10 Stunning Flash-Free Photography Website Templates
Flash is a terrible choice for your photography website. There, I’ve said it.
Flash is the enemy of search engines. If your potential customers can’t find your website then it isn’t doing you any good!
Be smart. Don’t give in to the hype. Choose a website platform that is strong, customizable, and is Google’s best friend. WordPress.
WordPress is the not-so-secret secret of anyone who knows that a website should be both beautiful AND searchable.
These flash-free photography website templates will help you be on your way to having a gorgeous (can you believe how gorgeous these are?) website that pulls in searchers like flies to some really awesome cake. You can totally do this.
Don’t know how to install WordPress? See the bottom of the post to find out how to get started.
King Size ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION This fullscreen template makes a major impact. I love the shape of the menu and its placement. Click the arrow to slide it out of the way for a fullscreen slideshow. It has a built in blog so your blog will match your site. Very nice.
Photox ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Wow! This one is nice! The galleries and menu layout are well balanced and the full screen background makes a huge statement. This theme could be easily customized to fit every style of photography from the vintage wedding photographer to the most edgy fashion photographer. Really a great choice.
Village ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Village is another fullscreen template with some really cool gallery options. There are several choices for how the thumbnails are displayed. Like King Size, the menu slides out of the way for a full screen slideshow. I think that will really wow viewers. And no flash required!
Photorific ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION I love the detail on the menu in this template. It has such a modern-yet-funky vibe. Full screen again, but with unlimited color options and fonts. This one could basically fit any branding. The galleries have video support as well.
Anan ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Anan is beautiful! Clean, modern lines and simple fonts make this website template a great fit for a lot of photography businesses. It has unlimited color options so you can easily make it your own.
Adventure ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Adventure is a fun template that comes with a lot of cool bells and whistles. It is ipad ready and requires no plugins. Easy peasy!
Picture This ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Picture this is bold and fun. It has unlimited color options and is video capable. You can even have a different photo background or background slideshow for every single page. Nice.
Kin ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Kin’s horizontal scrolling makes it a standout. It has both a light and dark version and is a simple, clean solution.
Galleria ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION Galleria is a nicely styled theme that reminds me a lot of Jasmine Star’s custom website. Galleria has been out for a while so its not a copy. I think it has a similar fashion vibe that is a major part of Jasmine’s image. Very nice template.
Photo Nexus ==> CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION If fullscreen isn’t your thing, Photo Nexus offers a clean, simple design. It comes in both a light and dark version.
Don’t know where to start? Check out GoDaddy for web hosting and an easy WordPress install. It’s all point and click, no code, ftp or other acronyms required.
If you liked these templates or just want to let your photography friends know your website is going to be awesome, please share this post on Facebook or Twitter or give us a +1. Thanks!
The links in this post are affiliate links. I do receive a small commission from any purchases but I would never recommend a product I wouldn’t purchase for myself. The commissions help to keep this blog going and help me afford to keep posting tips and techniques for you. I hope you enjoy these!
Thanks for a great article. I'm wanting to get away from flash AND be readable on iPads, but have had a tough time finding alternatives. Will follow up on these galleries
StephenCook
Hi Stephen,
Here are a few more great WP themes just to make it even tougher :-)
Core: http://www.gallyapp.com/tf_themes/?theme=Core
Digiphoto: http://themeforest.net/item/digifoto-minimalist-photography-theme/411825?WT.ac=search_thumb
Photopro (not ProPhoto which is a different and much more expensive theme): http://creativityincluded.com/genesis-child-themes/photopro/
This last theme is great for client's gallery and much more.
Cheers,
Motti
photosbymottiStephenCookphotosbymottibethanygilbert I looked at the Brick+Mason theme you mentioned in your last post & like it a lot. I particularly like that it's simple to navigate. although most of the listed ones were beautiful, it was easy to get lost. Most of my web visitors get confused with the highly sophisticated themes.
StephenCookbethanygilbert
Yes, you are right! It is exactly what I loved about Brick + Mason so much, it is very simple to navigate and apparently it is very simple to set up as well. Meaning that adding hundreds of photos to a gallery is a breeze.
Hi Bethany
Thank you for some great info. I am a member of Themeforest and I am about to purchase the theme Brick + Mason. The reason some of the WP themes are not so useful to (wedding) photographers is their inability to create a quick gallery from hundreds of photos. Most of them rely on WP upload engine that is, frankly, dreadful.
In your opinion (and experience) which of these themes has the quickest way to create a snazy gallery with hundred of photos?
I am also going to purchase a flash gallery (from Bludomain...I know, I know, they have lousy reputation) because one feature that Flash web site gives me is to upload a client gallery with a password and the ability for the client to choose her favorite images she would want for her album. I receive an e-mail with the selection. So far I have not found any WP theme that can do that. I hope someone will make a WP theme that will have all those features.
What do you think?
Oh by the way, do you use ProPhoto for your blog?
Cheers,
Motti
motti@photosbymotti.com
www.photosbymotti.com/blog
photosbymotti
Hi Motti,
Great comment!
Brick + Mason is a nice theme. I like how it pulls the post thumbnails to the homepage; it really has a nice layout.
To help with the WP image upload check out the Faster Image Insert plugin. You can find it by searching inside of wordpress in plugins/add new. It allows multi image insert and should help solve that problem.
As far as Bludomain, I can't warn you enough about them. It seems you are already aware of their issues so I will just leave it at that. Flash is definitely not the only way to get client galleries for album selection. I use Zenfolio and have the customer add their favorite images to the Favorites folder inside of their gallery. They then use the "send to photographer" link to send me their selections. I can then download the full res files straight from Zenfolio into a folder for their album with no need for going through their wedding images on my harddrives. Zenfolio is primarily a print sales engine so there is that benefit as well. You can setup Zenfolio to display inside of your theme on a page.
I do not use ProPhoto for either this blog or my business blog. This is a theme from Themeforest that I altered significantly. My business blog is one of my designs.
Thanks for your questions. I hope my answers were helpful!
- Bethany
Thanks for a quick reply and for the image uploader tip, I will try it tonight. I found another very nice image uploader that shows images in a Flash gallery but is mobile (iPhone and such) compatible. It's called oQey (http://oqeysites.com/).
I also found a very pretty WP them called Chocolate on Themeforest. However, it looks a bit too complicated and not 100% polished. Never the less, it's worth metioning it.
I am almost for sure will go for the Brick + Mason, I just wished I had a way to try it and see it's working admin. I purchased so many themes (hundreds of dollars) and except one they all were disappointing.
Aa for Bludomain, I was told that if I self host it (I use Dreamhost), I should not have any problems. I looked at Zenfolio (and Smugmug) but it is just one more expense I don’t really want. Like many photographers I don't sell prints therefore Zenfolio might be an overkill.
In any case, I think that having a good blog can solve all SEO issues and direct potential clients. Having Facebook and Flickr will also help.
Thanks again for a great article.
bethanygilbert
Hevcuka good job. I sure appreciate it.
You're welcome Sable. Thanks for reading!
Nice collection. I've used the King Sized theme for an artist previously with great results.
Thanks! King Size is a gorgeous theme. I'd love to see the site if you don't mind posting a link?
This one is also very nice: http://wpthemes.der-design.com/milkyway/
It is! Thanks for posting that, Wendy!
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