New (and improved) website

[msrdsdr]

After several years of fruitless tinkering, my new website is up. See it here: www.davidrheubottom.wordpress.com. The work is all analog, B&W, shot with large- and medium-format cameras, and darkroom processed. There is also a blog of photo musings. Your observations on the website and my images are most welcome. Cheers, Dave

 

[DWThomas]

I enjoyed viewing your work (I'd say we have some common interests). I like the website as clean and straightforward with some open space for a touch of elegance.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

After several years of fruitless tinkering, my new website is up. See it here: www.davidrheubottom.wordpress.com. The work is all analog, B&W, shot with large- and medium-format cameras, and darkroom processed. There is also a blog of photo musings. Your observations on the website and my images are most welcome. Cheers, Dave

looks very professional.

 

[slackercrurster]

It is OK, but not much to it. WordPress is very easy to make sites with. I'd have thought it would not take years for you to put up the few pix you did. Not much on a site smacks of someone just starting out.

 

[Eric Rose]

Looks nice and clean. Without captcha on your contact page you will get spammed to death.

 

[jtk]

Don't understand why so few photos and so many words.

 

[msrdsdr]

Don't understand why so few photos and so many words.

As to the too few photos, I have made the decision to keep the number of photos on display at less then forty. This is a personal beef, but I find websites with many photos off-putting and I tend not to take as close look at any of them. Perhaps you are more tolerant of 'visual overload' than I. In any event, I intend to swap images and portfolios in-and-out fairly frequently so check back if you would like to see more. Sorry about the too many words. What would you suggest I eliminate?

 

[msrdsdr]

Looks nice and clean. Without captcha on your contact page you will get spammed to death.

Thanks for the 'heads up'. I'm just getting started with website creation and admin, but I'm aware of the spamming problem and will take steps to avoid it.

 

[Mike Bates]

Things I like about your web site: Clean look. Generous use of white background, although I don't understand the use of the off-white background for the "home" page. Minimalist style with emphasis on photos.

Things I don't like as well: All of those moving elements, appearing and disappearing, wiping (and "unwiping") just because I moved the scroll bar. I think it's all terribly distracting from the purpose of the site and serves no functional purpose. Poor use of transparency/fixed elements that allow the header text to overlap the photos and, worse, the page text. Again, I find it unnecessary and distracting. The "Current Projects" are each represented by a single photo. A single data point is difficult to extrapolate to the nature of the project. Only on a mouse-over does some text name the project to give a second more useful data point.

Overall, I think the whiz-bang moving parts detract from the clean style you seemed to intend.

I liked a number of your photos. In particular, I liked the tones and composition of "Barnham Barn," "Three Trees" (especially), "Ranchos de Taos – Study #1," and "Ranchos de Taos – Study #2." The lower contrast and extended tonal range of those photos are pleasing aspects to me and blend especially well with the minimalist white background web site. In contrast, so to speak, "Diane's Pond" and "Frozen Falls" (especially) seem to have the contrast juiced up to the point of a jarring lack of mid-tones and smoothness that large format black and white film is beautifully capable of providing.

Those are just my opinions because you asked. I'm not an expert at any of this. I simply like what I like.

 

[msrdsdr]

Things I like about your web site: Clean look. Generous use of white background, although I don't understand the use of the off-white background for the "home" page. Minimalist style with emphasis on photos.

Things I don't like as well: All of those moving elements, appearing and disappearing, wiping (and "unwiping") just because I moved the scroll bar. I think it's all terribly distracting from the purpose of the site and serves no functional purpose. Poor use of transparency/fixed elements that allow the header text to overlap the photos and, worse, the page text. Again, I find it unnecessary and distracting. The "Current Projects" are each represented by a single photo. A single data point is difficult to extrapolate to the nature of the project. Only on a mouse-over does some text name the project to give a second more useful data point.

Overall, I think the whiz-bang moving parts detract from the clean style you seemed to intend.

I liked a number of your photos. In particular, I liked the tones and composition of "Barnham Barn," "Three Trees" (especially), "Ranchos de Taos – Study #1," and "Ranchos de Taos – Study #2." The lower contrast and extended tonal range of those photos are pleasing aspects to me and blend especially well with the minimalist white background web site. In contrast, so to speak, "Diane's Pond" and "Frozen Falls" (especially) seem to have the contrast juiced up to the point of a jarring lack of mid-tones and smoothness that large format black and white film is beautifully capable of providing.

Those are just my opinions because you asked. I'm not an expert at any of this. I simply like what I like.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I appreciate that the whiz-bang theme may not be to everyone's taste and I do intend to fix the overlapping problem. It is both unnecessary and distracting. The photos you like are also among my favorites and, reluctantly, I would also second your views about "Diane's Pond" and "Frozen Falls". Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to comment.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

Clean is always good.

I'd get rid of the vertical scrolling. Your vertical images are crunched for space on my screen. Or at least make the images smaller.

I'd also suggest shrinking the text size by quite a substantial amount. Screen space is limited. Don't waste it.

I'd recommend getting your own webspace if you are serious about it. Having your own domain gives you freedom.