Building Web Sites All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Chapter 4. Photographer/Portfolio Site

In This Chapter

• In This Chapter

• Knowing what you want

• Creating a navigation menu and thumbnail page

• Doing preliminary work in Fireworks

• Creating the portfolio

Every client has special needs, and photographers are no exception. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words has never been truer than when a photographer chooses to use a Web site for promotion. Photographers need to include information about themselves and their services, but by far, the most important part of a photographer's Web site is the portfolio section. We can share some first‐hand insight into this topic because when Doug is not building Web sites and writing books, he's also a professional photographer. In this chapter, Doug takes the lead and dissects a photographer's Web site — his own, in fact.

Defining Goals for the Site

If a Web site doesn't have a reason for existence, it's just another domain name taking up space on a server. When I decided to turn the photography skills that I'd spent most of my life learning into a source of income, I realized I needed to have a Web presence. I already had a domain name and Web site. However, the Web site focused on my skills as an author, graphic artist, and Web designer. When I decided to add photography as an income source, I realized that including the information about my other skills would be counterproductive. When I decided to transform my site into a photographer's portfolio, I was doing the majority of my Web design ...