This is a work in progress and is not yet complete. I have published it early because I was asked for my thoughts on particular web platforms for photographers and it made sense to make those thoughts public.
Photographers fall into two broad categories: those who sell their work from their website and those who use their website as a showcase of their work but don't involve e-commerce.
This is a very important distinction and we will split the available options into these two camps. If you know you want one rather than the other then check out those providers to save time.
So what is the difference?
Portfolio site platforms put a lot of emphasis on design and appearance to show off your work as well as possible. E-commerce platforms combine the tools to display many images at at a time with the ability to purchase images in different ways.
A commercial or portrait photographer is likely to use a portfolio site to show off their best work with appropriate keywords to attract other similar clients. They are not likely to use their website to publish galleries of images or offer those images for sale because they send their images directly to their clients, who control use of the images.
An event photographer, on the other hand, will use their website to display all the images from an event in order to sell the photographs to the people in those images. Each image is likely to be available in digital form at various size and also as physical products like prints or canvasses.
There are some website platforms which bridge the gap between these requirements and provide a good option for both a portfolio site and an e-commerce provider.
These suit people like wedding photographers who want to show off their work to potential new clients but also provide a platform to show existing images to couples who have used their services and distribute them to other guests at the wedding.
A platform designed for portfolio-style sites does not generally lend itself well to use as an e-commerce platform, but the latter can work nicely as a portfolio site. Photographers who post galleries of images which are for sale still want to show off their best work!
I am an equine photographer, website designer and hosting provider living in Lincolnshire.
I work with clients who are sole traders and others which are FTSE companies. They are equally important to me.
If you need commercial photography, editorial photography, event photography, lifestyle, equestrian or wedding photography, then I can help you, with over 30 years experience in these areas.
I also teach photography. I mentor photographers with a range of experience, from beginners to working professionals and run an equine photography course which gives members access to articles about the business of equestrian photography.
I have a varied set of skills, having worked for well known web design, SEO and analytics companies in parallel to my photography.
I design, host and maintain websites for clients as varied as farms, interior designers and equestrian centres, as well as for bloggers and sportspeople, including many riders.
I am the Public Relations Officer for the Midlands Area Point-to-Point Association, a role which utilises my PR and social media skills to promote horse racing both online and in the National press.
If you think that I could be the right person to help you, whatever your project, then please get in touch and we can discuss what you need and the ways in which I can help.
You can find out more about me here.
