I noticed something while putting together a recent issue of Shadow & Light Magazine. In checking links I noticed that there is a growing number of photographers who do not have websites and/or don’t have much of an idea about how simple it is to present yourself, photographically. I am not sure if this is simply a trend or that many people feel they don’t need one.

I understand that there are a lot of possibilities out there: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, tumblr, etc., where you can highlight your work. But is that enough? Is that the efficient way to do it? Maybe we could start a discussion here.

Make it easy and clean…

It has long been my belief that in order to let people know about your work you need to show it to them. In my opinion there is no better way to show it to them than to have a clean, uncluttered, easily navigable site. One where your images are displayed without a lot of banners, ads, and images from a variety of other resources.

I checked in with a several of my peers. They agreed that if someone submitted work to them that had links to a variety of social media sites, without a link to their own site they may not go any further.

You don’t have to break the bank!

Many artists seem to believe that in order to put together a site you will need to spend a lot of money. For the most part, that is simply untrue. Just about anyone can get a site up and running with about five pages for under $500. If you have some skills at handling this yourself, your costs will be reduced exponentially.

I have built WordPress 101 sites for a variety of artists for $450, with no additional costs (on my part). Hands are held for as long as it takes in an effort to enable them to take it over. For the most part that is a short assignment. Of course, however, there are a few who like to “hold hands” for a very long time. It certainly isn’t encouraged!

The point is it doesn’t have to cost more than your car to establish yourself, graphically, on the Web. On a site you can have a couple of dozen images. You want a place to let people know what drives you. You can add a contact method, links you like or recommend, and a few other pages. You could build a site like this for a very reasonable fee.

Time wasted is opportunity lost…

For me, it is way too time consuming to have to go through several different “hot” sites in an effort to find a photographer to feature in Shadow & Light Magazine. On more than one occasion I have decided not to pursue someone who doesn’t have a site, just because I know that I will have to click through one, two, or three different locations just to get some relevant information.

So, let’s continue this conversation about how to present yourself on the Web. Send me some comments, here, about why you have been resisting putting up a site, and maybe we can do this together.

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