[westlight]

I'm mainly concerned about load times. Keeping in mind that this is a site that is about 95% photography I would like to hear some feedback. I'm better at taking photos then web design.

westlight.net
I seem to be having issues with the buttons loading completely, not always. They were placed using DW8's "library" feature and I'm not sure if that is the problem, or if there is actually a problem.

I have a very fast dsl connection so judging load times can be difficult. All the photographs have been optimized to 75 K, plus or minus and the thumbnails on the Main Gallery page at 13K.

I thought about creating the buttons in Flash and even consider redoing the Main Gallery page in Flash. Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

[amitrampal]

Nice pics.....As far as the navigation loading is concerned, make the navigation text rather that images. Even if you want to put some style to it use background image behind the navigation. This will take care of the loading the navigation.

[westlight]

Thanks for the reply and compliments. I did have the navigation bar set up as text based previously and thought I would try something new. Should have stuck with tried and true, but ...

Were the load times way to long or reasonable considering the subject of the site?

Take care!

[wheedwacker]

The images are nice, needs new navigation and logo.

[ross_mcglocness]

The pics are great, the design of the Logo / Nav... doesn't look so hot. That's a shame because you need to do it justice. Get rid of the weird fonts and keep it classy. Imo, a photography site should look arty... minimalism, San Serif (italics dont look right) and simplistic should look the part.

I didn't have any problems with loading times.

[Muzjik]

I love the pictures, except for when you click them, they zoom from there spot into the place where they should be, you know what i'm talking about? Thats just ridicules. I don't want photos thrown at me. I just want to see them.

[westlight]

The font for "West Light Images" is one that is used in my bricks and mortar store and on the bags, ads, etc... It is my "logo" but perhaps I've overdone the styling of the font in Photoshop? Is that what you've been referring too?

I'm curious about the replies concerning the other fonts and suggestions regarding "classing it up". I'm new at this and I thought keeping the fonts to standard fonts, Ariel and such was recommended to be compatible with as many viewers as possible.

Point me to other sites or styles that you think have the "class" you think I should present. Again, I really appreciate the input and suggestions. I can take the photos, presenting them on the web is a bit more of a challenge!

[newber]

I think it's great Very nice.

[newber]

load time was very fast for me but I have broad band

[jthomas]

Wow. Those pics make me hate this office.

[steveb]

Ditch the serif text in the menus for Univers or Futura.
I have a problem with some of the color shifts in some of the photos, for example in this shot of my former boss. What is a deep red should be black. Otherwise you have a good collection for sale.

[RaelRode]

@steveb lol at the boss comment.

Oooh its flash now. Ok. The links at the top dont work for me. They dont hover and there is no text on the buttons. Dont like the effects at the top of the page on the flash between the nav and the images.