Website Redesign. Still Sticking with REDFRAME!

Art Model, Leslie © 2015 Terrell Neasley

“One doesn’t stop seeing. One doesn’t stop framing. It doesn’t turn off and turn on. It’s on all the time.”

— Annie Leibovitz

In August of 2007, I started this blog and also got my website up and running. After long and tedious research and comparisons, I settled on IFP3.com, now known as REDFRAME to power my site. To date there has been 5 serious considerations to change to something more modern, more well-known, mainstream, and more popular among photographers I know. I thought a new change of pace may help get me the exposure I desired...maybe shake things up a little. But I keep coming to the same conclusion. Why? These guys still deliver everything I can get anywhere else, PLUS some.

Art Model, Leslie © 2015 Terrell Neasley

The first thing to get my attention was the unlimited galleries and sub-galleries. Most other hosting sites at the time limited you to a certain number of pages on the site and defined limitation of Gigs that were available to you. Redframe.com had none of that. I could customize my pages as I saw fit. The problem I initially ran into was the availability of TOO MANY OPTIONS! Trying to chose the styles, colors, and fonts I wanted to use was a welcomed "problem". When I first started my site, I was an amateur photographer and the entire site was a million galleries of art nudes! Of course, they were. You know me. Having the private galleries was pretty damn cool too. Another fun part was checking my statistics and page views. They've since allowed Google Analytics to link in on this part, but it was still cool to see a large viewing coming from Eastern Europe. This is one part of the world I see creatives who's work I most enjoy. Not sure why that is, but spots in the Ukraine and the surrounding countries constantly have my attention. So it was good to see the mutual respect coming from over there.

Art Model, Leslie © 2015 Terrell Neasley

“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.”

— Irving Penn

One of the main things that keep me now is the fact that they are constantly updating and improving. I gotta admire that. They don't get comfortable and sit still. I remember when I was considering a competitor that had some fresher looks. It was as if Redframe were reading my mind. They reinvented and released several new templates with a HTML5 platform that gave me that freshness I was looking for. After that point, I quite searching for something else. They innovate and do not mind change. Pricing has been consistent and reasonable since I began with them. Its even cheaper now since they threw in 3 free months when you do the yearly rates. They don't take any commissions from you when you sell using the shopping cart either!

I'm telling you. I've mentored several photographers over the years and have recommended this site to all of them when they express a need for putting together their images on a website. They just keep getting better without raising costs. They've always had a free shopping cart with no commission sales. But it was cool when they added platforms to maintain consistency for mobile devices, Search Engine Optimization tools, social media features, and now they have client proofing that was recently added.

Art Model, Leslie © 2015 Terrell Neasley

I've recently redesigned my website, PhotoAnthems.com. I think its a cleaner and fresher look. I wanted to streamline it a bit and make it more simple. It didn't take me that long to do. Trying to update my shots and select new and more recent pictures is the only thing that took a while. I have a lot of great shots if I do say so myself. I chose to concentrate on my travel, art nude, and portraiture work. I showcase what I love most, first. I'll bring in the commercial work a bit later. For my own reasons, I haven't ever really put much in terms of client work on my site. I've struggled a bit with the idea of having fun versus getting paid sometimes. I'm so passionate about those 3 things in particular (travel, art nude, and portraits). You really have no idea. Passionate may not be the right word. I think its a sickness, actually. I like photography in general. But I LOVE those three things. I'm consulting with a client right now for some product photography. It pays the bills. I like the client and I think we're doing cool stuff for her business. But man-alive, my aforementioned trifecta is where the magic lies!

Art Model, Leslie © 2015 Terrell Neasley

“Once photography enters your bloodstream, it is like a disease.”

— Anonymous

Maybe the only other passion outside of those top 3 is TALKING about photography. I teach One-on-One courses and this is a fun thing. A lady asked me just yesterday how many hours a day during my one-week session could I give her. I laughed and told her as long as I got 4 hours of sleep a day, I'd devote as much time as she needed (and could handle) towards her learning. And I was serious. I block out the whole day for students and as long as they can keep going, I can keep going. I know some people have jobs, kids/family to get back to, etc. I at least need 4 hours each of the first two days and I can deliver what you need to know. I'm flexible and can talk on this all day. Some of you who've met me have no illusions that this is an exaggeration.