Web Design for Photographers

At its core, photography is about sharing images with others. Throughout the history of photography, prints and books have been the time-honored way to showcase work and get it out into the world. More recently, websites have taken center stage for sharing photographer’s images.

When done well, websites should showcase your creative work professionally and communicate your personal style and individuality, helping you to stand out from the crowd. This cannot be achieved with a standard page on a free site, using a template that looks like a million others.

Designing your own website, regardless of platform, allows you to start with a great design theme and customize this in a way that matches with your own style and vision. There are many options available to create a basic portfolio site, but unless one has a foundational understanding of web development, these various platforms often seem intimidating.

This online workshop led by photographer and web designer Cotton Miller demystifies building your own website and provides a step-by-step process through the terminology and workflows that translate through all web platforms. Cotton discusses the information and structure that is needed to have a well-designed, and user-friendly portfolio site. In addition, feedback from the other photographers in the workshop provides valuable perspectives on how effective your website is to users visiting your site.

The workshop is for photographers who have portfolios that are ready to be used in a web design. Cotton works with each participant to create a broad design overview for these portfolios, which provide a visual consistency throughout your site. He also covers important topics such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), assigning a URL to your new website, as well as a broad overview of basic design rules to give you confidence to make updates, and expand your new website.

Conceive, customize, and ultimately control your own website by designing it yourself in five weeks, with the expert advice and guidance of Cotton Miller—as well as feedback from the other nine photographers in the workshop.