[sandim]

Hi all,
While waiting for our website to be done, our basic portfolio is up and can be seen at preferredgardens.carbonmade.com.
Reviews appreciated...and our skin is pretty thick.
Thanks!

[msfxJeep]

Some of us have had a discussion on Carbonmade on the design forum. I'm not a huge fan of it because it costs money to get over the stingy limts, and I think it limits the full range of what landscape design portfolios can be by shoving you into the 'Other' category. Plus in all fairness, I have a dog in that fight, so I'm biased.

As far as the portfolio, the only suggestion I would have is to watch the grass length and edging when taking your photos. This is something I run across when putting together photos for publications as well. The camera can bleed the green, which makes the grass seem messier than it is. Keep your grass tight, cuttings bagged and edgings extra sharp for portfolio pics, even tighter than you'd normally want. I notice you kept the hardscape swept for the pics, which is great.

The reason I point this out is because one day you may want to flip your portfolio pics around into print or overhead presentation. Just paying attention to those details will save someone a lot of Photoshop time later.

If you were looking for more of a design critique, I have a different style and aesthetic, so I'll beg out of that opinion and let someone who shares a similar design style give you their opinions.

[sandim]

The only reason it's on carbonmade for now is our website is under construction, but I figured for now it's at least something.

Good points about the grass and the edging, we will have an overhead projector presentation in the future. Thanks for the pointers, much appreciated!

[msfxJeep]

One more trick, if you are interested . . . You are probably like most of the rest of us and use a digital camera to take your own pictures. Some of your pictures are in full sun which washes the color from the flowers. If you take your pictures on a bright, overcast (and dry) day, it will make the plant colors pop in the photos. You can try it. Take a photo of a planter in full sun, then move it to the shade. You can see the difference.

[Stonehenge]

I agree on the overcast day photos. You might also try a polarizing lens to cut down on the washout from the sun.

As for the pics (you said your skin was thick...) - I'm never a fan of the photos taken within a week or two of finishing a project, unless it's a hardscape. The reason is, everything is really small, making the photographic results very underwhelming. It just looks like a bunch of little plants stuck in the dirt. Now I'm sure that in time they will grow and the beds will be beautiful, but right now they don't. Can you take pictures of work you did a year or more ago?

Another thing to consider - I see loads of landscape websites taking pictures of plants as though it was done for evidentiary or legal purposes, not to capture the beauty of the plants. The beauty that most people remember when looking at their plants is the details. So I'd recommend showing some of those. A perfect example is Landarts' website - LandArts: landscape designer, landscaping for Apex, Cary, Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, NC you'll notice that every picture is just trying to capture a portion of that design element, not frame the whole thing. It captures the essence of the thing, and in my opinion, is far more attractive and likely to get clients oohing and aahing. You might consider going back to your projects and taking similar photos, and from different angles.

That's my $.02, for what it's worth.