My New Website

[dchew]

I gotta tell somebody, and I think of you all as my friends, so here it goes:

It's been four years since I updated my website. The last one was created with The Turning Gate (TTG) LR plugins, several LR versions ago... There was some level of customization, and since my html skills are, well, not really skills, I let it fall behind without an update. TTG now has a completely new back end that integrates with LR Publisher instead of the Web module and it is significantly easier to use. Should work much better on mobile devices too.

Pretty basic start, but I will add as I go:
davechewphotography.com

Ciao,
Dave

 

[jdphoto]

I gotta tell somebody, and I think of you all as my friends, so here it goes:

It's been four years since I updated my website. The last one was created with The Turning Gate (TTG) LR plugins, several LR versions ago... There was some level of customization, and since my html skills are, well, not really skills, I let it fall behind without an update. TTG now has a completely new back end that integrates with LR Publisher instead of the Web module and it is significantly easier to use. Should work much better on mobile devices too.

Pretty basic start, but I will add as I go:
davechewphotography.com

Ciao,
Dave

Very nice! I've always thought of getting an Alpa TC and shoot film and digital. A truly portable set up.

 

[darr]

Looking Good Dave!
I enjoy looking at your work especially your black and white Environmental Architecture.

Kind regards,
Darr

 

[Jamgolf]

Looks great on iPad mini, Dave.
Very nice and clean presentation of your work.
I like it a lot :thumbup:

 

[D&A]

Lovely Dave! clean, straight forward, easy navigation and some really nice imagery (and quite diverse too of which I enjoy). Will keep an eye on it as it continues to develop.

Dave (D&A)

 

[danord]

Beautiful website, seems to work well on all devices. "Basic" is good, in my humble opinion. Keep it simple.
Do you think of adding a webshop in the future?
Love your images! Some beautiful work in there.
All the best,
danord

 

[dchew]

Thank you all for the comments. Feels good to finally have an update completed that I can work with.

Beautiful website, seems to work well on all devices. "Basic" is good, in my humble opinion. Keep it simple.
Do you think of adding a webshop in the future?
Love your images! Some beautiful work in there.
All the best,
danord

Thank you! I've gone back and forth about adding a cart. Ease of ordering vs cluttering up the image display. I should ask how often people get orders directly off their website. I will have to remember to ask Don about that when I see him in April. I get requests but usually they are custom situations. Could be I'm missing the smaller, more straightforward orders because it is too confusing and too much work for them to order. Hmm...

Dave

 

[dchew]

Very nice! I've always thought of getting an Alpa TC and shoot film and digital. A truly portable set up.

Thank you! BTW if I remember correctly, someone has a used Alpa/Linhof roll film back in the for sale section. Those don't come around very often so you might check it out.

Dave.

 

[dchew]

Looking Good Dave!
I enjoy looking at your work especially your black and white Environmental Architecture.

Kind regards,
Darr

Thanks Darlene. My wife likes that stuff the best too, and in fact takes me to task all the time for labeling myself a "wilderness photographer." Spouses are so good at calling your bluff, after all. It's that difference between my want-to-be dreams and reality.
:loco:

Dave

 

[vjbelle]

Sure looks good to me, Dave. Very nice collection that I'm sure will appeal to many visitors. Hope you sell lots of everything.

Victor

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

Very nice, Dave! You remind me it's about time I updated mine.

 

[algrove]

Dave
Well done as its clean and straight forward. Must look at it on an iPad now.

 

[DougDolde]

I'd suggest using a service like Photodeck.com

Your site looks kinda amateurish to me.

 

[dchew]

I'd suggest using a service like Photodeck.com

Your site looks kinda amateurish to me.

Thanks for the tip Doug. I'll check it out.

Dave

 

[MGrayson]

Dave,

Looks good to me. I especially like your Prints page. (This is a comment on the website, not on your work, which is wonderful.)

--Matt

 

[tashley]

What a pleasant browsing experience: clean and simple interface, deceptively clean and simple photos. What's not to like?!

 

[stephengilbert]

Some folks just don't like nuthin'.

 

[dchew]

Some folks just don't like nuthin'.

Yes indeed; thank you Stephen.

I understand Doug has a unique "gestalt." In his defense, I'm not a full-time photographer and in some sense I agree with him. Heck, the mere fact that I posted an excited, "Hey I got a new website!" is a bit amateurish on my part. But like I said, like it or not you all are my friends so hopefully you will put up with my short little celebration.

I did take a look at photodeck.com. It doesn't appear there is anything shown in their examples that I can't do through TTG/Backlight, so the site structure and feel is by choice, not due to feature limitations. Plus the fact that Backlight integrates so seamlessly with LR means I have no excuses to let it go stagnant, and improvements should come over time. I do appreciate all feedback including Doug's. As Brooks Jensen points out in one of his posts, critique is great as long as you put it all together and taste the chili, not just focus on the pepper.

Dave

 

[TsurTriger]

Lovely.
I didn't know that LR has the capability to create websites. It is doing well job.
For someone who want to create a website and has no knowledge in web development, that is lovely result !

I love it as it; clean, neat, simple. As a website need to be.

There are small things that I think that can be improve like: The layout of the galleries page.

 

[dchew]

Lovely.
I didn't know that LR has the capability to create websites. It is doing well job.
For someone who want to create a website and has no knowledge in web development, that is lovely result !

LR does have a web module for creating basic sites and galleries. That is not how this site was created. I used Backlight, Backlight - The Turning Gate, which is a website creation tool that integrates with Lightroom's Publish Services, not through the Web Module. You set up the site through Backlight's user interface, which also resides in a separate folder on your site. So if TheTurningGate ever disappears I still have the interface for changing my site.

All the galleries are funneled through dedicated Collections in LR's Publish Services. If you change an image, or add/delete an image from those Collections, they get automatically updated on the site when you click "Publish."

I love it as it; clean, neat, simple. As a website need to be.

There are small things that I think that can be improve like: The layout of the galleries page.

Thank you. I will experiment with various options. If you have the time or inclination please post or PM me any specific things in regards to the galleries page.

Dave