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Making The
Cut
Want to Get on The
List?
Here Are Some Suggestions For Creating A Web Site That's Top Ten
Material
By Mason Resnick
We get dozens of submissions a day. We look at hundreds of web sites a month. And yet, we only choose ten to appear in The List, our selective guide to the best black and white photography on the web. How do we do it (besides learning to make do on four hours of sleep a night)? What can you do to improve your chances of being chosen?
The Selection Process
Using the fastest available connection and the latest browsers (Netscape 4.x since August 1997), we spend several hours a week looking at web site submissions. Sites that load slowly--even on ISDN or T1 connections--are eliminated first. If the site loads within 10-15 seconds (that's generous, given our connection speeds) and the pictures are of obvious poor quality (unintentional blur, muddy exposure or scan quality, scratches or just plain uninteresting), they are also removed from consideration. That takes care of approximately 75 percent of all entries. Then it gets interesting--and challenging.
Looking For Subtleties
The remaining 25 percent are sites that offer good to excellent quality photography. Because we're now dealing with better quality sites, we look for more subtle qualities that will make or break a site. These qualities may include:
Spelling. Has the site been proofread?
Design: Is the design simple and easy to navigate, or does the browser window get cluttered? Does it look as great in Internet Explorer as it does in Netscape (and vice versa)? Is it amazing on AOL?
Animation: We tend to shy away from animation because it drains system resources. We usually consider animation when it drives the content of the site.
Navigation: How easy is it to get around the site? Can a visitor escape to the home page from any part of the site? Are thumbnails of each image provided as a site index?
Text: Is there enough text to give the visitor sufficient background about the photographer and the photos? Or is there more info than necessary? Does the text interfere with the pictures?
Tips & Hints
Show Your Best Shots: don't show more than your best work; mediocre images that are mixed in with the jewels will water down the site's effectiveness.
Avoid Proprietary Technology: although we look at sites using Netscape and MISE 4, you should design your site with Netscape 2 and AOL 2.7 users in mind. Java, Shockwave/Flash, even JavaScript should be used sparingly and in a manner that degrades gracefully in older browsers.
Give Great Scans: the nature of the web denies us the opportunity to show all the work we've poured into our hand-made photographic work in all their glory. The best you can do, therefore, is to make the scans look as good as possible in 72 dpi and to become fluent enough in Photoshop or the imaging software of your choice to get the best dynamic range you can.
Make Images Small: not the size--the files. There are enough compression options in current imaging software so an average-size B&W image file needn't be larger than 40-50k. 100k images are not likely to be considered. If your photos are consistantly in the three-figure k range, try reducing the pixel depth to the smallest number that doesn't affect image size. This can reduce image size by 50% or more. For more about reducing image size, visit the Bandwith Conservation Society's homepage.
Submission Netiquette: feel free to write a brief (2-3 sentence) description of your site, but do not send your site's HTML (you'd be surprised at what we get)! Do not send image files. Unfortunately, while we do look at every site that is sent to us, we do not have time to critique sites. So please do not ask for a critique of your site.
Get Comments: Get other photographers to comment on your site. Feel free to post an invitation on the "Creativity Etc." B&W Photography Forum to get your site critiqued by other photographers.
Finally, Be Patient. There is a 3-4 month wait before a site is viewed and considered for The List. We know you're anxious to see if your site will be chosen, but we are limited by time and space. Multiple submissions really don't make much difference.
When you're ready, submit your URL to bwworld@mindspring.com. Good luck!
