Photo Galleries

I have been reviewing a lot of photo gallery software over the past few days. I have found packages that are elegant in their simplicity but limited in their application, as seen in the previous post. And I have found ones that offer so many different features and functionality I’m sure the designers modeled their efforts on Flickr!

It is positively overwhelming.

The simple solution mentioned previously is easy but it relies on referencing a secondary server for critical functions and incorporates third party advertising, neither of which is an optimal choice for a professional presentation.

And the large scale solutions have a host of bells and whistles that takes three to five pages just to list.

My goal is to integrate the display and updating of my portfolio with the digital proofing functions my clients need in one package. It’s going to take more time to simply evaluate the choices than I thought it would take to implement the solution.

I can see how this project could easily turn into a never-ending, time wasting nightmare if I make a bad decision. The trick is to keep looking at things from my clients perspective to ensure the solution I select is going to meet their day to day needs, both now and three to five years from now.

Wish me luck on finding a “middle of the road” application, written by a team who understands the time challenges we are faced with in the business and media worlds.

Check back in a few days to see what solution I have chosen.

edit: I could very easily rewrite the code for the simple solution of teh blog embedded gallery to resolve both of these issues, but that would constitute theft of intellectual property, which is unacceptable. And then there are other problems that still render this option ineffective as a solution that are simply to complex to bother communicating.