created a new website for Hmong Photographers. need beta testers

[Toua]

www.hmongphotographers.com

let me know how it goes..

[zena]

When I clicked on the link, it kinda took me to the website but then quickly switched to a white screen with rules/warning/policies.  I didn't bother after that.

I think a better setup is to create a registration page (to allow posting/commenting) with the rules thrown at them and they can accept or deny.

Btw, why are you making a separate "Hmong" photographers website?  What's in it?

[Toua]

i usually do not put all contents in the main .com directory level when i create sites. i have a split second url forward to /oxw/ where the actual site is located.

i turned off the splash screen/rules.

the website is like a hmong photographers yellow page. At least that's what i hope for it to be..

[zena]

I C.  Based on experience as a ghost forum visitor, there's usually not a lot of activity, unless there are competitions with big prizes.  I think FB gets busier than a forum.  But, you know how the WWW is.  We never know which direction things will go.  Good luck, though!

[Toua]

I C.  Based on experience as a ghost forum visitor, there's usually not a lot of activity, unless there are competitions with big prizes.  I think FB gets busier than a forum.  But, you know how the WWW is.  We never know which direction things will go.  Good luck, though!

yeah.. created it and didn't realized FB already got a page with the same name. lol. Oh well.. if anything, i can just change the domain later down the road to a more personal domain name..

[Finest]

I C.  Based on experience as a ghost forum visitor, there's usually not a lot of activity, unless there are competitions with big prizes.  I think FB gets busier than a forum.  But, you know how the WWW is.  We never know which direction things will go.  Good luck, though!

Hey Moon, you up for a couple new PH Photography Assignments again?    

New Year, new photos.   

[zena]

yeah.. created it and didn't realized FB already got a page with the same name. lol. Oh well.. if anything, i can just change the domain later down the road to a more personal domain name..

Not a bad idea, the personal page, but you can always add a FB, twitter, instagram, pinterest, etc., to your site too.  I find that it's simply too much work with all these social networks.

Hey Moon, you up for a couple new PH Photography Assignments again?    

New Year, new photos.   

Hey, finest.  Haven't seen you in here in like forever.  Yeah, throw up some prompts!

[maipovci]

Hey Moon, you up for a couple new PH Photography Assignments again?    

New Year, new photos.   

I WANT TO PARTICIPATE!

[maipovci]

www.hmongphotographers.com

let me know how it goes..

hi toua,

great start to your website.

here's some honest critique. take it with a grain of salt.

i don't like your logo. it feels little too generic with the font, colors and the shutter.
i am not a big fan of (literal) filling system for images. tell us a story with images. you certainly have enough images to tell us a story. DO IT!!!!

I also think that 8v10un makes a great point about pushing your talent. you're really good at making images and using photoshop. set yourself apart from other photographers, first hmong, then just others.

i'm a huge believer in turning a hobby into a living and also thinking about art critically just not formally.

[Toua]

Toua a way to generate revenue is ad revenue by product review like Ken Rockwell.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/

Otherwise, you use social media to drum redirect to your website for business.

You have a lot of talent.  My advice and I give this same advice to everyone I talk to...Stick to one subject matter and be the best you can be...and you'll always be successful.

I know a lot of people who are more capable than I am but their flaw is that they give up a subject matter too early and they never truly become an world class expert to command a large salary.  You have a lot of talent but you don't showcase and communicate it right.  I recall back in high school you had a forum going competing right along HOL...damn that was PIMP of you...you know we had a lot of talent but nobody to help us mold that talent to something useful...if we were rich white kids...we'll be like Zuckerberg and Gates.  Now that we are older, my advice is like I said, stick to something and try to be world class at it...never give up...in addition, I would avoid doing what every Hmong is doing too...it's usually saturated...bu t if you are world class, it doesn't matter.

agreed. thanks. Problem with me is i don't really get deep deep into my talents or hobbies.  It's kind of like whatever goes, goes.. lol hmongphotograp hers.com crashed, so redirected it to my personal page for the time being. Gotta fix the mySQL database.

I actually thought about creating something like twitter/facebook, but the cost to maintain it would be so out of my budget. yeah, if only we were rich...

[Toua]

hi toua,

great start to your website.

here's some honest critique. take it with a grain of salt.

i don't like your logo. it feels little too generic with the font, colors and the shutter.
i am not a big fan of (literal) filling system for images. tell us a story with images. you certainly have enough images to tell us a story. DO IT!!!!

I also think that 8v10un makes a great point about pushing your talent. you're really good at making images and using photoshop. set yourself apart from other photographers, first hmong, then just others.

i'm a huge believer in turning a hobby into a living and also thinking about art critically just not formally.

totally agreed with my logo and everything you said.. yeah, it's generic and my GF have said that too. i actually hate the page layout and template, but decided to throw something quick from scratch. i have been looking at some random photographers website and my layout looks more like a photo sharing or photobucket type website vs a professional website..

i'm gonna redo it this weekend. Deciding if i should use a CMS like wordpress or do it from scratch again.

i've never actually gone deep into my hobbies. Another thing is, i have too many damn hobbies.  I might actually take photography more seriously vs my other hobbies. I'm actually booked to shoot 2 weddings. 1 this summer and 1 next spring. The first wedding will probably be for free, but the 2nd wedding is paying me like $800. not bad i guess.

if things turn out well, i may keep pushing it. The image story telling part.... Never actually thought about it. I just click click and click. I will keep that in mind next time when i take pictures and post them up..

thanks for the critique. greatly appreciated. still a noob here. 

[minorcharacter]

Hi Toua, great start to this, brother.  I'm honored to be an AB tester.  I'm actually viewing it on my phone right now.  I'll check this out on a desktop tomorrow.  Until then I'd like to say that you should look into responsive design to help you make better use of the estate on your pages.  There's a lot of empty space at the moment.  Best of luck.