After the busiest summer in Lightscape Creations' history and indeed the busiest year as well, there was a need to improve the website and publish all those photographs and services properly.

One of the main problems with diversity of services and products is that eventually, through their introduction, it becomes very difficult to maintain everything on one site, especially when you are competing for page one with specific keywords.  With only the 4 top keywords of each page being considered the strongest and therefore those defining the business, the more diverse you become and the more difficult it becomes to keep ahead.  So, Highland Photography and Scottish Events was born in July !

Of course, things were not as straight forward as they sound.  There were a number of challenges to beat and a number of redesign issues to solve.  I was quite pleased with the previous design and did not want to change it too much but adapt it to the new requirements while hopefully improving customer experience.

Today is the relaunch of part 1 of 3, the Commercial Photography services!  I have incorporated loads of examples of my work for you to browse, facts and case studies as well as customer comments.  I think you will like the new design better and I am happy if you would like to comment back to me using the contact form provided.

Not long ago since we launched our Website Design and Creation Coaching Service and already we have a steady number of enquiries coming in and no wonder!  This service targeted at small and new businesses is unique: we show people how to design and create their own website and we throw them into the limelight of Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation! 

Our first two website customers were delighted as their websites were indexed and ranked by Google within two weeks of publishing the Home Page, making it to the first page straight away for their target market location.  The first website got their first booking through their website a mere few days after creating their services pages and adding their business photograph, taken as part of the service!  The second customer's popularity is constantly growing with customers in love with the new website and their summer diary is already very busy.

If you would like to find out more about the new Web Design Coaching Service, follow the link...

Animated Gif images can add up something really special to your website and the good news is that there are a lot of them available for free on the internet. 

I find that the best providers are

• www.gifanimations.com, 
• www.animatedgif.net,
  
• www.gifs-paradise.com, 
• www.animated-gifs.eu,  and 
• www.gifmania.co.uk. 

Gif images are easy to integrate into your website, like a normal photograph and they come in a wide choice, so you are bound to find something you like. 

Looking for something suitable for a fishing related business website, I found these 2 beautifully smart images...



Happy browsing!

It's been a busy end of year and an even busier start of new year with enquiries coming steadily from as far as Australia.  This is no wonder: since 20th January 2011, we have a Page Rank of 3! 

I wish to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has visited the website, those who have been my customers, those who passed the word around, those who have kindly embraced my advice on the Free Index Forum and given me the opportunity to become one of the top Business Development contributor, those who have provided me with invaluable feedback and, finally, all those who have given me challenges and helped shape Lightscape Creations into the Business it is now.  Thank you!

These guidelines are provided to help those businesses on a low budget to get started with in-situ Wall Product Photography, without the need of a professional photographer. However, it does not remove the need for professional photography as the more polished and, by extension, the more professional the photography, the better the professional image and the greater the sales potential.

Think composition! A simple, uncluttered setting. A long, contemporary sofa against a bare, plain wall, a contemporary, lit lampshade on one side, resting on a simple coffee table, the wall product somewhere above the sofa, away from the lamp for balance. Try a couple of layouts and work out what works best with what you have. If no wall, create one. A very large wood panel or thick cardboard, covered in material or wall paper, placed behind the sit.

Think neutral colours! The wall in white, ivory, beige, pastels or light colours such as green but watch the strength. The sofa must contrast: black, dark brown... Choose two colours and work with them throughout your photograph, varying the shades of each colours.

Think light! A large window behind you would be ideal but not a south facing one if sunny as the sun might throw some strong contrast on the scene. Closing the curtains would introduce colour cast and remove the light which would be killers. Best would be in a conservatory as light would also come from the translucent roof.

Think control! If too much light, remove some. Use net curtains in single or multiple layers to filter strong light (strong light creates strong shadows and strong contrast). Use black curtains to remove light. If you do not have enough light flowing into the room, add some by creating a large white panel (the same was as for creating a wall) or a large mirror and angle it in front of a window or inside the room, next to the window to bounce more light back into the room. Mirrors should always bounce back on the ceiling. Control the amount of bounced light by varying the angle of the reflector: tilt forward or backward but also right or left.

You MUST have enough space to be able to take the whole sofa, including feet, the coffee table and the wall products and leave a small margin all around the whole scene, for eye comfort.

You MUST NOT use the flash as this will overpower the ambient light and flatten the scene, i.e. no shadows, unless you can put the flash on the side.

You CAN improve the overall look by adding a side light, outside the photograph, to provide a small shadow to the side for that all important 3D effect. So, if your lamp is on the left, then a window or a strong white light, a DIY work light for example, to the right are both ideal as they allow you to see the shadows before you take the photograph.

Beware of your shadow!

Finally, remember:

There is nothing wrong with using the same setting for all your wall product photography but bear in mind that it looks less professional and it is less interesting for the customer.

You can simplify your efforts by taking just one really good photograph of your setting and use the inexpensive Photoshop Elements software to cut, resize and superimpose your new designs into the photograph while also varying the colours of the room, without ever having to take another in-situ photograph, but you will have to make sure that the lighting is the same and in the same strength.

We are at the beginning of October and Autumn is truly coming in Perthshire.  The landscape is putting on its seasonal colours and the weather temperamental wintery traits start emerging as one of the most incredible show on earth is about to start.  From October to November, the salmon will go upstream.

There are four really good places to be in Perthshire when Salmon is going upstream and one of them is Blairgowrie. River Ericht has a narrow stretch at Keith Falls, known as Cargill's Leap after Donald Cargill, a local 17th Century Covenanter.  Cargill became outlawed after refusing to acknowledge the laws passed by the King, Charles II.  Pursued by the Dragoons since Perth, he jumped across Keith Falls to escape the redcoat troops which were unable to follow.  These days an 8 miles riverbank path, known as the River Ericht Walk and also the Riverside Walk, passes by a platform overlooking Cargill's Leap, a good place for watching the salmon leap.  For those who do not fancy the walk, then the bridge linking Rattray to Blairgowrie offers another viewpoint as the salmon jump the weir.

Other well-known Salmon Leap waterfalls in Perthshire are:

1. The Falls of Braan.  Park at the Hermitage, north-west of Dunkeld and follow the gentle path which takes you to the romantic folly of Ossian's Hall overlooking the waterfall.
2. Linn of Tummel, 2.5 miles north of Pitlochry.  Going north on the A9, pass the first Pitlochry turn off and take a right turn down a minor road, signposted Foss.  Clunie Power Station is two miles away and has a small car park where you can leave your car.  For details of the walks in the area, contact Pitlochry Tourist Information Centre.
   
3. Buchanty Spout, Easter Glenalmon, near Crieff.  A path starting from the bridge takes you to the spout although care is required at all times as the stones are very slippery.  Although not difficult, under the right conditions this can be a precarious access, but you are literally feet away from the salmon.

Picture 13 of my Landscape Portfolio (currently under reconstruction - September 2011), Colours of Scotland, has been taken at Buchanty Spout.

So, hopefully I'll see you there...

Finally, after months of redesigning the Lightscape Creations (Photography) website in the background, i.e. without publishing it, it was no surprise that when we launched it last week we were no closer than page 8 for local searches on Photographers.   This is when Search Engine Optimisation, also known as SEO, comes in.   A week later, we are now on page one and in some cases we are even number one on page one of Google Search and we have not yet completed the steps we can take.   It is a huge achievement we are very proud of as we did it all by ourselves with some really useful advice from our Milton Keynes mentor at www.internetconsultantmiltonkeynes.co.uk.

We can only emphasise the important part of Search Engine Optimisation when you want to gain web presence.   There are a wide variety of steps that you can take, some you can do yourself if you have control of your own website and others you will need to hire people for, whether or not you have control of your own site.   Either way, you should not leave Search Engine Optimisation alone as your business' first aim is to be seen and that's exactly what SEO will do for you and if you are a small business in Tayside with or without your own website, we can help you.   Please, check our Commercial Photography packages (products relaunched under different names in September 2011 - please check home page for details).

This is it, our new website is here!  We have optimised it for search engines, improved its professional image and made it more user friendly.  Let us know what you think...

Something has happened recently which I thought I would share with you as it may affect anyone and until we know what causes it, it is worth checking.  The consequences are huge as the local searches lead to one single website which in turn implies that other related local businesses become invisible and the local consumer community does not get choice.  Check the full details on my Free Index Lead Entry and if it happens to you, please update the entry.  Thank you!

Lightscape Creations has put together two new packages for small businesses with up to 5 people and located in Tayside who want to boost their professional image and internet presence. 

Either packages will provide you with a set of professional photographs which can be customised to your specific needs and used for any type of business advertising. 

As an extended part of our service, we can also provide you with some advice to boost your website potential, web presence, viewability and hit-rate - based on our own experience of the difficulty of access to quality, jargon-free data and time-consuming activity that this information gathering tends to be. 

Alternatively you may choose to have your stationery designs digitally created and mastered into files, ready for printing at home or at any professional digital printer shop - a one place stop for those who do not really know where to start. 

We are confident that you will see the advantage and unique benefits of these two Business products.  Check our Business Website (not available any more from September 2011) for more details of our half-price introductory offer which runs out on 15/04/2010.  Don't waste time!

We have now completed our first commercial assignment with Start Here! a Life Coaching and Personal Development business based in Blairgowrie, Perthshire. 

Joyce needed some Business Portraits and Personalised Stock Photography for promoting her professional image, website and business advertising and had quite specific requirements.  You can view some of our work on Start Here! Free Index Entry. 

We are delighted to have been given such an opportunity and enjoyable experience and we wish your business every success, Joyce.

Update:  You can now check Start Here! review of our services on Lightscape Creations Free Index Entry.  Thank you Joyce, we always like to see our customers happy!

Lightscape Creations has launched its new e-shop today, a new venture with Photobox ProGalleries and has already achieved its first sale!

We are confident that you will be as enthusiastic as we are about Photobox Products and Professionalism.  All is handled on-line and one of our prints could be yours in less than 2 minutes. 

Visit us at LCP e-Shop.