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The iPad’s Here—Now What Do Photographer’s Do About It?

KTOipad

Showing your photography portfolio on your own iPad is no problem. In fact it’s about the best showcase you can possibly give your photos on a screen. The iPad was born for this stuff. That’s not the problem.

The problem is what happens when people visit your web site on their iPad to look at your portfolio, which is probably a Flash-based portfolio (it’s tough to find a pro photographer’s web site that isn’t Flash-based these days. They’re out there, there’s just not that many of them), and the iPad doesn’t support Flash.

Now, this isn’t a debate about whether or not the iPad should have Flash. That debate is over—it isn’t there, and I don’t think you’re ever going to see Flash on the iPad period (just like we’ve never seen it on the iPhone), so let’s just deal with what we’ve got, and move on (in other words; please skip the debate. For more on the whole Flash on the iPad thing, you’ve got to read Terry White’s review today. It’s a must-read—here’s the link).

So, if you have a Flash-based portfolio (like me), what do we do now?
Millions of people are going to buy iPads. It’s estimated that nearly three quarters of a million people bought them just this weekend. But let’s put that aside for now. What about the iPhone users? They don’t have Flash support either.

Just how many of them can’t see your portfolio on their iPhones? Well, Apple sold about 25 million iPhones in just 2009 alone, so we’re somewhere in the area of 70 million iPhones sold total so far. None of those 70 million or so people can see your Flash-based portfolio on their iPhone.

When In Doubt, I Call RC
If we want iPad and iPhone users to see our portfolio, we’re going to have to use something other than a Flash-based portfolio, or keep the Flash for your computer-based viewers, but swap out iPad and iPhones users for some sort of HTML portfolio.

Now, I’m lucky. I’ve got RC Concepcion on my team. As you probably already know, RC is a Web/photography wizard, and in just two days, RC was not only able to come up with a solution for me, he added something that totally blew me away.

First, if you click on the Portfolio link here on my blog, you get my full Flash-based portfolio (the new version we updated earlier this year, which was based on flash-templates from Diablo Tibi, one of the talented designer brains behind Flashcomponents.com)). However, if you come to my site on an iPad, and click that same link, RC set it up so you go to a different version of my portfolio—an HTML and Javascript version that works on an iPad or iPhone, and (get this), you can change images by swiping your fingers, just like you would normally on an iPad or iPhone (he did that using a common jquery library – Galleria).

(ed Note: Single Finger Swiping on the gallery is now live – RC)

Now, he had some help from Alan Brusky of Fireleaf Design (link), and together they created this alternate portfolio, complete with thumbnails, finger swiping (or you can tap on the photo to advance to the next photo), and the good news is—RC is making all this a part of his new class called “Portfolio Power” (I’m not sure if it’s an online class or just a DVD), but either way—he’s including four templates you can use for this type of stuff today (which includes the one he using for me).

We Need a Plan Now
By next weekend, more than a million US users will be missing your Flash-based portfolio. Don’t wait. Come up with a plan now. I’m having to do the same thing here on my regular blog. I use a Flash-based player for videos I embed on the blog, but I can get around that, and make my videos playable on iPhone and iPads by simply uploading them to YouTube.com instead.

Now, I’m not giving up on Flash—-I love Flash personally, but I want to make sure I’ve got a Plan B—a back-up plan, for anyone visiting my site without Flash support. Also, I know a lot of photographers have been doing this “visit the HTML version” for a while now, so I’m not breaking new ground here, but Flash has received such wide support that few photographers have had to worry about a browser not supporting Flash. Until now.

Let’s Help Each Other Out
That’s my plan for now, but it’s still evolving, so I’m totally open to hearing your ideas for serving video to this market, and for having a way to show your portfolio online so it can be seen to iPad and iPhone users. I really want to hear what you’re doing—-my work, what you’ve tried, and I know a lot of others will be interested as well.

Thanks RC for helping me out (you’ve done it again, my friend!), and for passing on what you’ve learned to me, and my readers. Also, many thanks to Diablo for the incredible Flash work you’ve done for the community, and to Alan for helping make sure RC didn’t get any sleep this weekend.

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Scott Kelby Author
Scott is a Photographer, bestselling Author, Host of "The Grid" weekly photography show; Editor of Photoshop User magazine; Lightroom Guy; KelbyOne.com CEO; struggling guitarist. Loves Classic Rock and his arch-enemy is Cilantro. Devoted husband, dad to two super awesome kids, and pro-level babysitter to two crazy doggos.
101 comments

    1. Myself not being a master at anything web-design related, I second this vote. Even though I don’t happen to use Flash on my site (because I don’t know how to do it), I think most photographers just use Flash templates. So an instructional video for those who need to add or switch to something more accessible would be helpful.

    2. Une gros merci – A big thank you Scott for this article on how to produce a portfolio presentation using alternative production techniques. Though I’m not web-savy enough to make these changes, my web master, Derrick Hanni is, and I will certainly forward these tips on to him, as well as many other fellow photographer.

      … and I second Mike’s motion to place RC’s video on Kelby-Online. :-)

      Keep up the great work!
      Cheers-Salût,
      Frederic in Montreal, Canada

  2. Matt Kloskowski’s portfolio is a brilliant way of showing how it should be done in that it is cross platform/device. It looks brilliant, it works fantastic on the PC, and works well on the iPhone (a little slow on my 3G, but I’m sure the 3Gs and the iPad would work quickly).

    1. Matt’s site is using pretty much the same type of Jquery based models that Scott’s using in the Ipad portfolio.

      Personally, I love the Flash stuff Diablo’s done.. and I love having a separate version for Android/Apple devices. To me, as much as cross platform sounds cool.. I kinda like the tailored experience.. makes you look bigger..

      Something to keep in mind..

      RC

  3. I created a javascript based site as well – oddly enough when you flip horizontal it looks like it was originally designed for the iPad – which it wasn’t. I run a design company so I just made some assumptions a while ago on usability and so far so good. I like the HTML/javascript + open source model as a cost effective way to go. No swiping though which would be cool.

    http://www.photographyri.com

    As for video – vimeo? or embedded quicktime perhaps?

  4. Protecting your images:

    Many photographers use flash to display their images professionally and protect them from being downloaded and reposted, edited, etc. Given Galleria, your images can be downloaded.

    Is there a way to protect your images when using the Galleria script or any other IPAD friendly solutions?

    1. Hi Raf,
      Unfortunately there is no way to protect your images from being saved by someone once you upload them to the public. Most people just do a screen capture if it’s a Flash site. Watermarking is what some people do to ward off thieves. Basically if you can see it, you can grab it. Just FYI. :)

      2. yes although in the case of a screengrab its not going to be nescesarilly high res enough for anything else but the web (in which case I’m starting to watermark even flash images), and with the Ipad, depending on how you have your portfolio setup they wont be getting a full Image if they screengrab, so with watermarking if you want to prevent your images from being used for financial gains your safe on that front…In todays web theres not too many ways to keep your images safe, but the best you can do is limit their use outside the web…

      3. If the flash site is dynamically generated i.e. has an admin section where the end user can add images to it, rather than a developer re-compiles the flash file, it is very easy to intercept the data-feed to the client side flash and thus get access to the images in their jpg form, if the flash is recompiled every time photos are added, it is still relatively simple to de-compile and extract the images, although it does take longer than the other.

  5. I vote for not going to the trouble and cost of changing our websites just to accommodate an obvious and fundamental deficiency on the iPad. What’s needed is for Apple to respond to the needs of the market, rather than dictating them.

    I know far more people who aren’t going to buy an iPad than those who are, it’s a significant majority. Some of these people are waiting for Apple to sort a few things out, including Flash, others wouldn’t buy one even if it supported Flash. But all of these people have a computer, Mac or PC, and that is their device of choice for browsing the web – not the iPad.

    Remember the Betamax video format? Did everyone rush out and cover both technologies? No.

    This photographer isn’t going to rush out and change anything.

    1. 500-700k sold on Saturday and as many as 5-10 million this year is a lot of surfers ti just ignore. I iPhone never had Flash so a problem is going to get even bigger. This will be an even bigger issue as HTML5 becomes more and more the norm.

      You need to read http://bit.ly/akHHMJ and http://bit.ly/c2pUpg

      The first one strikes directly to the heart of why Apple is not interested in Flash.

      I think this pretty much sums up the matter:

      “Gruber wrote that publishers have a simple choice: “do something other than Flash and get your content on the iPad, or stick with Flash and ignore the iPad. Complaining about the iPad’s lack of Flash doesn’t constitute a decision.””

    2. Interesting: you raise a good point, in questioning how many photography-portfolio-viewers are going to be using an iPad but the rest exhibits a real dinosaur of an attitude, if I may say so (probably not, hey ho). I hardly think it’s a matter of Apple dictating needs, but it is a conscious decision that the iPad might be suitable for people with no need of Flash.

      Flash is only a proprietary platform. It’s been out for decades and so has some appeal to “the majority” of people. That probably doesn’t include me; historically I’ve lived on versions of linux that could not support Flash in their browser (early days of firefox and then some), so I’m accustomed to seeing it in use and moving swiftly on. Now I use Chrome on a mac, and I don’t think I’ve missed much: as soon as I see a plethora of jangling spinners and “loading…” pages, I refuse to be constrained to some other idiot’s exhibition experience, and quit the site fast anyway.

      I guess if you’re so antagonistic to your viewers as to impose flash-only on them (without even HTML+JS as a fallback), you won’t hear about the rest of the people except as a bounce-ratio statistic in your web-analytics. That’s not how I treat my visitors, though, especially when there are ways that are accessible to *all*; I truly despise “majority”-ism.

      As a platform, especially for the purpose of photographers’ portfolio sites, I expect its popularity will tail off, hopefully with the ascendancy of HTML5+JS, maybe with the rise of some other technology, but fundamentally because these standards are available for all to implement, which Flash still isn’t.

    3. Interesting “Chad” – your willing to say “piss off” to the 700,000 people who bought an iPad this Saturday and the millions who follow after them because you got a hair up your butt about Apple/iPad. Me personally, I am not willing – for the sake of trying to be cool – to ignore any market that large. But I’m glad you are. One less competitor.

    4. This is the part that I found funny.. Adaptability is a big problem on the web. Sometimes things stick around waaay too long because someone may be using a specific piece of technology (IE6).

      So, Adobe and Apple go head to head on Flash. What does Apple do? They say “We can do it without it” and move on. In the 2 weeks pre-release some of the biggest players are updating their stuff to HTML5 – and I predict that this cutover will only get faster as more momentum is made.

      As much as I love Flash – the arguments of it being resource heavy for this kind of thing can be valid in many circumstances – and having devices like the ipad go without Flash and do it another way may just be what the market needed.

      The photographer that doesnt rush out and change anything will be the photographer who isnt working to the best of his ability.

      Im not a big mac apologist (Use a Droid in a sea of Iphones) but I also think Apple doesnt -need- to -respond- to the market demands. They need to do what they think will be good for them. To me, it seems like they have a knack thinking past what the customers -think- they need and more to what they want. Kinda like the the Henry Ford quote everyone uses

      “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

      3. Is Apple not supporting Flash the new Microsoft not supporting web standards? Nobody cares but the developers. Users are simply going to continue expecting sites to work so we as site builders do what we must to make that happen.

      4. I suppose when one has photos not worth stealing the absence of flash is not a problem.
        Particularly amusing is that somehow computer and application expertise now translates to being a “photographer”!

      5. Ansel:

        Believe you me.. the luckiest thing someone can do for you, is actually steal one of your images. If you think that Flash saves you from that, I have a bridge to sell.

        -everything- can be stolen on the internet.

        Here’s quick example:

        I’ll go to your Flash website with a 27inch monitor.
        I will maximize as much as I can on my screen.
        I will hit Alt-Control-Print, or its Mac derivative.
        I will Open Photoshop.
        I will click on File>New and it will remember the settings that I just put into the clipboard.
        I will hit Edit>Paste

        Flash security done..

      6. Stephen, What’s intersting is that you compare Apple to M$ when the reality is that M$ was always about making proprietary methods that ran around standards and created a dependancy. That is the reason they sat on their hands with IE6 for almost 7 years before upgrading it. What Apple is doing is freeing the web from Adobe’s benign indifference of Flash as a method they own and control. What Apple is saying is that Adobe has become an M$ when it comes to Flash. They fact that they don’t seem to be able to program the player well on the Mac OS was the nail in the coffin.

      7. Ansel, RC. Yes, print screen will do wonders but there is an even better way. Tools like firebug will give you the direct source link to any jpg being loaded through flash.

        Michael: That’s fair. My intentions were not to make a direct comparison but a thought that the only ones really complaining about Flash not being supported, are those wanting to build with it. It’s only loosely related.

      9. Ansel: What RC means by that is if your images are registered, you’ll earn much more through copyright infringement then you would by selling the photo. That’s not arrogant or stupid.

    5. I personally use an iPhone away from home and an iMac at home (I’m in the UK and the iPad hasn’t been launched here yet, but it will be on my shopping list when it does).

      Most of the portfolios I look at I usually find whilst surfing via the iPhone, if I like what I see I then I bookmark the site for further enjoyment and possible purchase, these are then sync’d to my main home system. If I can’t see the portfolio on my iPhone then I don’t bookmark. So in your case Chad, even if your work was out of this world I would never see it, or possibly buy it.

      Remember even the dinosaurs died out after ruling the earth for millennia ;-)

    6. “What’s needed is for Apple to respond to the needs of the market, rather than dictating them.”

      I don’t think Apple has ever responded to the needs of the market. I’ve always seen their MO as being a market leader, innovator and a game changer. Apple does dictate the market need to a certain extent, and they always have. They revolutionized the portable music player with the iPod and iTunes.

      In this case, the game change is getting people to change their content in order to be accessible to the 700k + users of the iPad and Touch. You may not like it; however, if you’re running a business and potential clients may be using an Apple device to find you, wouldn’t you want to put forth the best available content?

      Just remember, if what you’re doing isn’t getting you what you want, either change what you’re doing or change what you want.

      I think Scott was very smart about changing what he is doing… and he has RC with mad, mad webmaster skills to help make it happen.

  6. I am not a huge fan of I-Anything, largely due to it’s closed source policy.

    However much I would like to say let Apple deal with it, the problem is they are not going to do Flash due to politics, and the masses don’t care. They want it, and will use it.

    Photographer portfolios will have to adapt. There are 15 + I-pad alternatives being released this year form the likes of Microsoft, Dell, and Acer. But again, while you may opt for one, the masses want what everyone else has.

    If you use your website for business, there is no doubt not having a flash alternative will hurt you. Whether you like the I-Pad or not.

    Dave

    1. Well put, which is why I did my entire site in html/java. Flash is beautiful, but I don’t want anyone to have trouble viewing my site. Looks good on the iPad, too. It’s a shame that corporate politics makes it so much trouble for the masses.

    2. I do use my website for business, the same goes for thousands of other companies – photographers or not. Is each and every one going to pander to Apple? I don’t think so.

      1. It’s not just Apple now; you’ve been pissing-off people such as 64-bit Linux / firefox users, or indeed anyone with merely an incompatible implementation of Flash (official version when macromedia/adobe deign to support an OS, or an open-source implementation), for decades already!

      2. I think the people who aren’t photographers that are using it for business don’t really have a problem, and probably aren’t bothered by the ipad/iphone situation, arent reading this blog, and could care less of the change. Those arent the people we’re talking about, though..

        Don’t use your ability to comment on the blog to remind everyone that you are not a part of groupthink. We get it.. you’re different.

        Now think back to what you will do, as a creative person, to address that even more people will be looking at your wares and not be able to. That’s the question at hand.

    3. Dave,
      I understand your concern about closed platforms. I used to buy into that argument until I started to analyze what “Open” meant to me. I am not a developer and never did any programing or modifications that would have made sense. I know everyone wants to be ‘free’ to do as they wish and they should but for the majority of consumers, we don’t know what we are missing and don’t care. We use what is available and function and that is all we need. We just want our hardware to work and want the websites we visit to be visible. You are right we will keep on going if the site doesn’t work when I browse there on my iPad.

      Michael

  7. Hello Scott,

    Great show. Love the topic. You may want RC to check out what is coming down the pike regarding video on the web. H.264 combined with HTML 5 will eliminate the need any external codec interpretation. As for the use of jscript I would not use too much of it because of it’s security vulnerability for both the server and end user – even for MAC, Linux, BSD, etc users.

  8. But there IS going to be Flash on the iPad according to Adobe! How about those AIR readers for the NY Times, Boston Globe, etc. They are supposed to work. I don’t know how the Adobe Packager in CS5 is going to help us with our websites, but it’s incorrect to say that there will be NO Flash on the iPad or iPhone. Here are some links with more info:

    http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/
    http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplatform/2010/01/building_ipad_apps.html
    http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/27/adobe-flash-ipad/

  11. Call me foolish, but I usually prefer the html scaled down versions now being created for the iphone/ipad. It’s causing developers to consider building for simplicity and usability as opposed to building for flashy bells and whistles. (not this site in specific but others in general)

    I like this ipad version. Looks just as good in my regular desktop browser as well ;)

  12. yeah, me too, starting to rebuild my site with ajax and html stuff, i need all the eyeballs i can to be able see my portfolio. this is going to be a new and exciting turn for photography and the way we do business.

  13. Ok, I was not at home Sat. and i’m siting on the porch scooping out the UPS guy now. I talked to a company on Friday about a new website and I thought about using them (no names). I have asked NAPP for a suggestion on a reputable company to do a new web page but no response so far. Can anyone suggest a company that will be sure that my site will be available to Ipad owners? I want quality and ease of use (not concerned about price). There are so many!!!

  14. My main site is compatible with the iPad and iPhone and does not use Flash at all, yet has many of the visual features of Flash. Furthermore, it is extremely SEO friendly because the whole site is based on a Word Press blog architecture. If you need to make changes to support the iPad/iPhone, I highly recommend this platform. I moved away from a flash-based site in November and it was completely worth it.

    So, here is how you do it. If you don’t have hosting yet (or need to switch), sign-up for a hosting account that supports Word Press. You can find some cheap ones on the main Word Press .org site. Then, you need a theme. I am using themes from Graph Paper Press (I am sure you can guess the address). Frankly, I love the themes. They have nice slide shows, post “sliders”, and support non-Flash video for the iPad/iPhone.

    Thought I would toss that out there as a good option. Just as a side note, I have no relationship with Word Press of Graph Paper Press. I just happen to really like both.

    P.S. – Extra special bonus – Graph Paper Press supports integration with PhotoShelter, for those that use that service. But then again, you already knew that.

  15. I was trying to see the review on Terry White’s site but it seems that it is not working.

    Also I cant decide whether to get the 3g version or the WiFi, any thoughts or suggestions?

    1. Depends on what you need. I pre-ordered a WiFi version and will eventually have a total of 8 for my business. They will be used where there is always WiFi so no need for 3g.

      My “personal” iPad will be 3g so I can have more mobile connectivity options.

  16. Of the 700,000 who’ve already bought the iPad, 700,000 probably have some form of PC also and it will be some little while (if ever) before they ditch their PC and fly solo on the iPad. With over 1 billion PCs in the world and, by end 2010, only 4 million or so iPads, it’ll be some while before the majority of the potential customer base will need anyone to replace Flash galleries. As for portfolio review on the iPhone – is anyone serious about that? Don’t get caught up in the hype and over-react. Let the noise die down and then see which way the wind is blowing before making hasty decisions to completely re-write your site.

    I recently switched to a WordPress theme that supports both Flash and JS galleries and I use both. My Flash header shows on my iPod Touch as a static image so I don’t have any holes in my site.

    I think serving up different versions based on the connected device as Scott has described is the prudent course for the time being. Yes, the iPad is here but there are more tablets on the way and Apple didn’t win the PC war so if the competing tablets offer more of what the consumer wants, the iPad may end up as niche as the Macintosh over time.

    As a Kelby Training subscriber, I’d really love JCs class to be available on-line.

      1. I will be demoing my iPad at my Mac User Group this month and photo slide shows will be one of the demos. I do think this is a photographers dream device in that regard. I could even see high end wedding photogs selling an iPad package of slide shows or keynote presentations for the happy couple and family.

  17. Hey Scott I know you are a big Apple guy, but Blackberry’s also do not support flash. I was wondering if you had plans to convert your portfolio for Blackberry support? When I went on mine it told me I needed to upgrade my flash player which is impossible.

  19. Scott:

    Congratulations on yet another invigorating discussion about a polarizing topic. You got in Apple, iPad and Flash. Next time, you need to go all the way and include other hot topics like HDR and Sarah Palin.

    All that aside, thanks for the ideas. I’ve tried to keep Flash out of my site for a couple of reasons, but primarily due to iPhone and expectations for the iPad. I didn’t consider the option of splitting up the presentation depending upon the device, but it’s a fine idea. Now I just have to figure out how I’m going to do it.

  21. Now while I think it is important to have a good website that people like I prefer a paper portfolio and here’s why. If I’m going to hire a professional photographer to shoot something or someone the end product is going to be prints. While it’s cool to be able to hand someone some device (an ipad or similar device) to show your work it’s not going to work for me. I’m going to want to see some prints. So don’t forget that aspect when you are making decisions on what to show clients. Don’t just hand them an iPad and say see look at all my work.

  22. if all it did was show my photos i think i’d consider buying it; i think smugmug’s video slideshows work just fine. I’m waiting for a 3G one, but I can’t wait to get one.

    what I REALLY REALLY want is a shopping cart app so i can hand it to a client and they can view pics, see the different sizes (life size for the smaller sizes) and create an order; then maybe accept payment/ maybe not.. this isn’t a deal breaker; just a list of exactly what they want would be wonderful.

    If someone would make this app that would totally justify the device by itself.

    I’m interested to see if i can bootstrap something like this once i get my hands on one, but a dedicated app would be killer.

  23. The iPad is without doubt a ‘must have ‘ piece of hardware; if not now then certainly in the very near future.

    This issue with Flash based sites is a BIG one. Now, I have a site made by Livebooks which has a parallel HTML site containing all my portfolios. Admittedly the HTML portfolios are no way near as sexy as the Flash based ones but atleast it works; on the iPhone, iPod Touch, browsers without Flash etc …. so this is a solution.

    For those exclusively with a Flash site then sure, things need to be done otherwise potential clients simply aren’t going to see your work and even more so in the future as more and more people buy the iPad.

    Cheers for the post and the ‘heads up’ Scott,
    Glyn

  24. Because most serious users now have high speed internet connections, I decided not to do flash on my web site. It works well and in over a year I have had no complaints about slow loading time.

    There is quite a bit of talk these days of HTML 5 replacing flash, time will tell, in the meantime my site is doing quite well w/o using flash.

  27. You see here’s what doesn’t make sense…instead of Apple conforming to the standards of today’s Web/Internet; Apple is making people revolve their sites/ designs and workflow around their technology…why? Why should everyone make life easy for them only?!

    1. Actually Flash is not an open standard. It is owned by Adobe. I see Apple as doing a favor that no one else could do by breaking down the dependency on Flash. HTML 5 is an open standard.

  29. Here’s my thinking on the re-design issue. My portfolio page is in need of a drastic update. It is getting old and is also based on flash templates to display all of my galleries. I think that this is an opportune time to rethink my page and consider using an alternative to flash to display my work. I don’t have any fancy splash screens so my real goal is to use something like a PHP/Wordpress solution, which will allow me to easily update content while providing a good viewer experience much like Matt Kloskowski’s new site (http://www.mattkloskowski.com/).

    As for the discussion on html5, there is more and more development going on with this new standard and browsers that will support it. Until recently, there were only a handful of browsers to have html5 support including Safari and Chrome but Firefox is now in the fold with their newly released version 3.6.

    I think that it only makes sense to look for universal alternatives that will be broadly usable in the future. That isn’t to say that Flash won’t be but for right now I will probably seek an alternative to reach the largest audience possible, including those folks on iPhones and iPads.

    By the way, I don’t have an iPad yet because I am waiting for the 3G version, which will be better suited to my needs.

  31. I have never used flash for my sight as I always felt it was bloated and unecessary.

    I use WordPress with a gallery script that uses JavaScript. Additionally I use a iPhone wordpress theme that looks awesome on an iPhone and I will start working on a theme for iPad. It’s a future proof site that looks good and is easy to maintain and manage. Why complicate your life with flash?

  32. Hey Scott, our company is moving over to Kaltura for video hosting/streaming. The have a flash based player but when someone on an iphone or ipad taps to play the video it streams an h.264 instead and plays it through the default device player. Read the terms/conditions of youtube some day and you’ll never upload there again. hehe

  33. This post inspired me to finally do something about my site. I have been laying the framework for a while, but I just hadn’t pulled the trigger on the setup. I have been using SlideshowPro Director to publish slideshows on my website for all my portfolio categories – which was an important part of the recipe. I used to have a Flash slideshow intro. I took away the flash intro for a (currently) plain front page, but the portfolios are still in Flash…. and that is where the magic happens. I am using the great combo of SlideShowPro, SlideShowPro Director and a little plugin called iShowPro to great effect – so when you hit the portfolio button on an iPhone, it automatically takes over and shows you an HTML/Javascript version of my portfolio gallery. I haven’t tested on an iPad yet, but it looks great on an iPhone. Now I (truly) feel better that iPhone users and now iPad users can view my portfolios if they want. Thank you for that final kick in the pants, Scott!

  34. I am left with the impression now that all major image buyers will be making the decision based on a 9.7″ screen?
    Yeah I’ll probably get one when all the bugs are done coming to light and the hype settles down so no I am not against the iPad or the way Apple pushes it’s idea of what is best for me. Just getting tired of no rational discussion, if you point out a flaw or something that you don’t like you instantly become a ‘hater’ or just plain wrong. Yes it will change things but probably not the way most figure.

    1. Ditto on the ranting. There are several flaws to my iPad. There will be a better model out next year (always is). Unseen consequences is one of my favorite Change Theory areas, which takes you to the heart of Complexity and Chaos Theories.

      The 9.7 inch screen is gorgeous. I am simply floored at how beautiful the images look on mine. This was one of the biggest reasons I bought one.

  36. The Flash issue is not new, it’s only recently been highlighted by Apple products. For years (Windows Mobile/Opera) I’ve been using mobile devices to view web content, and it’s only in the last year I’ve been able to view Flash on my phone.

    Redesigning a site like this isn’t a job for a one man team who’s struggling to make ends meet with all the encroaching weekend/part-time photographers. They don’t have the resources, the money or the skills. It’s not a matter of ignoring the market they can’t afford to deal with the extra cost of developing a separate site just for the I craze. How many photographers can pay a designer to deisgn and implement two sites? In fact how many photographers need this if they are a SMB company targetting local markets? Probably very few. Statistically I’ve had maybe 8 iPhone hits in a year over 3 sites (UK). I’ve just checked the logs, in comparision I’ve had 12 Nokia, 83 Opera Mobile and 41 other embedded browsers. Out of the thousands of hits that’s a very low statistic.

    Flash also isn’t going to go away. HTML 5 is too immature plus there’s a format war going on with H264 Vs Ogg which isn’t going to go away any time soon. For media creation and simplicity Flash is the winner here. With using JS script libraries and various galleries you still have to spend time debugging, testing and all that stuff with the top 4 browsers and even then you’re not sure if some obscure set up in Bangalore is going to screw the whole lot up. Flash works, simple as. If Apple opened their APIs and had a open system instead of obstructing and hindering other competition then the world would be a better place.

    Flash is also embracing the latest generation of technology. A fact that people neglect to mention with GPU acceleration. There’s only 2 browser engines that are available that can take advantage of this. Opera’s Peregrine and also Firefox (Webkit). Safari has some form of it I believe but it’s not cross-platform. If we are going into streaming video you need some form of GPU acceleration otherwise the low-power processors appearing in the mobile markets are going to crumble under the workload. Flash also has the compelling single advantage of target once and display many, something that HTML can only dream of. HTML 5 is already causing divisions in what is a complicated enough field as it is!

    Here’s where things get interesting; HP have the Slate, if it does half of the things that’s rumoured then it’s the best companion for a photographer. Why? Simple if it’s supports Microsoft Notes you can draw, write and design projects (similar to their Courier project) but not only that with the USB connector you can do RC on your camera. Yes, if it’s possible and it there shouldn’t be a reason not to you can use Live View and remote control your camera so your client can see the shot as you take it. Beats taking a laptop. Oh and it supports Flash through Windows 7. So not only can you display your ‘folio as you intended you can create Flash demo movies. The you have the Windows 7 Phone which will support Flash, so to reiterate the point what’s the point of developing a seperate site just for Apple products?

    Apple is causing the problem when they should be providing the solution. They are forcing designers to bend over backwards to support their products. Apple used to be the friend of designers and media artists, these days they are rapidly becoming our bane. Sad in a way as I cut my teeth on System 7.

    1. Just a couple thoughts:
      “Apple is causing the problem when they should be providing the solution.” They would say they are giving the real solution by moving the web away from being locked into Flash as a closed standard.

      Slate & Win 7 Mobile – I am sure Slate will be a fine device and fail just like all the other Windows Tablets because they are based around a non-touch centric OS. As for Win 7 Mobile/Fail. It is doomed before it hits the streets. It has no backward compatibility, no software base, and is an extension of the Zune strategy, which so far is #MAJORFAIL.

      “If Apple opened their APIs and had a open system instead of obstructing and hindering other competition then the world would be a better place.” And this would benefit Apple how? I would also like a solution to world hunger and if you would just rephrase the statement as “If Microsoft opened their APIs and had a open system instead of obstructing and hindering other competition then the world would be a better place.” It’s all about making money. Apple will have a larger Market Cap then Microsoft by the end of this year. Who would have imagined.

      1. Windows 7 is touch and mouse centric by design, the API is part of the core OS. Check out Microsoft Surface that’s used extensively by companies it uses Windows 7 as it’s core operation system with .Net libraries. Programming made easy.

        Will HP’s Slate be a success? I have no idea, but I put across why I would use it over a Ipad. I don’t need media consumption and to be tied into lockstep hardware/software. As a business I need a device that can organically grow with me. This is why I’ve never bought a Iphone especially when the mediocre offerings from other suppliers the only advantage I have with WinMo devices is that it ties in natively into Outlook and that is a major deciding factor.

        Zune has been a failure mainly because it’s been targetted to the States only plus it’s never really been advertised. Arguably it’s got a better subscription service and by many opinions a far better sound quality. However Zune will be coming in other forms such as WinMo 7 and other devices such as the Xbox systems and more. Remember unlike Apple Microsoft is playing a far, far bigger game than Apple it’s targetting gaming, home entertainment, car entertainment and also Cloud services to name a few projects.

        Having open APIs hasn’t hurt Microsoft’s bottom line, in fact it’s probably one of the reasons why it’s still the biggest and most sold OS in the world today (in case you haven’t noticed Win 7 usage is now over 10%). In fact they now work hand in glove with many software and hardware manufacturers to insure device compatibility. Look at Windows Device stage one prime example of that new way of thinking. Apple on the other hand have hurt software and hardware companies the most notable being Adobe forcing them to release Photoshop CS 4 without 64bit support for OS X. When they switched over platforms to Intel a lot of legacy programs had to be discarded.

        The last point I will make by your argument is that Apple should have failed years ago when you drag up backwards compatibility. This is the biggest failing of Apple over Microsoft and why Microsoft has had so many issues with Windows. x64 is the first real break for them away from 16 bit computing. Metro for WinMo 7 is also a major shift in thinking for mobile devices and has also garnered a lot of positive press. Don’t be surprised to see it being used on more devices in the future. Like Iphone OS it’s designed to work on a wide range of displays. Will it be a success? Probably, Windows Mobile still has more devices than Apple has in the field, admittedly not all will be for smart phones. Also backwards compatibility isn’t being dropped, you will have two branches of code WinMo 6.5 and WinMo 7 for two distinct markets.

  37. So where did the 700,00 number come from? The SF Chronicle is reporting 300,000 but not clear on their source either. Do these numbers include all of the pre orders since March?

  38. On a slightly related note, I would love to see a mobile version of your site, Scott. When I view it with my BlackBerry, I’d love to see the typical mobile one-column layout instead of the desktop version. For the iPad, it could be entirely different. The problem however is -most of the time- the same: no Flash…

  40. I’m coming from a different point-of-view: someone who needs to start a photography business-specific website. What should I do? Nothing to fix or update, just starting from scratch…

    I think the big lesson from this discussion is that everyone needs an RC. You rock, buddy!

    1. When designing a site it comes down to your target audience and what part of the world you’re in. Also how much hands on do you want to have with the site? With Flash one of the best CMS systems arguably is SlideShow Pro, but with HTML you have several PHP and JS libraries (Moo Tools, JQuery, etc) that can be used. You also have CMS systems like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal et al. Each have their strengths and weaknesses. Whatever you do don’t have a complete Flash site, Flash is for media content not sites which is where most people go wrong.

      Web design is now more about media awareness as much as is it’s about having a good design. Especially when you have to consider your content, how you want to disseminate and also control it. Static and self-maintained sites are being replaced with dynamic CMS engines making and controlling sites easier than ever reducing the need for hard core HTML coders. There is downsides in that, just like a computer, you have to keep on top of security for a dynamic site.

      Simply put you’ll need to talk to a designer who knows the landscape today and in the future.

  41. “…Now What Do Photographer’s Do About It?” look’s a’s if they break out in apo’strophe’s and s’tart people arguing about a hor’se that is already out of the barn ;-)

  42. I clicked on the Portfolio link, and it opened a webpage that says, “You need to upgrade your Flash Player This is replaced by the Flash content. Place your alternate content here and users without the Flash plugin or with Javascript turned off will see this. Content here allows you to leave out noscript tags. Include a link to bypass the detection if you wish.”

    Why is it that you only offer an alternative to iPhone and iPad users? I am on a PC and I can’t see your portfolio because I don’t use Flash. I won’t install Flash just to find out whether your portfolio is worth putting up with Flash in order to view it.

    1. Don`t worry you are not missing anything! The images are fine but the Flash presentation is absolutely crap! It is beyond me why Scott presents his portfolio in such a hideous manner!

      Oh yes I remember, he has to keep Adobe sweet!

  45. Scott,
    Just got an iPad and I was looking through the ibooks store, and could not find any of your digital photography books. Will they be on there soon? It seams the iPad would be a great platform for them.

  46. What about a movie? I don’t have an ipad so I don’t know if this is even working but I made a mobile site http://mobile.f3-2images.com and reworked my galleries using the windows make a movie program. Short on extras but the images are there and viewable instead of a white box.

    I love flash and would rather use it but in the meantime I’m hoping that this works.

  47. Just getting started in photography, EditElf.com has give me a huge advantage over well established photographers. I don?t have to buy expensive editing software, learn all the tricks,and waste time on my computer. I started shooting weddings because I love photography and I love people, so that?s what I spend my time doing!

  48. Now What Do Photographer’s Do About It?

    Learn to use the punctuation marks that we have in the English language. Then learn to use the (rest of the) technology that allows you to communicate with other people.

  49. Personally, I haven’t been using flash based portfolios – I’m half lazy, half ignorant to design. So I’ve been using Lightroom’s excellent web gallery features coupled with a few of my favourite plugins. This includes TTG galleries (The Turning Gate) in combinationwith Timothy Armes (photographers-toolbox) – I HIGHLY recommend the IMPACT gallery from Timothy, coupled with TTG pages you can create separate portofolios, with amazing looking galleries, Flash free and all managed as an export from Lightroom.

    Is it perfect? No. But it’s absolutely a million times better than anything I would be able to code, script, hack together on my own – and it looks polished and professional.

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