Sunday Spotlight 9/4/11

Sunday September 4th, 2011

A Thought on Simple Websites

Monday May 3rd, 2010

Scott Suchman is one of our Washington, DC photographers and recently visited Wonderful Machine HQ for a tour and lunch. In reviewing Scott’s website before his visit, I was reminded of how refreshing it is to see a simple-to-use site like his, especially after viewing so many hundreds (thousands?) of websites that have confusing navigation and loading issues. Not this one:

I also think that most art buyers/creatives have less patience than me when flipping through images, so I’d keep that in mind if you’re a photographer considering the design of your own site. From my perspective, here are the things that I like about Scott’s site:

1) His images load quickly.

2) The navigation arrows are in the same place for each image, and I don’t have to re-orient my mouse each time:

3) The images are just large enough to get an idea of what he’s doing. Some people like them full-screen, but these give you plenty of info to be confident in the quality of his work.

4) You can link to the specific pages, if you want to share a good image with colleagues or clients. This URL links to the following image, and not just his homepage like some Flash sites:

5) And there’s not an overflow of navigational options:

Simple!

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A little more about Scott:

• Full disclosure: Scott did bring delicious cupcakes for us from Georgetown Cupcakes on his visit, but that in no way influenced this post.

• He’s found that, in recent years, NYC clients are hiring him more frequently rather than sending New York photographers down to DC and paying travel fees.

• He’s a foodie (no surprise) who loves to cook and travel. Good thing that’s what he shoots, too.

• He particularly enjoys shooting food culture, and following the story from farm to table. A few more examples from that:

-Neil Binklely

Photography For Urbanites, Adventurers, Gourmands, And Jocks

Wednesday October 28th, 2009

Martin Brent / England
Conceptual / Sports & Fitness / Action & Adventure / Still Life
www.martinbrent.com

Took his first photograph at age 5 (Big Ben). Didn’t become a passion of his until age 10 though. Assisted for 7 or 8 years before taking on a solo career. Just won 1st place in IPA Awards for his wild "Tree Divers" editorial, showing men literally diving from cliff side trees in Negril, Jamaica.

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Sergio Ballivian / Denver
Action & Adventure / Sports & Fitness / Travel / Landscape
www.sergiophoto.com

Speaks fluent Spanish and English. A true explorer at heart, Sergio has traveled the world. He even runs his own travel company out of Boulder, specializing in adventure tours of Bolivia (where he grew up). Worked at National Geographic in the Photo Dept. in the 90′s.

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Mateo Munoz / Colombia
Still Life / Food & Drink / Architecture
www.mateomunozphoto.com

Colombian native. Picked up photography when he moved to Mexico City, where he lived for 23 years. Later studied at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. Did a stint in Los Angeles. Recently returned to Colombia to shoot and teach. "Life is a journey," he likes to say.

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David Torrence / St. Louis
Portraiture / Landscape / Music
www.davidtorrence.com

A transplant from Atlanta. David became interested in photography as a teen, while on a safari in Tanzania. The camera that went to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro is still part of his ever-growing collection. Known for his punctuality. Also has a thing for watching professional tennis.

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