Commentary # 31: May 2009
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Doing Your Own Website :

What Is It Worth, and Is It Worth It?


May 2009

- by Craig Wassel


One of the questions I am asked most is, "Who does your website"? Many are surprised to learn I do it myself. I do use a Flash plugin to help me with some of the more sophisticated gallery behaviors, and I do not host the site on my own server. Everything else though - the logo, graphics, layout, coding, and scripting - is the product of countless hours of planning, work, and TLC.

In fact, I just finished a major re-design of this site a few weeks ago. Like most projects, it took much longer than anticipated. The beginning and middle phases were done in a little less than a week, but the last phase took nearly four additional weeks. Most of those four weeks were spent getting everything to work smoothly and consistently across the major Mac and Windows browsers, as well as testing page load times using several different internet providers.

What was aggravating and at the same time funny is how complex it can be trying to achieve simplicity in a site that has a good amount of content. With each redesign of this site, I have strived for a cleaner look and simpler, more intuitive navigation. To achieve that, the behind the scenes scripts and Flash gallery coding has become more complex, and therefore more prone to problems. The "behind the scenes" stuff is where that four weeks of testing and debugging was needed. All's well that ends well, but there definitely were some hair-pulling days when I felt like the new site design just wasn't worth it.

Now that it is all done and frustration has been replaced by satisfaction with the results, I am reminded that it is definitely worth it in the long run in two important aspects beyond having an attractive, navigable site: financially and photographically.

From a financial aspect, doing my own site - especially one that I have rebuilt several times - has saved me an enormous amount of money. Although spending time working on it means I am not out earning money, I know that I am still way ahead. I did some research to see what a typical cost is for building a complete 40 page site complete with logo, custom graphics, and heavy Flash content, and on average the starting point is around $10,000.00. Adding the cost of redesigns and regular maintenance, things get even more expensive very quickly. Doing this site myself simply makes sense and is key part of my business model. It holds my overhead down, and that helps me compete.

So it makes sense for me since it helps my bottom line, but how does doing my own site help photographically? To me, this is a very interesting question with many layers.

I had a fellow photographer ask me about how much time I have spent on this site over the years, and his jaw dropped when I answered. He understood my point about holding down expenses, but replied, "Why don't you just put up pages on Flicker or one of the other photo sites and market yourself that way? It's still low cost, and it's faster".

I can't argue his point that sites like Flicker are fast and easy. There are other advantages, too. Though there is a sea of photographers on them you know for certain that they get more traffic than a private site. You also have the advantage of viewing a lot of work from other photographers, learning, and being inspired by them. Last, you have the chance to get critiques of your own work. But there are also some big potential pitfalls of using them.

It is the element of critiques that would make me reluctant to use Flicker or the like to carry my online portfolio. It's not that I am shy about having my work reviewed; I have had my work picked apart more than I have had it praised. That is just the fickle, subjective nature of the art world and it just does not bother me. However, there is a fine line to walk with these online photography communities, and here it is: It is very easy to go from using them to display work and learn from constructive critiques to posting work in the hopes of it being chosen as a crowd favorite. Yes, honest critiques help us learn and improve, but it is very easy to give into the temptation of taking photographs to first please other anonymous photographers instead of first pleasing ourselves - or clients.

For some photogs, this social critiquing is part or all of the fun of participating on these sites, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. It all comes down to goals and what you want to get out of an online presence. For me, though, I want to learn from and be inspired by others, but I avoid seeking the approval of critics and photographers I do not even know. I want to produce work that earns and keeps clients.

So what is a website worth? Hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars depending on how ambitious it is. So is doing my own site worth it, even when I am experiencing technical difficulties that can be tough and time consuming to resolve? Absolutely. I want my own identity, my own branding, and total control over how to present my work online. This is why doing my own site has been and will continue to be worth it, and like in any endeavor persistence pays off.


" . . . The photographer Ruth Bernhard used to tell me that this is like asking somebody how they evolved their signature. It is not something I’ve ever worked on consciously. I think style is just the end result of personal experience. It would be problematic for me to photograph in another style . . . "

~ Michael Kenna ~








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" . . . there is a fine line to walk with these online photography communities, and here it is: It is very easy to go from using them to display work and learn from constructive critiques to posting work in the hopes of it being chosen as a crowd favorite. Yes, honest critiques help us learn and improve, but it is very easy to give into the temptation of taking photographs to first please other anonymous photographers instead of to first pleasing yourself - or clients. . . . "





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