I guess somebody has to be first. (trying embedded HTML here)

http://members.tripod.com/~mike_rosenlof/photo.html

Feel free to mail comments, or to use the comment link at the bottom of the page.

thanks!

mike

-- mike rosenlof (mike_rosenlof@yahoo.com), December 22, 1998

Answers

Mike,

Well, somebody had to do it. Thanks for breaking the ice!

I took a quick look at your site and have a few comments. I have a 17" monitor and your full-sized photos barely fit the screen, which means people viewing on smaller monitors, laptops etc. may not be able to see full frames. You may want to consider reducing image size maybe to 70-80% of the current size so it will fit in all screens.

Also, do you think the extended captions make sense where they are? I might go with a one-line caption for the thumbnails and extended captions accompanying the full-sized images. Less copy on the thumbnails page would draw attention to the images.

I like the environmental portraits, BTW, and would like to see a few more on the site.

Good luck!

-- Mason Resnick (bwworld@mindspring.com), December 22, 1998.

I guess I could add a little detail of what to expect.

There's a small exhibit of black and white photography, mostly of people. I use both large and medium format. Most of the photos would be described as environmental portraiture, but they are not candid street photos.

-- mike rosenlof (mike_rosenlof@yahoo.com), December 22, 1998.

Why does your large format link go to the large format home page? I thought that it would take me to info about your LF camera(s). Your avoidance of naming your camera models but telling us which format and developer you use is unique. Why bother differentiating between them at all? Why give development information?

Your photos seem to be candid, like snapshots. The presentation is sort of haphazard, like you flipped out your wallet's photo section. "Here's some folks I know, a couple places I've been" might be the theme.

Were there any sunny days in Japan? Do most of your photos have soft light?

The text after the thumbnails is fine. I don't mind it at all. The size of the enlargements they lead to is fine, too. It's just that big "Black&White World" banner across the top which forces things out. (I have a 13-inch monitor) Actually, there's two enlargements which are a bit big, but what the hey. It's not as bad as Mason said.

Maybe what you could do about the explanatory text and camera/development info is have links to it. Have a frame down at the bottom for it.

Why do you say you are a serious amatur, based on the camera formats you use? Since you're using large format, you might as well say that you're a serious masochist! :)

I strongly feel that a web site should showcase a person's best work. Do you have anything else? What photos would you put into a book, or send to a magazine for publication?

Overall, it's OK.

-- Brian C. Miller (a-bcmill@exchange.microsoft.com), December 23, 1998.

I don't care for the text either, although I think text can work if the photos are part of an essay, and I think that the statement you open with would be better as something that could be found elsewhere. Open with the gallery instead.

I don't particularly care about technical details, in fact I find them generally irrelevant. Photographs need to stand as photographs.

That said, I would agree that they seem a bit snapshot-ish as presented, and need a better organization.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeffs@hyperreal.org), December 23, 1998.

Hi Mike,

I am not as bothered by the general layout of your site as the others because it comes across as very real and sincere, if not too humble. Sites should suit the personality of the person and not every site needs to be slick or ethereal. I appreciated the description of the subject matter and the best example would be of Mr. H's apartment which had much more relevance once I realized that this was his livingroom! However I think it might be better if the thumbnails were larger so I could see what you were describing without waiting for the new page to download. I personally don't mind the technical details. As for the large format link the guy has some beautifully executed (but way too familiar) shots but I find it really annoying that all he seems to consider is how sharp it is!

-- andy laycock (agl@intergate.bc.ca), January 03, 1999.

Please check out www.torpedofactory.org for a large assortment of photographers as well as other artists, including yours truly. The site might give you some ideas.

Interested in your comments.

-- James D. Steele (jdsteele@erols.com), February 19, 1999.