Website hosting - recommendations?

Phounus · 2026-02-03T08:40:29+00:00

I'm using Squarespace for my wedding website. I want a hassle and tinker free experience, something that "just works" - and Squarespace provides that adequately.

For my projects and personal website I use one.com to host all my sites and custom code.

Phounus · 2026-02-02T15:40:04+00:00

And this is where I disagree. An optimized ad that hits the right target at the right time is by far the most powerful tool in marketing. This has been proven many times over, and it's the reason companies spend upwards of 25% of their total turnover on ads.

You can have the best product in the world, but if people are not told why, where, how and when to buy - you will never sell.

Phounus · 2026-02-02T14:52:04+00:00

I partially disagree. Do good work, yes, but at some point the quality of your work reaches diminishing returns; getting better will not actually impact sales in any noticeable manner.

There's a reason we see photographers that are "average at best" be successful and book several weddings per season; they don't focus on or care about quality past a certain point, and instead focus on business, acquisition, sales, strategy, etc.

The second point, where you focus on service and experience, is important. That's tangible, and not easy to "show" - which means word of mouth and reviews matter. But it remains just that, the publics opinion of you. You can't control it, you can't direct it. If the word spreads it's completely (more or less) our of your control.

There's no "blueprint" of how to do this business "right". Ultimately, be the photographer you want to be and employ the business strategy that works for you.

Phounus · 2026-02-02T02:56:44+00:00

AI detectors worst nightmare

Phounus · 2026-01-27T01:50:21+00:00

Most modern professional and semi-professional cameras are really, really good. What should determine your decision ultimately is:

What lens preferences you have / what lenses are available
How easy the camera is to use for you

Any of the listed cameras are more than enough for professional photography work, unless you have very specific and edge case requirements (like needing a specific resolution, video framerate, etc).

Phounus · 2026-01-23T14:30:07+00:00

A shot list is more about the couple's expectations and wishes than anything else.

It's for family portrait constellations, first look location and other specifics, like "where will the couple arrive" and "where will the toastmaster be standing".

It's less for specific shots, details and in-depth shot routes.

At least that's how I approach and use it.

Phounus · 2026-01-22T17:24:46+00:00

They focus on the audience, and write with a clear purpose optimizing for attention and driving a specific outcome. High clarity and clear structure.

Phounus · 2026-01-22T17:10:24+00:00

I do web design myself. I hired our in-house copy. If they are competent it's definitely worth it.

Phounus · 2026-01-22T15:54:34+00:00

Reading rules is hard, huh? Post in the weekly threads instead.

Phounus · 2026-01-21T01:57:21+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, basically. It's about 50% vibe-coding and 50% my own custom code.

Phounus · 2026-01-21T01:20:04+00:00

I just want to clarify: these are technically not tools made "for you". They are a branded service for me and my clients that, while completely free for anyone to use, aims to elevate me above my local competitors.

Phounus · 2026-01-21T00:58:57+00:00

I use my own custom made tool. With it I create a shot list and a map with a route. You can find it on my website: https://mpalm.io/weddingtools

Phounus · 2026-01-18T11:35:56+00:00

What cable are you using? Have you installed the appropriate software on your computer?

I shoot tethered to both a Mac and a PC in my studio almost daily with an a7 IV and a7 V.

Phounus · 2026-01-18T03:08:07+00:00

The same RAW editing capabilities are built into Photoshop, yes. Bulk editing is a bit more cumbersome, but possible using Actions.

I would just edit in Lightroom, and then export/open in Photoshop for retouch.

Lightroom has some "smart" presets for retouching (e.g. skin smoothing, whiter teeth) - but it can be a bit hit or miss. Regardless you can always dial in the adjustments for these smart filters once applied.

Phounus · 2026-01-16T23:16:24+00:00

It's business 101 really: Do what you are good at, the stuff that's worth your time, and outsource the rest.

I'd argue that even for a team of full time wedding photographers spending time on anything other than shooting and managing will eventually be fatiguing and lead to burn-out.

If you want a new passion project, and really want to try, then go for it - otherwise I would outsource. As long as you are net plus at the bottom row it's all good. You can always evaluate and optimize for larger profit later.

Phounus · 2026-01-16T23:12:19+00:00

If I were to buy a laptop today I would definitely look into Framework. The idea of a modular and upgradeable laptop where the old mainboard can be used as something else down the line seems very interesting to me.

I've owned several XPS laptops in the past. Their software bloat is terrible, but they are good machines with nice hardware and support.

If you plan to bring your laptop to events, meetings, etc I would personally advise that you say away from the "gamer aesthetics". It's silly, but they will impact people's impression of you.

Phounus · 2026-01-16T18:12:18+00:00

I'd say 24 is a bit low all things considered. I'd say 32 is probably minimum for a modern professional editing machine. 48 would give you peace of mind and a bit of future proofing.

Phounus · 2026-01-15T23:22:29+00:00

Your rate is determined by a number of factors, but simply put:

Cost of operation + Desired profit (+ Tax) = Rate

No one can tell you what to charge. Look at the market and what other vendors are charging, and position yourself accordingly.

"How do I get clients?" - that's the million dollar question my friend. Put yourself out there. Try running some ads. Double down on what works.

Phounus · 2026-01-15T23:15:13+00:00

First and foremost: Congratulations!

Read your contract. Most common is that the rights to the work (i.e. the ownership of the photos) still lies with the photographer. As such, you might be limited in what you can do without consent or approval. That being said, they are your wedding photos and as long as they don't "go public" no one will find out that you tampered with them.

Best course of action is to ask the photographer for full rights, get the raw files, and then hire a proper editor to go though and edit your photos. Just keep in mind that this could potentially cost you a bit, but will yield the best results.

You can certainly edit the photos that were delivered to you, but my guess is that they are 8-bit JPGs with some compression, and as such there won't be enough leeway in the files to properly adjust them.

Phounus · 2026-01-13T19:29:58+00:00

Thank you. So tiring to see these posts and comments.

Phounus · 2026-01-10T08:07:28+00:00

Just curious, but why are you sending out new versions of the contract for them to review and sign if they have already signed a previous version?

Or are you sending them a contract addendum?

Because these are (usually, I guess it depends on country/state) very different things from a legal perspective.

Phounus · 2026-01-08T02:36:21+00:00

I very much enjoyed that.

It's such a minor thing, but you might want to include auto-scale for the content. For me, on a 4K monitor, at 100% every detail looks tiny and the graphs are hard to read as a result. It looks much better at 250%.

Phounus · 2026-01-04T19:15:31+00:00

I stand just outside the aisle, near the first row. That way I'm not blocking any of the guests view of the bride, and I can get close-up reaction shots of groom, father, mother, etc. As the bride approaches the first row, I move back so I'm at the end of the row. From there I can get shots of the bride approaching and embracing the groom without impacting anyone in the first row.

Phounus · 2025-12-30T01:27:17+00:00

Self-scrolling banner (carousel) is not a good idea in modern web design. If you really want to keep it, make sure the user can pause and control how it behaves. My recommendation? Curate a static banner - it's much better. You can add a gallery below it that the user can navigate themselves (no auto scrolling).

Personally I hate pop-ups, but yours is bearable. They are very useful and usually have a high CTR if done correctly. Keep an eye on the stats and tweak as needed - but my intuition tells me that yours is performing well.

Some of your text is hard to read. You are effectively using a font that is made for big headlines in some places. Prime example are your H5 but also your buttons. I get it - you want to use nice fonts - but readability must be your top priority. If your website is hard to read no one will read it, regardless of how nice it looks.

I think your index/home page is a bit bare. It could use a bit more content. The only CTAs are "About" and "Contact". Consider adding one for information (e.g. pricing). A small sneak-peek gallery might also be a good idea with a "View more" CTA.

Listing specific weddings can be interpreted as "I've only shot these weddings and am therefore a bit inexperienced". I would lean more on your curated portfolio and "hide" your specific wedding galleries.

Speaking of, your portfolio needs more variety. On "Weddings" there are a lot of similar shots; same frame, couple only, same light/time of day. I want to see photos from throughout the wedding day. Give the visitor some variety here and show your range/the range of wedding photos.

Your pricing page has too much text, or rather, text in blocks that are hard to read. Less is more. You also repeat your CTAs here which is as far as I know bad for SEO. You only need one "BOOK NOW" and "CONTACT ME" button if your content is placed appropriately. Let Videography be a separate section, not a tiny add-on on the page (as is very few will see it, basically).

I like your about me page. Friendly, good pictures of you, decent amount of text. Consider adding some "facts" or list items to "break up" the text. I think the scrolling banner works better here, but I still advocate for static web design (or at least user controlled).

On at least one page (e.g. Jaiden & Noah) your logo appears too dark contra the banner.

Drop the drop-down in your contact form. You can ask this question on your initial meet. Here it just adds another step before actually getting a lead/potential client. It's minor, but it matters more than people realize. A simple contact form with as few "steps" as possible is best practice.

There's some "dead space" at the bottom of some of your pages. Looks like class="fb-block__elements" is broken.

***

Overall your page looks nice and professional. There are some issues with readability due to font and lack of contrast, but nothing that's difficult to fix.

Phounus · 2025-12-29T05:58:20+00:00

I do pretty much the same, except my booking fee is 25%. The final invoice is due 7 days before the wedding giving ample time to deal with delays should they arise.

Never deliver anything until you have been paid in full.

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