Finally had some free time to redesign MY OWN website, that of Hermosawave Photography. I had a couple of goals for the redesign:
- Increase the size and quality of the photos.
- Use CSS and html5 as much as possible and bring the design up to 2010 design standards — completely different than the way we would design websites even 5 years ago.
- Create a Best Sellers gallery to make it easier for casual visitors to find my best photos, without looking through the more than 1700 photos now on the site.
- Eliminate multiple versions of each photo (I was exporting 4 different sizes!), with only ONE version that was resized as necessary on the fly by the server. This also makes it possible to upload directly from Adobe Lightroom without going into Photoshop just to make the different versions. (This doesn’t mean that photos won’t ever go into Photoshop, but now only for complex edits such as HDR)
- Create special galleries dedicated to other types of photography I shoot.
- Designing the website so it looks and works great on the Apple iPad. This has to do with sizes and layout, and where I used Flash, making sure there was a non-flash alternative that worked well. (I do feel that Flash plays smoother and creates a richer experience than the html/JavaScript alternatives, so I am not one to shy away from Flash where it makes sense. That said, the days of the all-flash website are over.)
- Maintain compatibility with links to specific photos on the old site.
One thing not yet implemented, is a way for people to download photos to use as their computer desktop. I will get this going soon, as well as a few other loose ends I haven’t completely tied up
Anyway, check out the new site and let me know what you think!
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