Online galleries...

[MikeHoyer]

I've just signed up to some proper web space, and I was practicing with JAlbum, what do you think of this format? When my space comes online, I'll upload it onto there, so you don't get all the ads.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/racingline1/LeMans/

http://members.lycos.co.uk/racingline1/F3GTBrands/

http://members.lycos.co.uk/racingline1/Gallery/

Just after a few opinions really, I like it personally, just need to design a decent site around it!

It's better than this horrible effort anyway... http://racing-line.tk.

[James North]

In my view, there's nothing badly wrong with racing-line.tk

That JAlbum gallery thing looks good. I guess it's advantage is that it's quick to build a gallery.

I designed and built my gallery myself using frontpage. A bit slower, But I got all my templates sorted out and I got the effect I wanted. That way I am able to include all the informtion I want to. It just takes a bit longer to link it all together, which is a pain in the ass.

[David L]

Mike..

Instead of commenting on your galleries in particular, I'd rather make some general observations about the galleries that I see posted by many photographers about the web, if you don't mind..

1. Too many cannot resist the temptation to post (what seems sometimes like) everything they shoot, without editing.. You end up looking at immense galleries with reams of images that, in all honesty, have nothing interesting about them and all look the same..

2. The number of unsharp, out of focus images being displayed in the www thingy out there is, frankly, astonishing.. I'm not talking about motion blur and all that, I'm talking about fundamental focus issues..

3. Shots where the nose, tail, wing etc of the car is chopped off are usually useless..

It seems that self-editing is absent a lot of the time..

So, my tips for galleries… Be absolutely ruthless in your edit, be your own hardest critic, only display one image from each viewpoint (two would be an absolute most only if there was a good reason to post both), make sure colours are accurate and balanced properly, make sure the shot is sharp and in focus.. and, most importantly, tell a story..

Better to have only 12 stunners up there than 112 shots with 12 stunners amongst them..

Examples of what I think are fairly decent galleries would be my Le Mans 2004 galleries on Sportscarpros, which comprised 36 images from pre-qualifications and 48 from the race week.. Very little duplication, lots of variety etc..

Prequalification

Race week

You navigate between pages using the little red triangles at the top left of the lightbox pages..

Regards

[David L]

I forgot to add

1. when viewing the galleries, click on the thumbnails to open the actual images..
2. The site is based on studioline software, click HERE. There's a free version available!!

[kdr]

david i simply adore that ferrari going under the dunlop bridge picture. please tell me theres some sort of filter involved or i'm going to be even more gutted that i spent sunday morning at the porsche curves!

for more inspiration heres the feature myself and a few others created a week or so ago for our uk pictures of the year. you might have to cut and paste this link. sorry.

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/FrameSet.aspx?s=EventImagesSearchState|1|0|90|0|0|1|0|0|0|51837417|0|0|0|0|0||0|0|0|0&p=2

[David L]

Originally Posted by kdr

please tell me theres some sort of filter involved or i'm going to be even more gutted that i spent sunday morning at the porsche curves!

Heretic!! No filter was involved..

As for your Getty gallery, that's a good example of where I was coming from.. Lots of quality pics, great variety and all quality..

I liked them all but particular faves are:

The Majorca Classic 2004 first round
By: Stuart Franklin

Womens Europe - Final
By: Ben Radford

Mens Mistral
By: Shaun Botterill

Mens Single Sculls Semifinals
By: Ben Radford

Leicester races
By: Mike Hewitt

Virgin Radio Indoor Windsurfing Championships
By: Ian Walton

[kdr]

Originally Posted by David L

Heretic!! No filter was involved..

As for your Getty gallery, that's a good example of where I was coming from.. Lots of quality pics, great variety and all quality..

I liked them all but particular faves are:


Mens Single Sculls Semifinals
By: Ben Radford

so it was shot on digital then? not even velvia? i remember shooting the audi at dawn going under the bridge in 2000, the sky looked nice but when the film was processed the sky was even better. i miss velvia..

bens sculls pictures is one of my favourites also. i've just had all the prints back from the printers for this years sport england photo competition, and that one is being entered. it looks even better as a print than on the screen. when i see early morning pictures like that and your ferrari pic...i can never understand why there isn't a queue of snappers wanting to join me down at la sarthe every june...its a photographic goldmine.

[MikeHoyer]

Thanks for the advice David L, really I'm just trying to get a decent format for now, I will worry about editing the pictures when i can upload them to my new webhost.

Some decent things to think about thouhg.

[Ian Sowman]

Depends what you're trying to do, surely? If you want to show how good a photographer you are, be ruthless as David says and only display your very best stuff. If you want to attract drivers to go "ooh look, there's me - I'd like that photo" then you'll need to show a lot more because likely as not they won't be as fussy.

[James North]

I think Mike was just after some views on the type of format for his gallery.

As for the actual content, I think Mike already knew what to upload etc, he just wanted some feedback on the website layout.

[kdr]

Originally Posted by James North

I think Mike was just after some views on the type of format for his gallery.

As for the actual content, I think Mike already knew what to upload etc, he just wanted some feedback on the website layout.

looks ok to me then...maybe just a little bigger and more space between each.

[Ian Sowman]

Originally Posted by James North

I think Mike was just after some views on the type of format for his gallery.

As for the actual content, I think Mike already knew what to upload etc, he just wanted some feedback on the website layout.

Indeed, but that was just the seed for the conversation and no reason not to widen it out into a larger discussion on the subject!

[David L]

Originally Posted by Ian Sowman

If you want to attract drivers to go "ooh look, there's me - I'd like that photo" then you'll need to show a lot more because likely as not they won't be as fussy.

I guess you're right in that I wasn't really referring to commercial sites.. I think that if that's your aim, then you do need to be fully databased and searchable so as to create unique galleries based on search results (like the Getty site) that can narrow down (or eliminate) the wading through reams of images syndrome..

Of course, commercial sites do need licences as discussed in other threads..

Regards

[David L]

Originally Posted by MikeHoyer

Thanks for the advice David L, really I'm just trying to get a decent format for now, I will worry about editing the pictures when i can upload them to my new webhost. Some decent things to think about thouhg.

I'd suggest that you limit the number of thumbnails per page to a reletively small number so as to let the viewer focus more clearly on what it is that you're showing.. Also, I think the thumbnails could be a little larger..

[David L]

Originally Posted by James North

I think Mike was just after some views on the type of format for his gallery. As for the actual content, I think Mike already knew what to upload etc, he just wanted some feedback on the website layout.

I thought my comments were a valid contribution to the topic under discussion but I do accept that they were not a direct response to the question (I did, however, explain that at the start of the post)..

I don't believe that my comments were inappropriate but apologies to anybody who thought that they were..

Mike, please check PM's

[MikeHoyer]

Don't worry, I don't mind a bit of criticism

[MikeHoyer]

In fact you could say some of photos are a bit dull and generic, I mean look at

http://www.mdh-photography.co.uk/750MCSnetterton/

A lot of typical Snet shots...

For 2005, now I know what I'm doing, and got a fast camera, I'm looking to get a lot more artistic and creative.

[redshoes]

Mike, I don't want to sound critical but as others have said earlier in this thread you need move ruthless about what you include. Having a couple of pictures which prominently feature the back of someone's head doesn't do you any favours.

[Hugewally]

Also, only include the best one or two shots of a car, not all the shots you have or it...

[MikeHoyer]

How about :

http://www.mdh-photography.co.uk/Gal...FFordFestival/

Cropped some pictures, tried to add too many, just a few different angles and things.

[Hugewally]

Much better...

[MikeHoyer]

Yeah I quite like it, just need to get the layout finalised.