click for website navigation. Personally, anytime I find a site that disables the right click, I either use Firefox (if I want to see the site bad enough), which can turn off any overriding functionality the web designer puts into, or I leave the site IMMEDIATELY (most of the time).

[Rob Champagne]

As for the right click disable function, yes there's ways around it but I guess I put it there as another reminder to people about copyrights. But what can you do?

Your outlook on humanity is rather negative and won't endear you to anyone.

So taking your negative outlook we'll look at this way. There are millions and millions and millions of images on the web. Many many many thousands by very famous photographers which are of far more commercial value than your images. So please explain to us why someone would want to steal your images rather some very famous and valuable ones. Get the point? You are deluding yourself if you think your images are so special that they are going to be stolen by internet thieves for commercial profit. And that attitude conveys itself to all users of your website when they find that you regard them as potential thieves. Smart marketing? If you think so, then go with it.

[Dave Parker]

I understand you are new to web designing, but you really need to take the disable right click off the website, it does not accomplish anything other than make those who look at your website mad and more willing to leave, and we all know a website is only successful if people are looking at it, if you make sure to optimize your images correctly for internet display, then the likely hood of somebody stealing them or making money off of them is very low, if I wanted to steal images, I would head over to flickr, there are more than enough images on that system to keep me busy for days, before you worry about someone stealing, your main concern it getting seen! which in itself is quite a task in this day an age.

Good start, yes it is rough and will take some work to get it on top, which should be your priority right now, then worry if your images will be stolen..

(besides ground glass, we own a web business that host hundreds of websites, many of which we have designed)

Good luck on your new venture.

Dave

[Saulius]

I really don't understand all this negativity and my perception of downright hostility for having the right click function disabled. :confused: Of course it's easy to get around that and copy and save the images another way. But I don't see it as any different from having my copyright at the bottom of each web page with a link to a specific copyright statement. I just see it as another reminder, that's all. Maybe I'm missing something. Are people who might be interested in purchasing images right clicking and saving images off of your websites for reference on their own computer? Is there other reasons I'm unaware of or is it just your personal viewpoints and perceptions on the matter? Others put watermarks on their images or write their names with a copyright symbol on the images, do you see that just as negative? Does it make you think those individuals also have terribly negative outlooks on humanity?
I don't navigate web pages by right clicking, thanks for that input. People who do I can see that as a big an issue.

Before posting this I did a quick, unscientific survey of several photographers websites most of whom belong to this forum. Out of the first ten I looked at eight allowed the
right click function to save an image.

Kirk Gittings -no right click
Domenci Foschi -no right click, uses flash? which prevents this?
QT Luong-allowed
Paul Butzi-allowed
Danny Burk-allowed
John Brady-allowed
Darr Almeda-allowed
Kerik Kouklis -allowed
Per Volquartz-allowed
Ted Orland-allowed

I guess when I get a chance I'll go back and take out the right click function. I still don't understand why it bothers people but I'll err on the side of caution.
Any other comments? Do the pages load properly in your various web browsers?
Thanks for the input and taking the time.

[Dave Parker]

Well I don't see it as "downright Negativity" I see it as constructive criticizing, which you asked for, but as with most things, we ask, but are not willing to accept...80% of the websites you quote, don't use the right click disable..

One of the biggest reasons, I don't like it, is not because I want to steal an image, but I, as a web designer like to look at the source code for those pages I like the style of, which yes, I know can be done other ways, but I also don't like Flash sites, and will leave before the flash ever loads, clean, clear, precise and to the point, is the way I like websites, period, I am not interested in the newest gizmo or flashy display. But that is just me.

Your pages load, fine, they look good in IE as well as Firefox. I again, wish you luck, because your most important goal is to be seen, and not by just other photographers, but by those who will buy, I know, photographers buy pictures, but you want the general public to like your website and buy your pictures as well, again, once more, I hope you have good luck with your new venture...

Dave

[Marko]

It is very simple, really - disabling the right clik is an attempt to control your user's browser, or even worse, limit their control over their own browser.

It is right down there with automatically resizing (or moving) the window, blaring music and other sound effects or creating all text as large, bold, red, blinking images. In a word, it is rude and offensive behaviour.

As a user, I will immediately leave any site that does these things and never return. As a web designer of many years, I will always warn against those practices, as they cast a bad light on the entire craft.

So, please don't view this as negativity, you are simply getting sound advice you asked for from people who do this for a living. To underline the statement, this is the first time that some of us who are giving you this advice here in this thread have agreed on antyhing. :)

[Marko]

And it's still not working properly in Safari. That will prevent most of the Mac folks from viewing your site properly.

[Ole Tjugen]

It works fine in Opera, although the disparity in text sizes on the "pricing" page is reminiscent of some of the worst ebay auctions...

[Frank Petronio]

What's the matter with making a good old fashioned screen snapshot when you want to swipe an image? It works for me.

From a business point of view, you actually want people to swipe your images so they use them in their comps that they use to sell their concept to their client, and hopefully come back to you to purchase the usage rights. No real professional is going to steal your image for a real client without paying. And people who will steal your images are going to do so anyway, no matter what protections you attempt.

So making it easy to steal your images is actually to your benefit....

[Saulius]

Ok, guess I'm a little slow but I'm starting to understand there's plenty of negative reasons not to disable the right click.
Not working in Opera, hmm I'll have to check on that.
Thanks for all the input.

[Ole Tjugen]

Saulius, it is working fine in Opera. But the right clicks do too, and the h4 text size you use for text is too large on my screen (Opera lets you view the sorce of just about anything, too), at least compared to the much smaller size in the actual price list.

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, very nice work! On aethetics, in my opinion the simulated frames detract from the images.

Jon

[Saulius]

Thanks Ole, I'll look into that.

Thanks Jon. I've been thinking about removing those frames. The longer I've looked at them the less I've liked them.

[Kuzano]

I like not to think in terms that offend sensitivities. However, I do think in terms of reality. I presume your web site will exist to generate awareness of your work and ultimately income for your pocket. If so, dump the "right click disable". The purpose of the website is to generate a positive atmosphere where people can view your work and make decisions about you as a photographer. Adept web users use the right click functions for many justifiable reasons beyond attempts to steal your work. In fact, as long as you are using the proper file formats and sizes, no one will acquire any usable image off the site. The fact is that there is way too much emphasis put on potential violation of copyright on the web. As mentioned before there is just too many images and too much copy on the internet to spend time worrying about the theft of an occasional, virtually unusable copy of an image.

The "reality" I speak of it that the "right click disable" function just pisses people off and they jump from your site to sites they perceive to be more friendly. It has nothing to do with your intent... It's just how cyberspace works. Similar to using all caps being shouting, etc.

I work on computers, I teach classes including internet usage, and I teach digital camera and eBay classes. It does not take much in terms of poor decision making about your site to turn even a few people away. I reiterate that I don't think that's the reason you put up the site in the first place. Do all you can to make it a positive experience for everyone who visits.

BTW, I did visit and navigate the site. Like the images and the layout. It worked well for me using Firefox on a PC. Good luck on your endeavors.

[CG]

Hmmm,

The right click thing ... First: I 'm not as philosophically opposed, but instead, it just messes with my kinda fast surfing habits, so it becomes an annoyance, and like many people, an annoyance on the web generally impels me to leave a site rather quickly.

Second: It feels like someone is expecting me to be thieving their images, and I tend to feel like I am not fully welcome on the site.

The flip side however is that I suspect a tremendous number of web images get swiped as roughs for ad layouts, and that your image once on the web, is in more danger of being replicated to some degree by another photographer assigned to do something "like this", meaning your shot. I'm not sure I see any great defence.

Best,

C

[Saulius]

The "reality" I speak of it that the "right click disable" function just pisses people off and they jump from your site to sites they perceive to be more friendly. It has nothing to do with your intent... It's just how cyberspace works. Similar to using all caps being shouting, etc.

This and other comments have now made it clear to me why the right click disable ticks people off. I just got some time to take it out and seems to allow it on all pages now. I guess the biggest issue was my ignorance as to why people do use the right click so much. Thanks again to all for making that clear.

[Saulius]

Oh, and the reason I did do the disable right click was not so much to keep people from copying it. I knew there were easy ways around it. But in the off chance someone did, and by some chance they did use it for some financial gain, and if by some chance I found out about it I figured if it ever came to it that from a legal standpoint it might help my cause because it was there as is my copyright notice at the bottom of each page. Never realizing there were so many out there who use the right click for various other proper activities. Oh well, live and learn. :o

[Rob Champagne]

Oh, and the reason I did do the disable right click was not so much to keep people from copying it. I knew there were easy ways around it. But in the off chance someone did, and by some chance they did use it for some financial gain, and if by some chance I found out about it I figured if it ever came to it that from a legal standpoint it might help my cause because it was there as is my copyright notice at the bottom of each page. Never realizing there were so many out there who use the right click for various other proper activities. Oh well, live and learn. :o

There you go again. All negative about everything. I'll just write my website so its geared up to help the lawyers just in case I need to sue someone.:eek:

[Marko]

Oh, and the reason I did do the disable right click was not so much to keep people from copying it. I knew there were easy ways around it. But in the off chance someone did, and by some chance they did use it for some financial gain, and if by some chance I found out about it I figured if it ever came to it that from a legal standpoint it might help my cause because it was there as is my copyright notice at the bottom of each page. Never realizing there were so many out there who use the right click for various other proper activities. Oh well, live and learn. :o

OK, let's say you find out that someone indeed stole one of your images.

1. What do you think they would do with it?
2. How much would they gain by stealing it?
3. How much would you stand to lose in the process?
4. How much would a legal action to recover your rights and expenses cost you?
5. How much do you think you would be able to actually recover from them?



Now that you have answers to these questions, here's a few more:

6. How many visitors are you going to lose by having your site NOT function properly OR even acting offensively in their browser?

7. How many of those visitors would be prospective clients? Or to phrase the question differently, how much would you lose in sales by losing these visitors?

8. How much would it cost you to hire a designer/developer to create a professional looking and behaving site?

:)

[Saulius]

Well, like I said several posts ago I was going to re-able the right click and I did. So I see no point in discussing this further.

[Kuzano]

How much would it cost to use a professional web designer.

As a computer consultant and with 20 plus years of marketing background, I would recommend a veeery careful approach on this score.

1) There are a lot of players in the web design market and there is no control on certification and/or professionalism. It's a lot easier to get someone who will charge a lot of money and deliver a questionable product.
2) The sketchy ones are just as likely to charge the big dollars as a qualified and proven professional. Again, as a result of the lack of control in this market.
3) There are a lot of technically qualified web makers (note I did not say designers) who have little or no concept of a visually attractive web site, ie lots of white space, and appropriate use of color.
4) There are a lot of design worthy individuals in the field who lack technical expertise.
5) There are tons of Web Design and Layout firms out there who want a big fee for getting the site up and running, but want nothing to do with ongoing maintenance.
6) Control over timing of updates and fixes to the site can be frustrating when your income is predicated on having 24 and 7 operation of a functioning web site.

I tell you this. The best way to find a web designer is to find a site that you would like to emulate, and that you see updated frequently, and that is up 24 and 7. Then go talk to that designer.

Little will be gained by just getting recommendations from people who have other types of web sites.

There is a strong argument in my mind for DIY on your web site. For these reasons:

1) If you are a good photographer, you probably have a better eye for the composition of a web page than most web design firms.
2) If you can learn how to use Photoshop and a scanner and all that digital photography equipment, you can surely learn how to make and be responsible for your web site.
3) Why pay anything other than hosting and connection fees!!!!!!!!!!
4) I seriously doubt that web sites generate enough income to pay someone else to do them.
5) Make sure that you understand the importance of the "registration with search engines" properly before spending any time or money on your site. Search engine registration is an art in itself. Many web design firms don't even address registering with search engines. It's a specialty field for some. WHO NEEDS a web site, if it cannot be found by searching the web.

[Dave Parker]

How much would it cost to use a professional web designer.

As a computer consultant and with 20 plus years of marketing background, I would recommend a veeery careful approach on this score.

1) There are a lot of players in the web design market and there is no control on certification and/or professionalism. It's a lot easier to get someone who will charge a lot of money and deliver a questionable product.
2) The sketchy ones are just as likely to charge the big dollars as a qualified and proven professional. Again, as a result of the lack of control in this market.
3) There are a lot of technically qualified web makers (note I did not say designers) who have little or no concept of a visually attractive web site, ie lots of white space, and appropriate use of color.
4) There are a lot of design worthy individuals in the field who lack technical expertise.
5) There are tons of Web Design and Layout firms out there who want a big fee for getting the site up and running, but want nothing to do with ongoing maintenance.
6) Control over timing of updates and fixes to the site can be frustrating when your income is predicated on having 24 and 7 operation of a functioning web site.

I tell you this. The best way to find a web designer is to find a site that you would like to emulate, and that you see updated frequently, and that is up 24 and 7. Then go talk to that designer.

Little will be gained by just getting recommendations from people who have other types of web sites.

There is a strong argument in my mind for DIY on your web site. For these reasons:

1) If you are a good photographer, you probably have a better eye for the composition of a web page than most web design firms.
2) If you can learn how to use Photoshop and a scanner and all that digital photography equipment, you can surely learn how to make and be responsible for your web site.
3) Why pay anything other than hosting and connection fees!!!!!!!!!!
4) I seriously doubt that web sites generate enough income to pay someone else to do them.
5) Make sure that you understand the importance of the "registration with search engines" properly before spending any time or money on your site. Search engine registration is an art in itself. Many web design firms don't even address registering with search engines. It's a specialty field for some. WHO NEEDS a web site, if it cannot be found by searching the web.

Some good points being made here, but not all quite true, there are good web companies around that don't charge big buck to design maintain and host a website, I know this for a fact, because besides doing ground glass, My Wife and I have owned a web design and hosting company for over 10 years now, and have done hundreds of websites, our average customer has been with us at least 5 years, and many of them over 7 years(almost un-heard of in the web business)

But if you are diligent, you can hire a reasonable web company with a proven record and not spend to much money. That said, if you have the time and put in the effort to learn correct web design techniques as well as search engine registration, you can successfully design your own website. The biggest mistake most people who do their own website make, is:

1. They don't follow proper web design rules and thus, it is not correctly displayed in all web browsers.

2. The get it designed and then never update it, so it becomes stale an not worth going back to.

3. They have no clue how the search engine business works, hence never gets seen except by friends and family, and we KNOW how much they will spend for your pictures!

One of the best reasons to hire a good web designer, is because that is their job, WEb design and maintenance is all my wife does, I am her partner and help when their is a programming problem, but for the most part, I do glass, she does websites 8 hours a day 6 days a week.

Before you take on a website of your own that you design and maintain, you need to ask yourself a few questions...do you have or want to take the time to keep it current and professional looking to keep interest in it?

Are you comfortable learning the search engine submission business, which is very important to become successful on the web, the best looking website, don't mean squat if you don't know how to work the search engines.

And lastly, can you set your ego aside enough to design and maintain a website that will appeal to your target market and not your vanity, IE quirky little features that may cause problems for others that don't for you.. AS you found out with the right click, a whole bunch of people really get angry when they run into that, and won't look any further through your website, hence lost viewers and lost income.

Take your time, learn along the way and be willing to change as the web changes and you should do fine.

Good luck on your new venture.

Dave

[Ed Richards]

While I like the frame on the homepage, I find it very busy and distracting in the gallieries. The black and white images are very nice.

[Marko]

2) If you can learn how to use Photoshop and a scanner and all that digital photography equipment, you can surely learn how to make and be responsible for your web site.

Sure. Just as you can learn how to make great looking photographs if you know how to use Photoshop and the latest Kodak EasyShare P&S camera.

In fact, there are lot of websites like that, even on this very board, and even more such photographs flying around the Internet. And they all have two things in common:

1. Everybody can make them.
2. It shows.

;)



3) Why pay anything other than hosting and connection fees!!!!!!!!!!
4) I seriously doubt that web sites generate enough income to pay someone else to do them.

For the same reason anybody would pay a professional photographer to create professional looking photographs. Because web design/photography is their job, that's what they do for a living. Chances are they are better at it and more current with all the intricacies than you can ever be simply because they do it every day. It's not the knowledge that makes professionals so good at what they do, it's the practice.

If you can't generate enough income to pay for it, then your business doesn't really need it (website or photography) or your business itself is not really a business but more of a hobby. You certainly don't need a pro to create a website so that Uncle Bob can log in and look at all the great snapshots you made last summer. But then again, you don't need a professional photographer to capture those either, Uncle Bob won't see a difference anyway.

[Rob Champagne]

I think you've got the message about negativity in a web site so we'll look at some constructive criticism now.

The rolling thumbnails are OK except for one very major thing. The point of a thumbnail is to give the viewer the option of following the link to that image if it interests them. Because you have faded the thumbnails we can't see if they are worth looking at without moving the mouse over them and we have to move the mouse over all of them to see if they are worth looking at. i.e. the effect you have used is purely for the sake of having an effect which is not the way it should be.

Also the image and thumbnail block would look better centered and not left aligned. OK so on your monitor maybe it is but on higher res screens it isn't.

The "image loading" message really isn't required. There is a browser progress bar which tells everyone it is doing what you asked and nowadays, for most people, the load time is so short that the loading message just appears as an annoying flicker.

I'm OK with the frame BUT it is a bit heavy. The inner shadows are too strong and if the light is from the top left, why is there a shadow in the bottom right. i.e. the shadows aren't correct. Decide where the light is coming from and make shadows accordingly and not too heavy. See Angel of the North (http://www.visualperception.net/artprints/gallerygbp/Angel_of_the_North.php?frame=1) as an example of less heavy framing.

You really need some text on each image page to help with searches. (My pages are not finished)

Nice images.

Good Luck

[Kuzano]

Thank you David Parker and Marko for responding. You finished out my post nicely, and I thank you for that. I felt I was getting a bit long winded, and I stopped my post.

It is entirely true that there are some highly qualified individuals who do reasonably priced work on web site design. Just be sure to get references and look for track record before hiring someone else to do the website design for you. I still believe a photographer who spends time on photoshop can certainly master a web editing program. However, if you find that the bulk of your money is made with your eye and brain and the photographic equipment you have mastered, by all means hire professionals to do both the image editing and the web site design. However, do not make those choices loosely or in haste.

I have seen a few photographers and artists who have hired "professionals" to take care of the marketing side of their business, only to take that part of the business back after a frustrating period of poor sales and money spent for poor service.

All I am saying in this and my last post is to make sure you are going to get results before you turn your business over to "professionals". Do your homework on the people you "hire" for your enterprise.

I have heard it said by photographers and artists that the computer and web side of their business detracts from what they do best.... create images and art. At the same time I know both photographers and artists who have retained the part of the business they enjoy and hire out the stuff they don't care to do. These people have found true professionals to do their production and marketing, AND not necessarily at outrageous prices. It takes time to find these people, and form a relationship that still leaves one in control, and is beneficial to all parties.

[Jim Jirka]

From one ex Chicago Lithuanian/Bohemian to another.

Wonderful site filled with wonderful photography. The site works fine for me.

[Saulius]

Thanks all for the comments and assistance.

Jim, your name sounds familiar, did our paths cross back in Chicago? PM me if you like.

[Photomax]

I wont go into all that has been said before...

* Nice pictures!
* I like the frames around the photos as an intro but the appeal gets lost after a few images. All that border and frame elements is also adding a lot of extra bandwidth without really providing any additional visual content.
* I think you need a better logo/banner/name graphic. That heavy drop shadow graphic looks like it is cropped too tight and just floats on the white.
* Not sure I like the elastic function to the page width.
* I think your text and headlines could use some extra styling which will aid the presentation overall.
* I would create some navigation at the top of the page.
* The rollover effect on the navigation looks very 1999 for some reason.
*Again: nice pictures!

Max