An open letter to wedding photographers regarding their websites
Philosophizing
By
on July 21, 2010
169
We're ALL thinking it, but Becca, aka OBT member bmwbzz, finally came out with it. Since looking at photographer's websites is part of our jobs here at Offbeat Bride, we ALL feel Becca's pain.
Dear wedding photographers,
I think you're swell but, as a whole, your websites suck.
First of all, turn the freaking music off. Seriously. I'm probably looking at your site at work and it's hard to find the off button and I probably don't like the music you picked nor do I care since I didn't come to you for music. Don't do it — it's downright annoying!
Secondly, it should not take 100 years for your site or gallery to load. The best way to ensure this is to NOT USE FLASH! And while we're on the subject of the gallery, how to move from one picture to another should be obvious to my grandmother and I should be able to peruse the thumbnails. I should also be able to use the keyboard or the scroller on my mouse to move through the pictures (which is another reason NOT TO USE FLASH!) Also, I'm pretty sure 75% of you all have the exact same Flash site re-branded. Stop it. Want something inexpensive? Try WordPress with a custom template design. [Editor's note: or even just a good pre-made theme.] And do NOT have your gallery or site pop-up! EVER!
Thirdly, don't have your blog header take up the entire screen. I get confused and think there are no posts or something. And if you don't have a blog with most of your current wedding previews, make one.
Fourthly, tell me how much you cost. I don't care if you do "custom" packages, tell me how much your typical package is and what it includes.
Fifth, I'm probably going to post the photos on facebook. If you have a problem with this, the best way to handle it is to give me lo-res versions of all pictures with your watermark. Then everyone is happy.
Lastly, tell me WHERE YOU LIVE. I totally get that you want to travel and stuff but I'm not looking to pay for that so make it really obvious where you live and shoot weddings generally. Don't make me look up your area code on google. Instead how about say "Chicago Wedding Photographer" instead of just "Wedding Photographer."
Seriously I love you guys but weddings are stressful and photography is expensive, so make it a bit easier on us! True I'm already married and had an awesome photographer (with a great website!) but since I have three good friends getting married next year, I now have to look at all the sites again… and it's annoying. It is also true that I develop web sites for a living and am probably more critical than most but really I'm trying to help!
Sincerely,
Becca [and Offbeat Bride]
About Becca Miller-Webster
Currently, Becca works as a computer programmer. After having a blast as the Offbeat Bride intern, she's now a Contributing Editor to Offbeat Bride and an on-call developer for the whole Offbeat Empire.
Ariel said
Hey everyone. I think I'm ready to close comments on this post, but wanted to leave one final perspective.
Both the managing editor of Offbeat Bride AND the managing editor of Offbeat Mama are working wedding photographers, and they both actively petitioned for this post to go public. I think the discussion here is a valuable one, and see the feedback from brides as crucial market research for photographers in reaching Offbeat Bride's niche of the wedding market. (I say "niche," but "niche" = 300,000 people a month.)
Yes, Offbeat Brides are lower budget and not all photographers' primary market, so this feedback won't relate to everyone — but I hear consistently from the photographers who are repeat advertisers with Offbeat Bride that OBBs provide the best portfolio fodder, making them extremely desirable clients.
That said, this post has gotten a lot of publicity, and we've deleted a dozen or so negative and scornful comments left by both brides AND photographers. And at this point, it feels like there's little of value to be added to the conversation, which means it's time to close comments.