Tuesday, September 18, 2007

fill in the (_____)

So... Joel and I have a big announcement.

We just couldn't wait any longer, so this weekend, we decided to go ahead and take take the Next Big Step!

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We're launching a joint photography website! Jeez, what did you think I was talking about? ;)

For my mother, who is probably shoving the defibrilator off her chest and reaching for a second cup of coffee, let me be absolutely clear: We did not elope. We're launching a fancypants photography business website. No eloping ocurred. None. No elope-y.

Har dee har.

It would be exceptionally shocking to Alissa if we HAD, since she drove up yesterday for a sleepover/wedding stationery-related scouting expedition here in the Land of Gracious Entertaining. (Why, yes, that dinner we had tonight where Joel stumbled out of the bedroom in a post-teaching-all-day haze to eat stuff I bought at the deli WAS our reception, didn't you know? :)

Anyway. Alissa and I spotted five nannies, two women whose thighs don't touch, and one woman wearing a sweater knotted over her shoulders on a 75-degree day, but- *DAMN* does Stepford ever rock the high-end paper party goods scene! Heh.

All of this is leading up to a request from all of you for suggestions and feedback. Here's how our new site will work. When you first load our website, you'll have a chance to choose between Joel's half of the site and mine.

His half will take you to galleries of his nature photography and a way to order prints and images online. Depending on how things go, it may also possibly feature text about a program he's dying to launch that will take inner-city high school students out west to see cool geological stuff they can't see around here, like the Grand Canyon and, you know, stars.

My half will take you to galleries for wedding photography, portraiture, pets, etc., as well as a bio page, interactive calendar, password-protected client proofing, and ability to order reprints online. (Sorry, Becky and Michelle, who painstakingly had to walk their parents and in-laws through the old method- mwah!)

At the moment, we're simply calling it OurJointLastNamesPhotography.com (Will give proper URL once it goes live).

But!

Question #1- What do you think of the name "Milestones Photography" instead? My work captures people's major life events. He drives many miles and takes a lot of pictures of stones. Get it? No? Too cheesy? Too obtuse? Just kind of hate it? What?

Question #2- We have a place to put a slogan/tagline type thing that describes our work. Other photographers' examples are like this: "Wedding and portrait photography in the Anywhere, USA area featuring photographers Anita Bath and Holden McGroyne."

I'm kicking around different ideas, but I can't tell if they're any good. One of the ways I describe my work as a photojournalist is "showing people the world they see around them every day in a way they've never seen it before" and taking pictures of ordinary, everyday things and revealing the extraordinary. By extension, this little side business of my mine documents once-in-a-lifetime events like weddings in a photojournalist style, so I'm thinking of taglines like:

"Out-of-the-ordinary images of life's extraordinary moments."

"Life's priceless moments captured in extraordinary photographs."

"Your world, as you've never seen it before." (with accompanying photographs of blissful wedding couples or an adult thumb wrapped in a newborn's fist)

That last line works for Joel's purposes, too, since the rainbow he caught over Yosemite Falls at dawn is not one of *your* life's extraordinary moments, persay. (It definitely wasn't one of mine; I stupidly picked THAT morning to sleep in- !@#$%)

So. Feedback.

MyLastName-HisLastName Photography vs. Milestones Photography. Slogans. Please discuss.

9 comments:

Becky said...

First question -- is it important to split the site based on person? For a first-time visitor, it might be easier to split it into weddings, portraits, nature, etc. And then introduce the photographer that does that body of work.

In response to Q#1 (Milestones): I think it's a good name, and pretty easy to remember. To me, though, the name implies more "life" milestones and less "road" milestones. Don't know if that makes a difference to you. Is milestonesphotography.com available? If not, then I'd go with a last-name-based domain, and ditch Milestones completely, for fear of potential trademark/copyright infringement.

Re Q#2 (slogan): I like the third option you propose (your world, as you've never seen it before), since it is applicable to both bodies of work.

Was that vague enough for you?

Carl said...

showing people the world they see around them every day in a way they've never seen it before

Would you please go snap some photos of George W. Bush? Seriously. People are not "seeing" him.

Anonymous said...

I agree that Milestones makes me think of times in my life. I don't think people would see that names and get the "stones" reference. You'd have to establish the site first, and then people would start to recognize the twist on words...in my opinion.

I can't comment on the taglines, because I find all of that mushy, touchy feely stuff to put me over the edge :)

Congrats on the website. When are you going to post some photos of your wedding site, bridesmaids dresses, etc? We want to know!

Anonymous said...

Honestly, elope was NOT the first or even the second thought to cross my mind as I shoved the defibrilator onto my chest. Call me if you want to know what they were.

Unknown said...

I like Milestone photography.

And I like the first slogan the best, honestly.

(FWIW, I didn't think you'd eloped either. I did have some other thought run through my mind, though)

Alissa said...

I also like Milestones, for several reasons. In addition to the things you've already mentioned, I think it will put the idea into people's minds like "hey, this IS a milestone, I should get this recorded for posterity." Or something like that. And hopefully make them think of other milestones coming up that they might also want to use your services for. :)

I also think it will be easier for people to remember, and hopefully easier to spell, too!

Anonymous said...

I don't think the first thing the viewer should see is an option to "Choose a Photographer". I think you should have a unique company name with categories of images that shows up first. Have a bio page with information about both of you and what your specialties are. But find a way to tie everything together for the main part of the site. There's not much point in having a joint website if the two photographers are separated. If you're running this as a business, clients should be looking at images, not making choices about who to look at, especially since they might not know you yet.

Anonymous said...

I like Milestones. And I keep getting drawn to something you said to me when I met you about photography being your religion.

Can you draw on that concept to come up with your slogan?

Tara

Anonymous said...

I agree with Luke about not having to "choose a photographer" since you guys can look at what the client wants and offer a service (and the right one of you) who matches it.

And I love Milestones.

And I'm cheesy and adore "Your world, as you've never seen it before." Not just anyone could pull that off, but you guys could.

Yay website!