Hello I've been looking into somehow making a website as its the next step towards marking myself. When you submit photos to a magazine or company it looks more professional and would more than like get a 2nd look rather than just a tossing into the trash without even opening.
I have searched through some fellow sports photographers websites and seems that a lot of them are using a place called livebooks.com to create and manage their website. I really like the looks and simplicity of their sites plus the fact that you have complete control over how it looks and are able to update photos whenever you want.
The only downside is price the cheapest version that would allow you more than one gallery is $1700. One gallery is good but I would like to have more than one like action, landscapes, people ect. So I am looking for something that is exactly like livebooks but for a bit less $1700 would buy alot of camera gear. I know there has to be some other sites around offering the same features as live books so if you know of any please post them up.
Many pro photographers just use the simpleviewer, which is an exportable gallery out of Lightroom.
the next question is if you want your website flash based or html based.
I would highly recommend teaching yourself the basic of web programming. I've taught myself and I'm pretty happy with my site. Learning to do it yourself can save you a lot of money on a web designer, too.
I'm sorry, but as mentioned in the previous thread, I really don't think Heather Lynn's designs stand up against professional portfolio site providers. I appreciate that you're happy with the site she did for you, but I just don't think her sites will make the desired impression on commercial and editorial clients.
If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to LiveBooks, but with similar quality of service and options, take a look at ClickBooq. They're who I planned to go with for a portfolio relaunch before I delayed my move to focus on other things.
I have the basic website with livebooks, you can add as you go for a portfolio the cost is $195, they just had a special for the month of July one for two.
I recently signed up with Clickbooq and have been very happy with them. Excellent response time to my queries, their tool box has a very small learning curve so it's simple to make design changes or change out files - just drag and drop. They're a little pricey, but in the end, their interface saves me a lot of time and hassle, so it's well worth it.
