Mangroves in Kenya & a brand new website

[Toby Deveson]

Everything is in a state of upheaval at the moment. I have no darkroom as we have just moved house. I am having to scan new negatives in and have a rough play with them on photoshop as oppose to scanning a finished print in. This is one of them. Mangrove swamps on Lamu Island in Kenya. Would be good to see what other people think. There is more of my "unfinished" new work in the work in progress folio.

Other upheavals in my little world of photography include a brand new site which is not quite finished but close enough. Again if anyone wishes to pass judgement on the work within I'd love to listen. www.TobyDeveson.com The site is a bit radical in its simplicity and I know alot of people will question that. I believe though that the average person should be able to work their way around despite this. Most people are web literate by now and it is only common sense! Or at least I hope so as I spent along time trying to get a design that is only about the images and nothing else!

Thanks for your time, look forward to your opinions.

[ckozo]

... www.TobyDeveson.com The site is a bit radical in its simplicity and I know alot of people will question that. I believe though that the average person should be able to work their way around despite this. Most people are web literate by now and it is only common sense!

as an ex professional web designer, IMHO your site navigation is poor. simplicitiy is good but not a navigation that requires people to 'discover' what each link is about and also requires them to remember what each link is about (or re-mouse-over to remember.) your site is about photography not about making a guessing game out of your navigation.

also, i viewed your site at work where i have javascript turned-on. BUT, at home, my computer has javascript turned-off (for security reasons) so your mouse-over navigation would not function at all for me. the buttons would lack their mouse-over descriptions making the navigation pure guess-work.

if you want more feedback on your site, you also may want to post it in the 'Internet & Web Design' section.

hope my comments help.

cheers!

[Todd Patten]

I like this image. It's a very good b&w composition. The blowout fot he sky is perfect for the focus oon the odd shaped branch.

I agree that the comments regarding the web site should be moved. However, I'll give it a go. I am a part-time web designer (software engineer making good extra money creating somewhat graphically OK sites). So, take my input for what it is worth. Not much

I absolutley love the clean and simplistic design. I find myself going towards that approach as well these days simply because it stands out from the "three column, standard header, standard footer, lots of clutter" sites that we are seeing all over the place.

I looked at the site before I read ckozo's comments and my first impression was, "Oooooooo. He violated the first rule in usability and design -- don't make your users hunt for anything!" While I don't like sites that have images, like lets say a camera, for navigation, and when you hover over it, the word "photo" pops up underneath the image. At least I can figure it out a bit based on the icons. In your case, you simply have little circles/balls that are generic and un-identifiable. Not good.

Moreover, the trend of hover actions that reveal more upon the hover is leaving us -- thankfully. Stay simple. Put the words up there all the time. Maybe change the color of the circle or something upon the hover action.

Please use a different font. The standard font, or Times font is horrible on web sites. You have a clean look -- go with a clean font. Verdana, Arial, etc. Font size 11px is usually good.

And lastly, check your code. You have links to files on the users machines and not on your web site. See here:

MM_preloadImages('file:///C%7C/WINDOWS/Desktop/Web%20Site/Buttons/Landscape%20Folio%20Button_r2_c2_f2.jpg'

Macromedia can be a pain with this sort of stuff. Look throughout your page for any "file" links and correct them. The users are not going to see those images.

[Toby Deveson]

Thanks both of you for your comments on the site design. I am aware people dont seem to like hover over buttons that reveal text. Well I have to say I dont mind them. I tried all sort of different combinations and found the text too distracting. Everything else is so simple it is just too distracting to the eye to see text surrounding the images. It's not as if there is much to choose from. Forward, back, folios or thumbnails. Once people are viewing the images it really is just a case of backwards or forwards. I've had alot of people say the same thing about people perhaps may find it hard to navigate, but everyone manages in the end!

Ckozo I must admit I never thought people would navigate with javascript turned off. i'll think on that one.

Anyway enough about the navigation.

Todd, sorry you dont like the font. I spent a long time choosing one that would compliment the rest of the site. I use Georgia. 12 px. I felt 11 was a touch too small, but hey! Not sure what you mean about the links. Will investigate it though!

Thanks also for the comments on the photo. That was the main reason I posted. I'm happy with the site itself so chose not to post it in the web design section.

So on that note, any one else? It's all about the photos isnt it? ;-)

[>JJ<]

Gday Toby,

I really like your photographic style, its very unique and interesting (always a good perspective) and ‘textured’.

The last shot I like alot, it has a great emotional appeal, what is this of?, and Is there any underlying ideas behind it?

That’s it.

P.S There are alot of pictures on your site with 'shaggy' boarders how did you do this?

[>JJ<]

.................................................. .........10minutes later.......................Your site is awesome!, there are some great pictures on there.

What camera do you use?

[Toby Deveson]

thanks JJ. Glad you liked the images. The black border is just the light shining around the edge of the neg in the enlarger. It means you cant crop, but i tend not to do that anyway. It's shaggy because I cut a rectangle slightly bigger that the image on the negs out of cardboard and didnt get it very straight!

The last shot is of some kids in Bucuresti in Romania playing under a bridge in 1992, not long after the revolution. I spent alot of time there photographing adn working in hospitals and orphanages.

and as for the camera it is an old second hand nikkormat with a 24mm lense on it. Nikkormay because it was given to me for my 15th birthday i think and i learnt on it and got used to it. I like it because the shutter speed is controlled by a ring at the base of the lense, so below the aperture rather than up on the body next to the shutter release as is usual. I used to carry a 50 mm lense around with me as well, but founds i never used it so gave up to save weight. I have never got bored of the 24mm and find it the most flexible of lenses and closest to what my minds eye sees.

anyway, thanks again for going to the site, glad you enjoyed the work.

Toby