Chico's New Online Photo Catalog - Likes and Dislikes

In my other life, I'm a professional photographer, with several Web sites (here and here). So when our department decided to put our internal photo catalog online, I was volunteered (er...recruited) to do the development for it.

I have a lot of experience with stock photography sites (since my work is carried by several - excluding royalty free and microstock, may Allah strike them dead in His infinite mercy), so I know what I like and dislike in online photo sites.

Now, I didn't shoot any of these photos; that's not my job on campus, but we do have a staff photographer who does official campus photography for everything from faculty portraits to events, receptions, general publications and the University Catalog.

The backend of the catalog uses Portfolio 8.5 server. For my personal business, I use iView Media Pro, but Portfolio is pretty similar overall. Both have pros and cons, and I'll refrain from Portfolio bashing.

Initially, we had a lot of problems with hardware, permissions and networking, but once we resolved all that, I was able to begin work on the Web front end. We went with the built in NetPublish tool which uses a JavaScript-based API. I've decided that I like it.

Even though it's still in serious beta mode with lots of missing pieces and content (particularly payment and policies), you can look at it here: http://images.csuchico.edu.

What I Like

It seems a bit weird to review a site that I developed, since mostly I pick at other people's sites. It also seems like tooting my own horn a bit to say, "Look at this site I did! I think it's really cool!!"

But I actually do like this site. I just wish I had time to redo my business sites to match.

OK, so here's what I like...

Number of Results per Page
You can change the number of results that you view per page. Though the default is 16, I like to view as many photos as I can on a single page. Oh, and it remembers your preference from search to search, but only for the current session (Portfolio limitation).


Dynamic Page Width
I hate static width layouts of image thumbnails. I have a 1600 pixel wide monitor at home and two 1280 pixel monitors side-by-side at work, so why can't I use all that space to look at thumbnails? With this site you can. I just organized the thumbnails in divs so that they automatically wrap to match your browser window's width. Cool!


Pop Up Image Previews
We used OverLib to pop up image previews when you roll over each thumbnail. An awesome way to quickly browse through photos. I used the Portfolio NetPublish API to add some pertinent info to the pop up. No more having to go to a separate page to see larger versions of each photo. Super cool!!

Popup Image Information
Our graphic designer was particularly worried that people will want images that aren't big enough to be reproduced well at the size they want in the medium they want. We went around a bit on the best way to do this. I ended up adding an OverLib popup that calculates the dimensions that each photo can be used at different resolutions. It's simple and clear, but doesn't take up space on the page.


Bigger Previews
If you want to see an image even bigger, and view even more detailed info (such as EXIF data, exposure data, etc., if available) on the image, you can click on it and go to a detail page. Nice to have.


Thumbnail Pop Ups on Check Out Page
I hate stock sites that don't let you see what you're buying on the check out page. I also hate stock sites that show a huge list of thumbnails on the check out page - it just makes the page too long when you have to scroll and scroll to see your total cost at the bottom. So I used OverLib to make pop up thumbnails.


Issues

OK, it isn't perfect. Here's a partial list of what still needs work.

• We still have problems with vertically-oriented RAW images not being rotated correctly (that's a Portfolio limitation)
  
• We still have a lot of missing previews (they have to be rebuilt manually)
• The left nav menu is static, so there are a lot of categories listed that currently have no photos in them.
• OverLib does a weird flickering thing sometimes that drives me nuts
  
• We still have a lot of crappy images cluttering up the catalog
• We need better keywording (we're working on that)
  
• We're still fine tuning the advanced search (Portfolio's search is limited and not very smart)
  

You might not like that there's no automatic download, but we really can't allow that since there are a lot of photos of staff and faculty that shouldn't be freely available. And anyway, the idea here is to try to bring in a little money from departments on campus for the use of photos that we took.

Let me know what you think.

Pimping Your Campus

Yesterday, I asked our provost how budget cuts would affect recruitment and recruitment strategies (see this post).

As Provosts are wont, she gave a very long and detailed answer that appeared to be mostly in a foreign language. However, I did catch a few key phrases.

One thing in particular stuck with me. She said that they've done research that shows that we have much higher conversion rates (is that the term you recruitment folks use?) if they can just get the people to visit the campus. She said that a lot of people come, see the campus and want to immediately enroll.

And it's true. Chico state has a beautiful campus located at the edge of a lively small town downtown area. Chico, our Provost said, is seen as an appealing destination, particularly once people see it.

That made me think that that is one the main messages our Web site should be communicating. At every turn, it should be saying, "This is a beautiful place. This is a great place to live."

bottom line: we need to pimp our campus (as in more effectively advertise it's beauty and desirability).

As you may know, in my other life, I'm a professional photographer, and I enjoy shooting our campus. A while back I was playing with an idea for a small photo book showcasing the campus as a beautiful natural environment through the seasons. I uploaded a mock up to the Web... and pretty much left it there.

As it is, I don't think this is much of a tool for promoting our campus, but I do think that it could be turned into something that could be very effective in at least communicating to people that this is a special, beautiful place, and you should come visit.

I'd be happy to hear your impressions and thoughts.


Y'all come visit, y'hear!

Michigan State Home Page Photos

Though I don't really like the MSU home page, I do like what they've done with the photos. By tying people and place in each photo, they connect directly with the viewer and tell a story. And it's nice that actually use some text to link the photos to the story. And, of course, clicking on the photo takes you to the full story.

This is personally how I think home page photos should be done. There is an effective triad of:

• People
• Place (or context)
• Story

that needs to be part of every main home page photo.

I wish we were doing that. Hopefully, as things change and evolve here, we'll start implementing some of these best practices.

A few of the photos I shamelessly stole off their home page...

Perfect Home Page Photos - Part 2

An excruciating examination of each of the photos I chose for my mock up site.

In Perfect Home Page Photos - Part 1, I discussed tips to effective home page photos and provided a link to a mock up home page where you could view a variety of different photos.

Please view the Hypothetical State University mockup to see the photos in action.

In this post, I'm going to discuss the choice of photos in a bit more detail. First, I'd like to break down the photos into several categories:

• Scenic Photos
  
  • Campus Buildings & Environment
  • Campus - Past & Future
  • Local Natural Environment
• People-oriented Photos
  
  • Local Community & Activities
  • Academic Programs
  • Faculty Accomplishments
  • Student Accomplishments
  • Sports
  • Students Engaged in Activities
  • Diversity
    

I was able to find effective, high quality examples of most of these types of photos.

Scenic Photos

Campus Buildings & Environment
Effective photos of campus buildings and the natural environment of the campus serve the purpose of highlighting the beauty of the campus setting and the uniqueness of its buildings. Many campuses have outstanding old buildings in park-like settings, and this can be exploited to communicate a beautiful and secluded academic environment.

Text associated with such photos should stress the outstanding characteristics of the campus plant, such as the number of acres the campus comprises, the age of the buildings, the age of the plantings, any awards or recognition the campus or its buildings have received, notable architects, unique buildings or building characteristics, etc.

Examples
This photo shows off the nice architectural detail of the campus. Coming up with a story to link to might be difficult, but a page of photos of the building wouldn't be inappropriate.

This photo shows off the beauty of the campus's natural environment. Linking to a story about Big Hypo Creek would be appropriate.

This photo gives a wider view of a campus building. This isn't my favorite photo, but it was the best I had. Linking to a story on the history of the campus wouldn't be completely inappropriate.

Campus - Past and Future
Past and future images of the campus can serve to place it in context. Older campuses in particular can benefit from highlighting their illustrious past. Photos of original buildings, the first graduating class, etc., can be effective. However, students tend to be less interested in the past and more interested in the future. Computer-generated images of planned buildings, if of high quality, can be effective in communicating how future-oriented the campus is.

Text associated with photos of the past should focus on generalities like how long the campus has been in existence rather than on specific past events (which may be of little interest to anyone).

Examples
I'm not very fond of this photo, but it was one of the few that I could find that would fit into the photo space. A link to a history of the campus would be appropriate.

This high quality 3D CGI works well on the home page and shows the future direction of the campus. Linking to a story about the new building or to a web cam showing the construction of the building would be appropriate.

Local Natural Environment
Almost all students are interested in the local natural environment of their potential new home. Images of state and national parks, unique natural features, rivers, mountains, forests, etc., can give them an idea of the beauty of the area.

Text associated with the photos should focus on the outstanding characteristics of the local natural environment, such as national parks, acres of public forest and recreation facilities, outdoor activities, etc.

Examples
This photo shows off the natural beauty of the region. Linking to an article about the preserve would be appropriate.

Another photo highlighting the natural beauty of the region. Linking to an article on the National Park would be appropriate.

Yet another photo. Linking to a photo essay on local wildflowers would be appropriate.

People-Oriented Photos

Local Community and Activities
As with the local natural environment, students are very interested in the local community where their prospective school is located. Photos of local events and locales such as art galleries, arts performances, farmers markets, city scenes, nightlife, etc. can be effective tools for communicating a lively and involved community offering lots of activities to students. Rural campuses may need to stress more outdoor activities instead of nightlife and arts.

Text associated with the photos should stress the number of activities available in the community and any unique activities that may exist.

Example
This photo shows a scene of a community activity. Linking to an article on the farmer's market would be appropriate.

Academic Programs
It's perfectly acceptable to try to stress the outstanding nature of a university's academic programs, but unfortunately, it's a subject that does not lend itself easily to dramatic or interesting photos. Most photos will tend to be rather generic images of faculty teaching or students looking on intently.

As a result, most of the interest will have to be generated by the text. Focusing on specific programs that have received some sort of recognition, or that have some unique characteristic is probably the best approach. Generic references to a university's program will garner little interest from students (e.g., "HSU's outstanding academic programs are known throughout the country."), instead focus on specific, quantifiable measurements of academic quality (e.g., "Forty-seven percent of HSU graduates go on to pursue post-graduate degrees.").

Examples
Though this photo doesn't include people, it does have the potential to generate interest, partly by being so unusual for a university home page. A link to a story about the program would be appropriate.

This photo generates interest primarily because the people in the photo are attractive, smiling young women, looking directly at the camera. The story is mostly an excuse to include "smiling women" type photos. Obviously, a link to a story about the post-graduate educational habits of students would be appropriate.

Faculty Accomplishments
Highlighting faculty accomplishments, research, awards, and publications can be an effective tool for highlighting academic excellence on campus. Of course, research universities are more likely to have a lot of faculty accomplishments to focus on. Internal awards, such as "Faculty of the Year" should be avoided. Students are comparing your school against others, and as a result, internal awards become meaningless.

As with academic programs, the photos themselves may tend to be rather bland - photos of faculty staring at the camera or engaged in their research. Again, most of the interest will have to be generated by the text. Text should focus on specific accomplishments (e.g., "Professor Tom Jones received a $5.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control to study the spread of West Nile virus", not general statements like "Professor Tom Jones is one of the most published faculty on campus".

Examples
I had a difficult time finding faculty photos that were interesting and that would fit in the space. This is a location photo, showing the faculty member in class, is probably more interesting than a straight studio shot. A link to the American Studies program or a link to a story about the program would be appropriate.

This photo, though a studio shot, is interesting because of the pose and the fact that the person is looking directly at the camera. A link to an article on the faculty member would be appropriate.

Student Accomplishments
Student accomplishments are plentiful at virtually every university, but too often go overlooked. Everything from academic achievements (prestigious scholarships) to competitions are good subjects for photos. Of course, action-oriented subject like solar car races are preferable, but that isn't always possible.

So again, the text may have to generate the interest in the topic. And, as usual, the subject should focus on specific, quantifiable accomplishments like "Student newspaper received Best of Show award at the 2006 National College Media Convention".

Examples
Another smiling coed shot. Smiling students are always a plus, as long as you can tie the photo to something specific. In this case, a story about the sorority and its award would be appropriate.

A somewhat nice studio shot - oops! - cut someone out of the photo. Oh well. I would prefer a different kind of photo than this, but once again, smiling students looking at the camera are effective. A link to a story about the "Weekly Potato Bug" staff and their award would be appropriate.

This was the only photo I actually stole from the Internet. I like this one because the abstract is so dynamic, high tech-looking and attention-getting. And it fits well with the story. Dynamic, interesting photos like this are the key to getting people's attention. And, yes a story about the solar car would be appropriate.

Sports
For some universities sports provides a fertile ground for showcases the campus's accomplishments. As with other areas, sports photos should focus on specific, measurable accomplishments, such as winning a regional or national championship, breaking specific records, etc.

Example
I didn't have access to many good sports photos, but this one is dynamic and effective. Sports are popular, but shouldn't be over done.

Students Engaged in Activities
These could be anything, from on-campus life to off-campus recreation (hiking, rafting, etc.). The point is that these should be action-oriented photos of active students.

I didn't have any good photos of students engaged in activities, but you can find several on the Humboldt State University home page.

Diversity
Racial and cultural diversity are important issues at many universities, and some make sure to display that diversity on their home page.

I didn't have access to any good photos showing racial or cultural diversity.

Perfect Home Page Photos - Part 1

Some tips on making the best use of photos on your site's home page.

In one of my last posts, I talked about what I liked in the way of photos on a university home page. Not just what kinds of photos, but their quality, usage, purpose, what they communicate, whether or not they tell a story, link to a story or say something unique about the campus.

In that spirit, I've decided to put together a list of characteristics of the perfect home page photo implementation.

1. All photos will be of uniformly superior quality, and taken by professional photographers
2. The photo space will be large enough to catch and hold the viewer's attention
3. The photo space will have an interesting and/or dynamic shape, and it will be integrated with the home page's graphic design
4. All photos will have captions that describe the image and provide context
5. All photos must communicate something unique about the university. Generic photos of students studying, faculty pointing to a white board, etc., say nothing about the unique nature or character of the institution if left without a context. Play to your strengths; pick out things that make your university unique, like:
   
   • The natural setting, local community and regional environment
   • The physical plant (building, facilities, labs)
   • Notable faculty (Nobel Prize winners, award winning authors, etc.)
   • Unique research
     
   • Student accomplishments (sports, academic achievement, other honors and competitions)
     
6. Photos should focus on the specific, not the general. For student and faculty accomplishments, the captions/stories should focus on specific, quantifiable accomplishments.
   
7. Photos should provide a mix of subject matter; approximately 50% scenic (campus buildings, local environment) and 50% people oriented (faculty, students, research).
   
8. Photos should link to stories providing further information on the subject of the photo.
9. Photos should randomly change with each visit to the home page, or
10. If an animation is used, viewers should have complete control to stop, go to the next photo or go to the previous photo (see the FSU site).
11. There should be a sufficient number of different photos to catch the viewer's interest and provide variety.

The perfect home page photo might look something like this (design stolen wholesale from the University of Michigan Web site):

Go to this page and refresh to see different photos. Note that I worked with the photos I had; many other potentially better possibilities exist.

In my next post, I'll talk in more detail about the photos I selected and why.

Home Page Photos: Some Sites That I Like

A few sites that are using photography effectively on their home pages.

In my life outside of Chico State I'm a professional photographer. My work focuses on landscapes and some architecture, so obviously I have a bias toward scenics. But my work as a web developer and information architect forces me to look a little beyond that at not only the quality of the photography, but also at how well it is used and how appropriately it communicates.

In a previous post, I looked at the types of photography used on campus home pages. In this post, I'm just going to talk about what I like as both a photographer and as an information architect.

Humboldt State University
Humblodt State has done a great job on their home page photos, and I like them for several reasons.

1. The photos are all of professional quality and very clean
2. Many photos feature people in the environment and focus on the environment - a big draw at Humboldt
   
3. All photos have captions/teasers that are designed more to pique the interest than to provide information
4. All photos link to short stories building on the photo's teaser
5. Each story has a link to display all photos and stories

What I don't like:

1. No photos of the campus. I have no idea if the humboldt campus is great or a dump
2. Some photos feel a bit generic since most photos aren't about specific people
   

University of Wisconsin
I like the University of Wisconsin home page for a number of reasons.

1. The quality of the photos is superior
2. The photo space is large enough to catch and hold the attention
3. The photos are captioned, so you know what you're looking at
4. The photos provide a good mix of environment, people and academics
5. The photos give a great feel for the environment of the UWisc campus
6. Most of the photos are unique and relevant, telling a bit of the story of the campus through the environment and the people

What I don't like:

1. The photos don't link to stories about the photos
   
2. Some of the photos (e.g., dorm life and graduating students) are too generic and could be from any university

University of Michigan
I like the University of Michigan for somewhat different reasons.

1. The panoramic photo space almost becomes a graphic design element
2. Quality of the photos is excellent
3. The abstract quality of the images provides a strange sense of intimacy, like looking at the campus through a peephole.
4. Most of the photos manage to convey a sense of uniqueness in the environment

What I don't like:

1. Not enough photos
2. No links to stories or links to a greater view
   
3. No people in the environment
4. No captions describing what we are looking at

Utah State University
I also like Utah State University, though at the time of this writing they've replaced their rotating photos with a single photo congratulating Fall graduates.

1. Interesting photos on a variety of topics, from research (Cool! The space shuttle!), to students to the campus environment.
2. Photos have captions/teasers and link to stories
3. the photo space is large and prominent
4. Most photos convey something unique about USU or its environment

What I don't like

1. Photo quality varies
2. Not enough different photos

University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut has some great photos.

1. Superior photo quality
2. Photos have captions
3. Most photos show something unique or tell a story about the school
   
4. Nice mix of campus, and people photos
   

Things I don't like:

1. Users have no control over the animation to stop, speed up or go back
   
2. Photos aren't linked to stories
   

Here a few that are OK, but have specific things I don't like.

• University of Montana: Incredible location, some great photos, but photo quality varies widely, photo space is a boring square that has not been integrated into the graphic design.
• Washington State University: Good photos with captions, but too small; photos clash with bright colors in the design.
• University of Wyoming: OK photo quality, good captions, but too small.
• Vanderbilt University: Generic photos, indifferent photo quality, awkward boxy photo space.
• New York University: Too many photos, mostly generic, no context or story with any photos.
• Duke University: Boxy, generic photos of indifferent quality, and you don't know that there are actually captions until you click on them.
• Cornell University: Superior quality photos, plenty big; the only problem is that clicking on any of them takes you to the university mission statement. Huh?

Home Page Branding Photos/Spotlight Stories

An examination of how the main photo area on the home page is used.

In looking at the home pages of the Top 20 university sites, I kept looking at the main photo area of the pages. Though some of these pages may have many photos on them, there is virtually always a "main" photo prominently placed on the home page (see graph, below).


And, of course, I was supposed to look at that main photo. That's what it's there for: to catch and hold the viewer's attention. And as you can see, most universities give the most important real estate on the page to these photos.

So, guessing that it might be important, I decided to take a look at exactly what universities were doing with these photos.

First of all, I decided to add 10 universities to my list of the top 20. I guess I'm just getting bored with the same old 20 home pages. These were randonly picked out of the Google search results, somewhere on page 6 or 7. The additional 10 are as follows:

1. USC
2. Oregon State University
3. Vanderbilt
4. University of Connecticut
5. Rutgers
6. University of Wyoming
7. Washington State University
8. Michigan State University
9. SMU
10. University of Montana

All of the 30 sites had some sort of main photo area, even if it was relatively small. Of the 30 home pages, 7 (23%) were using a Flash-based animation for the main photo area. Twenty (67%) of the sites had photos that randomly changed, either as part of the Flash animation or upon refreshing the page. Six sites (20%) had photos that only changed periodically (once a day, once a week, etc.).

Twenty-three (77%) sites included at least some text with the photo, ranging from a short caption to a story headline and/or teaser. Half of the sites tied the photos to some sort of feature article or spotlight story, and even more put a link with the main photo area (67%). Those sites that were not using the main photos for a feature or spotlight linked to a variety of things, from a slide show of the campus to a mission statement to a eCard builder.

Photos of What?

The subject of the photos also varied, with some campuses focusing heavily on faculty and research and others more evenly spread out between faculty, students, etc.

Totals in the above graph don't equal 100% because most sites had changing photos that featured multiple subjects.

Of the 15 sites that used the main photo area for links to features/spotlights, 12 (80%) had photos of research or faculty. Only seven (47%) had photos/stories of students.

Of the 15 sites that did not use the main photo area for links to features/spotlights, 11 (73%) had photos of campus scenes (environment, buildings, etc.) and only 3 (20%) had photos of research or faculty.

People or Scenics?

On our campus, there is some discussion of what the ratio of people photos vs. campus/nature photos should be. The "consensus" (i.e., two people threw out that number) is that 3 to 1 is proper.

In order to see what other universities were doing, I tried to look at every photo on the sites (19 of the 30) that had randomly rotating photos (as opposed to photos that only changed daily). I broke down the photos into categories where the photos were primarily of people, primarily of the campus (though people may be in the photo), scenics (areas not on campus), sports and other (most commonly art or research oriented).

The results were as follows:

As you can see, people-oriented photos are only slightly more common than photos of the campus. If you add the sports-oriented photos to the people photos, the gap widens a bit. But overall, there is a fairly even balance between campus/scenic photos and people/sports photos.

To me, this makes sense. I never had any desire to visit the University of Wisconsin or the University of Montana until I saw just how beautiful their campuses and environs were - as revealed by the photos on their home pages. CSU, Chico has both a beautiful campus and a beautiful setting; those should be exploited in attracting prospective students to visit the campus.