I'm pretty sure I have a lot of readers who just visit my blog and not my website anymore... and who could blame you? I cringed every time I looked at it, and I've wanted to change it FOREVER!!! Websites are supposed to be the first impression for potential clients and I can only imagine what people thought when they first saw it - I was actually embarrassed when other photographers would refer clients to my website to see my work! I know what I think of crappy websites when I first see them, and often times it's really hard to see how amazing pictures are when there's an ugly design getting in the way! With the same token, a really great web design can give off an amazing first impression and make an average photographer, look pretty spectacular.
First I was waiting on a friend who was going to help me out with a new site design in exchange for sharing my mad photography skillz, but he has since disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle. After waiting so long with an anti-climactic outcome, I went to purchase a new website from a flash designer, but after several calls and emails, I was never called back. So, here I am fed up with my "ghetto website" (as my brother-in-law called it) and too impatient to wait for another designer, so I decided to attempt my own design. What you see above, and now on www.anneruthmann.com is what I was able to whip together with zero dollars and not much time to spare. Yay for iWeb and .Mac! Finally I don't feel incredibly ashamed to send people to my website!! I still have plans for a bigger and better site, but I may keep this little baby as an html backup site. In any case, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!! Is it fugly? Is it cool? Does function and look good in your browser?! Oh yeah... and while you're at it... what do you think of the new branding?
