Sneak Peek At New Web Site

I'll be officially introducing a new web site that features my photography on January 1st. Why not go take a sneak peek at the site and give me your feedback before its official launch. I'd appreciate any comments you might have. This site is special in that it will show you large versions of my images that can easily fill a 30" display. I really find  that my HDR images are best seen large. I plan to add a few more images before the the end of the year, but otherwise the site is close to being done.

Comments

[Sarah Sutter]

Hey Ben!
Thanks for doing your new website. It looks great. I've been having students do presentations on you (among other digital artists) for a few years, and having more access to images and bio data is always helpful for that. More bio data would be welcome, or an artist statement of some sort. This last quarter a student said "He seems to like to have fun." I thought you would appreciate that sentiment. Oh, on your bio page on the new site, the copyright is too far up and interferes with reading and scrolling. Hope you had a great holiday - here's to a fabulous 2008!

[Ben Willmore]

Hi Sarah,

I think I fixed the copyright/scroll interference problem by adjusting the size of the text block.

I'm working on an artists statement and have the page all laid out, but it's not visible yet since I'm not happy with it yet.

Thanks for your feedback... and yes, I do like to have fun.

-Ben

[Shad]

Nice work Ben - the layout is intuitive and easy to follow and highlights your photos well. I suspect it will be quite successful!

[Chris]

Very Nice. I'm viewing on a 30" monitor and it fills the screen nicely. I found no issues with performance or layout - it seems intuitive and easy to navigate. There are a couple of places where the copyright and the BEN WILLMORE overlap the image, but nothing I'd complain or worry about especially considering that the image is so massively filling my 30" monitor! The art (of course) is awesome (glad to see my favorite image Bosque Del Apache Sunrise) and the layout is striking. Very nicely done.

[Balliolman]

The site elegantly presents the fine quality of your photography, Ben. It will likely arouse a lot of curiosity and commercial enquiry about your unique imaging style.

[Jon Ezrine]

Ben,

The layout is very nice! The gallery looks real good on black, and the flow is very intuitive. What web tools are you using?

One of the things I like about your blog is that you explain the process you use to develop your photos. It would be cool if you picked some images and had a way of showing what it looked like along the way.

Jon

[SuzyR]

Kudos! Your new site is gorgeous and looks great even on my less-than-30" monitor. I'm temporarily on dial-up, so the site loads excruciatingly slowly, of course. One observation: On your bio page, your face looks kind of grungy, but maybe that's how you want to look, as if you've been out in the bush for quite some time, which you have been, more or less. The gas station shot is a strikingly good choice for the home page. Nice to see your HDR images showcased in a large size...much more dramatic. Keep up the good work!

[Thomas Folke Andersen]

Hi Ben,

I took your BetterPhoto.com Photoshop course a couple of years ago. I still value the experience and your attention to detail and every student. Hence I can also understand you are a bit put off by the DVD delay at Xtrain when you seem to be very committed yourself.

Your new website - and indeed your gallery images - look great. I think your style and of course your PS post-treatment is unique and amazing. Certainly your images are a great source for inspiration as is your choice to live on the go. How much longer are you going to keep up the bus touring?

I tried to purchase your HDR DVD from your website the other day, but the UPS courier postage to Australia was more than the DVD itself. Can we work something out with US Postal Services which is usually much more reasonably to Australia? No rush though if you are busy over the New Year. Just let me know in due course.

Keep well and all the best for 2008!

[Ben Willmore]

Thomas,

I'll turn that bus questions around on you... "how long do you expect to continue living in a fixed location?" My answer would be the same. "I don't know... I don't have an expiration date in mind".

I'd suggest that people outside the US should take the on-line version of the class since shipping is so expensive for international orders. I'm not going to spend the time to get alternative shipping options since I might only get 20-30 international orders and therefore it would not be worth my time (being distracted by these details instead of being out shooting, processing images, or coming up with new photoshop techniques).

-Ben

[Barbara]

Hi Ben,

Not only does Ben like to have fun, Ben IS fun. I found that out at the IE 5-day course you taught at Shawigan Lake, British Columbia.

However, for me your new website is not fun b/c I live in a fairly remote area beyond high-speed, although it is supposed to arrive any day now...for the past few months. Hence, I do not want to invest in satellite.

I cannot run your slideshow. :(

How much of the world is still trapped in this limited access to cyberspace? I don't know, and maybe there is not much you can do about it.

[Ben Willmore]

Hi Barbara,

I too have a relatively slow net connection, so my gallery pages display slowly on my pute... but I know that's not the norm. It was more important that people could see my images large as they are meant to be seen than a few people like myself would be able to see them quickly... that's what my blog is for... the images there are much smaller and should work on slow speed connections.

-Ben

[Thomas Folke Andersen]

Hi Ben,

Good question turnaround! Well, I moved from little Denmark in Scandinavia, to North Carolina US for a year, then to Hong Kong for four years and I'm now residing in Sydney, Australia where I have been the last six years. All in fixed accomodation though. Sadly I only caught the photography bug here in Australia though.

Noted you don't want to bother changing the shipping options. Ben, I can appreciate your reasons behind it (i.e. concentrate on shooting instead of coding etc.) but in mind it still totally beats the idea of the web and the web's possibility to reach a world market - also when it comes to actually shipping products.

Anyway, will take a second look at the online class.

Happy travels! Look forward to seeing more images from you.

[Pssequimages]

Ben, it is just beautiful! I love the way all the images display on the black background. The features (slide show, rollover,and categories to visit will make this a special visit each time. Beautifully done!

Happy New Year.
Priss
One of your thousands of seminar students.

[John Feld]

Love the new site. The galleries are really nice.
How about an RSS or Flikr feed? Then I could add then to my screen saver.
Take care of yourself, and have a wonderful new yar.
John

[anendel]

I totally love the presentation and the work you are showing. You are an example since many years. I also love to see a RSS feed.. or you should regularly mention new updates in your blog ;-)

[Tim Medley]

OK, here's an opinion - I miss not being able to manually advance or retreat through the photos in a gallery (unless I'm missing something obvious), other than by clicking the thumbnails. That's when I've turned the slideshow off, of course, to better savor the deliciously large images.

But thank heavens the images themselves are devoid of pop-up controls, unlike many Flash galleries!

Happy New Year!