Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
I just started my website, and I wanted to know what needs to be done to make it great. Please let me know. http://mmretoucher.webs.com/ PS I am using a free site right now. I am saving up to get one made for me.
Model
T A Y L O R
Posts: 2990
Seattle, Washington, US
Hey Misty, I think it looks amateurish. Some things you'll want to look at: 1) Spelling/grammar/phrasing. There are some mistakes and some awkward phrases. "Some content maybe 18+" should be "Some content may be 18+". You don't edit for Model Mayhem, you edit the pictures of photographers who you've connected with on Model Mayhem. 2) You need to think about how your site markets you and how it comes across. Right now, the font choice, site layout, and individual images tell me you don't have a lot of experience. And that's okay! But it does read that way. I can't help you in regards to website design, but I think it would be beneficial if you did some more research on your own.
Photographer
Motordrive Photography
Posts: 7087
Lodi, California, US
^ ^ ^ ^ all are good points. The work aside, I'm wondering why some of the before/afters are misaligned? It might be good to have some text with some of the images and examples of things you referenced.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
T A Y L O R wrote: Hey Misty, I think it looks amateurish. Some things you'll want to look at: 1) Spelling/grammar/phrasing. There are some mistakes and some awkward phrases. "Some content maybe 18+" should be "Some content may be 18+". You don't edit for Model Mayhem, you edit the pictures of photographers who you've connected with on Model Mayhem. 2) You need to think about how your site markets you and how it comes across. Right now, the font choice, site layout, and individual images tell me you don't have a lot of experience. And that's okay! But it does read that way. I can't help you in regards to website design, but I think it would be beneficial if you did some more research on your own. I will defiantly go back and fix those things. I am not good at websites so I am doing the best I can with a free website program. I am going to work on saving money to have a site made for me.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
Motordrive Photography wrote: ^ ^ ^ ^ all are good points. The work aside, I'm wondering why some of the before/afters are misaligned? It might be good to have some text with some of the images and examples of things you referenced. The reason some of my before and afters are misaligned is because some of the afters were resized smaller than the befores. It looks a bit funny, but I didn't know what else to do. What text are you referring to? What do you mean by examples?
Photographer
Motordrive Photography
Posts: 7087
Lodi, California, US
I mean the -About section- change clothes color/example of change clothes change background with change background example with text saying what you did and aprox. cost
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
Motordrive Photography wrote: I mean the -About section- change clothes color/example of change clothes change background with change background example with text saying what you did and aprox. cost I added an edit that shows all of the examples I posted.
Model
emily k
Posts: 15
Los Angeles, California, US
The color balance and saturation are really off in a lot of your "after" pics. A bit heavy handed in the post production.
Photographer
WCR3
Posts: 1414
Houston, Texas, US
A couple of things that really piss me off: First, you most likely don't own the copyright on the photos you show in your before-and-after galleries. Unless you took the photos yourself, or unless you got an assignment of copyright from the photographer who took them, it is highly improper for you to stamp the before-and-afters with your copyright indication. If you did take the pictures yourself you may disregard this criticism, but others similarly situated should take note. Second, your home page says "I edit photos for models and photographers." Most likely, the models don't own the copyrights to photos of themselves, and they thus have no right to have you retouch them. You should know this and decline work from models unless they can show they have a license from the photographer to alter his or her images. Something else that merely irritate me: You work for free. You are doing a disservice to other retouchers by doing that. Sure, I shoot for free. I donate my time by photographing families of servicemen overseas, and women at the women's shelter. But that's not the sort of thing you're doing here. You are devaluing the work of others as well as your own. If you're any good and you're in the business, you should charge an appropriate rate for your services. If you're NOT in business, you should say so so that people won't get the idea that retouchers are not worth anything.
Photographer
Aaron Lewis Photography
Posts: 5217
Catskill, New York, US
I concur with most points here. It needs some refining.
Model
T A Y L O R
Posts: 2990
Seattle, Washington, US
WCR3 wrote: Something else that merely irritate me: You work for free. You are doing a disservice to other retouchers by doing that. Sure, I shoot for free. I donate my time by photographing families of servicemen overseas, and women at the women's shelter. But that's not the sort of thing you're doing here. You are devaluing the work of others as well as your own. If you're any good and you're in the business, you should charge an appropriate rate for your services. If you're NOT in business, you should say so so that people won't get the idea that retouchers are not worth anything. ... Wait what? She's new, she's learning. If the person who's hiring a retoucher can't tell the difference between high end and expensive, and beginner and free, then they have a whole slew of issues that have nothing to do with the OP attempting to learn her craft better. Your comment would be like coming into the critique of a model's website and berating her for doing primarily TF to build her portfolio. I agree with you on some of your other points, but this one is super counterproductive.
Photographer
Edward Shaw Photography
Posts: 322
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
To be honest, I don't think you are at the level where you should consider a website. Definitely don't pay for for one yet. Over and above the comments other have made, concentrate on developing basic skills for a bit and come back to your website when you have better quality work to show.
Photographer
Tangent Pictures
Posts: 43
Montpellier, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
OP, you might seriously reconsider using the picture that actually shows retouching (in the About me page). I won't name her here, but she's not an MM model at all and the "before version" is one of her official pics. edit - unless you've got a license from her agent, I mean.
Photographer
KA Style
Posts: 1583
Syracuse, New York, US
If i were you just get rid of the website until you can afford one. A crap website will hurt you more than not having one. FYI you can get a professional site for about $150. Using Wordpress with a hosted instal. You can buy a pro theme for $50 and get hosting at Godaddy or the like for less than $10 a month. Godaddy is $6.99 for full hosting a month right now and if you pay for a year up front its even cheaper than that. A real domain is less than $20 for a year.
Photographer
WCR3
Posts: 1414
Houston, Texas, US
T A Y L O R wrote: ... Wait what? She's new, she's learning. If the person who's hiring a retoucher can't tell the difference between high end and expensive, and beginner and free, then they have a whole slew of issues that have nothing to do with the OP attempting to learn her craft better. Your comment would be like coming into the critique of a model's website and berating her for doing primarily TF to build her portfolio. I agree with you on some of your other points, but this one is super counterproductive. I guess I have to disagree with you here. There's nothing on her Web site, other than the quality of the work itself, that suggests she is anything other than a commercial retoucher. In contrast, her MM profile perfectly spells out that she's just learning: "I am working on getting better and better. I love getting advice on how to get better." Her "commercial" Web site says nothing of the sort. So someone who stumbles onto the site and isn't in the industry (like a lot of small business clients who want everything on the cheap) gets the impression that retouching services really have little or no value. I would be particularly vexed by this if I were in that business.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
WCR3 wrote: A couple of things that really piss me off: First, you most likely don't own the copyright on the photos you show in your before-and-after galleries. Unless you took the photos yourself, or unless you got an assignment of copyright from the photographer who took them, it is highly improper for you to stamp the before-and-afters with your copyright indication. If you did take the pictures yourself you may disregard this criticism, but others similarly situated should take note. Second, your home page says "I edit photos for models and photographers." Most likely, the models don't own the copyrights to photos of themselves, and they thus have no right to have you retouch them. You should know this and decline work from models unless they can show they have a license from the photographer to alter his or her images. Something else that merely irritate me: You work for free. You are doing a disservice to other retouchers by doing that. Sure, I shoot for free. I donate my time by photographing families of servicemen overseas, and women at the women's shelter. But that's not the sort of thing you're doing here. You are devaluing the work of others as well as your own. If you're any good and you're in the business, you should charge an appropriate rate for your services. If you're NOT in business, you should say so so that people won't get the idea that retouchers are not worth anything. First, I have the permission for all he before and afters. I would not post them if I didn't. I always ask if I can post them to my stie before I post them. Second, I have been asked by models to edit there photos. They have the rights to there photos and ask me to retouch them. I always make sure of that. Third, I am just starting out in charging people. I want to make sure I can get clients. So I am doing 3 photos free and the $5 per photo.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
WCR3 wrote: I guess I have to disagree with you here. There's nothing on her Web site, other than the quality of the work itself, that suggests she is anything other than a commercial retoucher. In contrast, her MM profile perfectly spells out that she's just learning: "I am working on getting better and better. I love getting advice on how to get better." Her "commercial" Web site says nothing of the sort. So someone who stumbles onto the site and isn't in the industry (like a lot of small business clients who want everything on the cheap) gets the impression that retouching services really have little or no value. I would be particularly vexed by this if I were in that business. I can put on my site that I am a beginner.
Photographer
Ralph Easy
Posts: 6426
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
It's a light, sparse and clean first page: and it loads quickly! The killer put off is the "sign in" tab on the left. Casual viewers will not have the patience to sign in and conjure up another password: They will click the mouse button and move on... If only that can be put away in an obscure corner... .
Photographer
Velvet Paper Photo
Posts: 468
Lexington, Kentucky, US
I agree with almost all points mentioned above. If you must have a website, go with an html5 one from wix.com. They have great free layouts that are easily customizable. Check mine for example. http://www.velvetpaperphoto.com
Photographer
Velvet Paper Photo
Posts: 468
Lexington, Kentucky, US
Tangent Pictures wrote: OP, you might seriously reconsider using the picture that actually shows retouching (in the About me page). I won't name her here, but she's not an MM model at all and the "before version" is one of her official pics. edit - unless you've got a license from her agent, I mean. +1
Photographer
37photog
Posts: 710
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
It's got alot of problems. One, is that it lacks content. The landing page (home page) has only 3 brief statements. Why not copy & paste your MM profile info there. The "About Me" as well, just a few brief comments. More content might help. Secondly though, I hate the theme. That wierd looking bench on the bottom, the brown, it just doesn't say "Photo Retouching Website" to me. I agree the Sign in & Guestbook are confusing. I'd also suggest using a Wordpress theme, they're pretty easy & generic, yet have tons of free themes you can choose from. Go with something basic if you need to, or research your webs.com site offerings. But don't just use a template with a wierd looking bench just because it's using a photo in it. Better to go with a nice background or colors or patterns. Also, if you find settings, just try 3 or 4 pages, Home, About, Gallery, Contact. Not sure if you can turn off Pricing and Guestbook or not. Honestly right now you're better off just showing your MM page.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
Raoul Isidro Images wrote: It's a light, sparse and clean first page: and it loads quickly! The killer put off is the "sign in" tab on the left. Casual viewers will not have the patience to sign in and conjure up another password: They will click the mouse button and move on... If only that can be put away in an obscure corner... . I wish I could remove the sign in thing, but I can't, Hopefully it won't hurt me to much.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
37photog wrote: It's got alot of problems. One, is that it lacks content. The landing page (home page) has only 3 brief statements. Why not copy & paste your MM profile info there. The "About Me" as well, just a few brief comments. More content might help. Secondly though, I hate the theme. That wierd looking bench on the bottom, the brown, it just doesn't say "Photo Retouching Website" to me. I agree the Sign in & Guestbook are confusing. I'd also suggest using a Wordpress theme, they're pretty easy & generic, yet have tons of free themes you can choose from. Go with something basic if you need to, or research your webs.com site offerings. But don't just use a template with a wierd looking bench just because it's using a photo in it. Better to go with a nice background or colors or patterns. Also, if you find settings, just try 3 or 4 pages, Home, About, Gallery, Contact. Not sure if you can turn off Pricing and Guestbook or not. Honestly right now you're better off just showing your MM page. I fixed up all of information. I also changed the layout of the site.
Photographer
Velvet Paper Photo
Posts: 468
Lexington, Kentucky, US
MMRetoucher wrote: I fixed up all of information. I also changed the layout of the site. Much better!!! But the "Contact Me" runs off the screen. I don't know why.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
Velvet Paper Photo wrote: Much better!!! But the "Contact Me" runs off the screen. I don't know why. That is weird, I will see if I can fix it.
Photographer
A-M-P
Posts: 18465
Orlando, Florida, US
This comes to mind when I see it. Old fashion and Amateur. It looks like a site that would have been built back in the early 90's
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
A-M-P wrote: This comes to mind when I see it. Old fashion and Amateur. It looks like a site that would have been built back in the early 90's I am sorry you feel that way. It is the best I can do right now. I will have one made for me when I have the money.
Photographer
A-M-P
Posts: 18465
Orlando, Florida, US
MMRetoucher wrote: I am sorry you feel that way. It is the best I can do right now. I will have one made for me when I have the money. try www.4ormat.com only 6 bucks a month and they have nice modern feel.
Photographer
WCR3
Posts: 1414
Houston, Texas, US
MMRetoucher wrote: First, I have the permission for all he before and afters. I would not post them if I didn't. I always ask if I can post them to my stie before I post them. Second, I have been asked by models to edit there photos. They have the rights to there photos and ask me to retouch them. I always make sure of that. Third, I am just starting out in charging people. I want to make sure I can get clients. So I am doing 3 photos free and the $5 per photo. Young lady, you may have permission from the photographers who own the copyrights to the images to retouch them, and you may have their permission to show them on your Web site. But unless you paid them a LOT of money, I'm sure you don't have their permission to put YOUR copyright notice on them. You need to understand what the federal copyright law is all about so you don't get yourself in trouble. Second, you mention you have been asked by models to edit "their" photos. You apparently do not understand it, but the photos are not "their" photos. Even if they have been granted a reproduction licence by the photographer who took their images, it is almost certain that the photographers did not grant the models the right to make or have made derivative works of their images, which is what your retouched images are. I can think of no photographer who could find his butt with both hands who would do that. Finally, as others have said, you should probably refrain from putting up a "commercial" Web site until you are ready to be a commercial retoucher. It is likely that will take some time, both from a business standpoint and an expertise standpoint. Your MM profile does a very nice job of telling people what you are all about, and where you are in your development. Stick to that until you've mastered your craft. And then, charge a decent rate for your skills and talent.
Photographer
ME_
Posts: 3152
Atlanta, Georgia, US
Well, there's free and then there's bad free. Having nothing is better than having bad free something. Home page: 1) "received" is spelled wrong; "email" is spelled in two different ways; "ModelMayhem" is two separate words, not one; "turn around" (the noun) is one word - run your text through a spell-checker; 2) why is each sentence in that first section a paragraph - that looks like a poem; 3) This sentence - "I edit photos for people on a site called ModelMayhem" - is very strange and has no relevance to your own site. About Me page: repetitive; more of that odd poem-style text layout; text doesn't flow when reading; remove that picture of the famous actresss unless you have a license to use it. Gallery page: "be" should be capitalized to follow the same style as all the other words in the sentence; resize the before / after pictures so they are the same size. The site loads fast, which is good; but it's very amateurish-looking. Not sure that's what you want to convey, even as a beginner. Even Wix - which I loathe - may be a better option for you. Even with their ads, it's a better-looking site than what you currently are using. Or maybe using a different template at the site you're using would improve things.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
ME_ wrote: Well, there's free and then there's bad free. Having nothing is better than having bad free something. Home page: 1) "received" is spelled wrong; "email" is spelled in two different ways; "ModelMayhem" is two separate words, not one; "turn around" (the noun) is one word - run your text through a spell-checker; 2) why is each sentence in that first section a paragraph - that looks like a poem; 3) This sentence - "I edit photos for people on a site called ModelMayhem" - is very strange and has no relevance to your own site. About Me page: repetitive; more of that odd poem-style text layout; text doesn't flow when reading; remove that picture of the famous actresss unless you have a license to use it. Gallery page: "be" should be capitalized to follow the same style as all the other words in the sentence; resize the before / after pictures so they are the same size. The site loads fast, which is good; but it's very amateurish-looking. Not sure that's what you want to convey, even as a beginner. Even Wix - which I loathe - may be a better option for you. Even with their ads, it's a better-looking site than what you currently are using. Or maybe using a different template at the site you're using would improve things. I have changed some of the things you mentioned. I am happy with the site I am using for now.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
WCR3 wrote: Young lady, you may have permission from the photographers who own the copyrights to the images to retouch them, and you may have their permission to show them on your Web site. But unless you paid them a LOT of money, I'm sure you don't have their permission to put YOUR copyright notice on them. You need to understand what the federal copyright law is all about so you don't get yourself in trouble. Second, you mention you have been asked by models to edit "their" photos. You apparently do not understand it, but the photos are not "their" photos. Even if they have been granted a reproduction licence by the photographer who took their images, it is almost certain that the photographers did not grant the models the right to make or have made derivative works of their images, which is what your retouched images are. I can think of no photographer who could find his butt with both hands who would do that. Finally, as others have said, you should probably refrain from putting up a "commercial" Web site until you are ready to be a commercial retoucher. It is likely that will take some time, both from a business standpoint and an expertise standpoint. Your MM profile does a very nice job of telling people what you are all about, and where you are in your development. Stick to that until you've mastered your craft. And then, charge a decent rate for your skills and talent. I am checking into the permission of using the photos with my watermark. I see many retoucher's on Model Mayhem that add their watermarks to photos, so I thought since the editing is my work I could do that, and still credit the photographers and models.
Photographer
ME_
Posts: 3152
Atlanta, Georgia, US
MMRetoucher wrote: I am checking into the permission of using the photos with my watermark. I see many retoucher's on Model Mayhem that add their watermarks to photos, so I thought since the editing is my work I could do that, and still credit the photographers and models. That little copyright symbol you have before your name means something: it means you are claiming to own the copyright of that photo. I don't think you will see many, if any, retouchers here with a copyright notice on pictures they have retouched unless those pictures are ones they shot themselves. They may have a "retouching by" watermark, or their retouching profile's name on there; but they will not have a copyright watermark. If they did, they'd hear it from the photographer, not to mention the rest of the people in the thread. Your About Me page is somewhat improved, so that's a start.
Retoucher
MMRetoucher
Posts: 210
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
ME_ wrote: That little copyright symbol you have before your name means something: it means you are claiming to own the copyright of that photo. I don't think you will see many, if any, retouchers here with a copyright notice on pictures they have retouched unless those pictures are ones they shot themselves. They may have a "retouching by" watermark, or their retouching profile's name on there; but they will not have a copyright watermark. If they did, they'd hear it from the photographer, not to mention the rest of the people in the thread. Your About Me page is somewhat improved, so that's a start. Ok I guess I didn't think about the copyright sign. Thanks much.
|