Photzy

Creating Stunning Online Galleries

Quick Guide
Written by Jenn Mishra
 Photographs, like all art, are meant to be shared. when choosing an online platform to showcase your
The way we share our images is key to how they are gallery. Finally, I’ll talk about effectively displaying
received. your work online.

If you’re anything like me, then you post to various In this eBook, I’ll cover the following:
social media platforms—maybe not every day, but
at least periodically. The internet has made it easy to ·· Selecting images for your online gallery
share photographs. ·· Selecting the best online gallery platform
But it has also made it easy to forget photographs. ·· Displaying your images online
We post images on social media and move on to What you include in your online gallery and how you
the next thing. Our followers glance at an image and choose to organize your images reflects on you as a
either click “like” or don’t. Rarely do we go back to photographer.
look at previous work. We miss the opportunity to
look at our work as a cumulative whole. Let’s start with tips on selecting images. For most of
us, this is the most difficult step. Your gallery will only
In the past, we shared our photos in scrapbooks or as be as stunning as the photos you put into it.
slideshows. Online galleries function in a similar way
for digital photography. Like scrapbooking, there is
an art to presenting our photos. Recommended Reading: If you’d like to
improve your composition skills for better
In this guide, I’ll help you to create a stunning online images, grab a copy of Photzy’s best-selling
gallery. I’ll show you how to select photographs to premium guide: Advanced Composition.
include in your gallery. I’ll suggest features to look for

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 Photographs by Jenn Mishra

I create an online gallery each year to showcase my best work from the year. This becomes my digital portfolio. See the entire gallery: https://adobe.ly/39nlv6y.

Creating Stunning Online Galleries // © Photzy.com 3

 Selecting Gallery Images

Theme Gallery ·· Sunset

Stunning online galleries have a theme. There is a ·· Winter

sense, or feel, to the photos in the gallery. A random
selection of photos will confuse your viewer. ·· 2020 family vacation

Having a theme means setting some rules for the A well-constructed theme allows you to bring diverse
images you include. The good news is that you get photos together under one heading. I have a gallery
to set these rules. How specific you make the rules is that I call “Minimalism.” The subjects are diverse,
up to you. but what they have in common is their composition.
There is a sense of space around the subject. In my
Rules might include subject matter: mind, these images have something in common.

·· Portraits Set Limits

·· Dogs Your gallery doesn’t have to be large. In fact,
stunning online galleries are often small. A handful
·· The color orange
of quality images is much more impactful than 100
Rules might include geographic location: average images.

·· India Set a photo limit for your online gallery and be

ruthless!
·· Yosemite
I work on a system of a dozen photos. I select 12. If I
·· My back garden have more quality photos to include, I select 24. In a
pinch I include 36 photos, but no more—ever.
Rules might include a time when the photos were
taken:

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 Photographs by Jenn Mishra

Photos included in my Minimalist gallery. The photos are of diverse genres and subjects, but they all include a sense of space.

As much as it pains me to choose between my It’s important to limit gallery images. Viewers get
favorite images, I make the hard choice. It’s like bored, so the more photos you have in your online
choosing your favorite child! gallery, the less attention each photo gets.

You can have as few as five photos in a gallery or fifty,

but set a hard limit. Key Lesson: Rules and image limits focus
the content of your online gallery.

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 Showcase Your Best

Choose only your best work. One bad

apple in the bunch can leave a bad taste.

It’s easy to get attached to photos

because of an experience represented
in the image. But only you had this
experience; your viewer wasn’t there, so
they don’t share your feelings. Choose
photos that communicate the feeling
rather than one that elicits a unique
memory.

I took a lot of photos of classic cars in

Cuba. When I created my Cuba gallery, I
selected only the best.

Balance Unity and Variety

There’s a unity to the photos in a stunning

online gallery that make them go
together, but there should also be variety.
Photograph by Jenn Mishra

Each photo should be unique and distinct

and bring something special to the
collection. If I have two photos of the
same waterfall in my Landscape gallery, I
make a difficult decision and cut one.

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 Look for different poses and activities
when photographing people. Look for
various seasons in landscapes. Look for
a variety of perspectives. Mix wide angle
and telephoto images.

Let me take you through my process

when selecting images for my online
gallery of Carnival in Venice, Italy.

I look at all of my favorite photos with

a theme and put them into a folder or
a Lightroom collection. Then I start the
difficult process of culling. It helps me to
not become overwhelmed if I put similar
photos together and take the best from
this small group.

I started with 82 photos from Venice

carnival. These are my favorite photos.
I’d posted these photos on my Facebook
page and other social media platforms.
Photograph by Jenn Mishra

A Lightroom screenshot showing the 82 images I was considering for my Venice Carnival gallery. As I mentioned earlier, I limit my gallery
to 36 photos at most. I need to cut the
number of photos in my gallery by more
than half. In Lightroom, I take a look at
the entire album at one time. This lets me
visually see similar photos.

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 I quickly noticed that I had five photos of
the model in white. I focused on this small
mini-collection and kept only one from
the set.

I kept only the strongest photos, and I

looked for similarity and variety. I wanted
both close-ups and photos that showed
the city in context. I wanted variety in
costume color and models.

I refined my gallery rules to focus on

the masked models. This eliminated the
cityscapes and the night parade photos.

My online gallery is now 32 images.

Once you’ve selected the images for

your online gallery, it’s time to choose an
online platform to showcase your images.

Photographs by Jenn Mishra Key Lesson: Select images that

Five similar photos from my favorite Venice carnival photos. go together but have interesting
variety.

Recommended Reading: If you’d

like to improve your composition
skills for better images, grab a copy
of Photzy’s best-selling premium
guide: Advanced Composition.

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 Photographs by Jenn Mishra

The final 32 images included in my Venice Carnival online gallery. See the gallery here: https://adobe.ly/2SZvDLF.

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 Choosing an Online
Gallery Platform

There are many venues for hosting your

online gallery. Some are easier to use and
more customizable than others. Choose a
platform that loves your photos as much
as you do.

If you don’t already have a website or a

place to host an online gallery, here are a
few things to look for:

Cost

There is no need to pay a lot for an

online gallery. There are many free and
inexpensive options. Many people use
online services like Flickr to host their
online galleries. It’s easy to create an
album on Facebook.
Screenshot by Jenn Mishra

A screenshot of online Lightroom gallery format options. Notice that I have the option to share the gallery If you use Adobe Lightroom to edit your
to everyone or by invitation only. I have a few options for how the photos will be displayed. photos, you already have the ability to
create online galleries. Create a collection
and sync the collection to your online
Lightroom (https://lightroom.adobe.
com/).

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 You will have the opportunity to customize your these at your discretion, but I’d caution you to use
collection and share it through a URL. Here is a them in moderation. Your online gallery is about the
screenshot of my India gallery in Lightroom. You can photos, not the flash of dancing images.
view my India gallery here: https://adobe.ly/2PXrRAv.
With your subscription to the Adobe photography Accessibility
bundle, you also receive a free webpage and access
The whole point of an online gallery is to share your
to Behance, an online gallery site.
photos. The gallery should be easy to access. I want
Ease of Use a gallery that I can change easily and one that I can
share with a click of a button.
I have a very limited attention span when it comes to
figuring out websites and apps. If I don’t immediately If you want to sell your work online from the
connect with the platform and have to resort to gallery, look for a platform specifically designed for
reading instructions, I move on. commercial use. Know about any fees and what the
consumer experience is like.
Customization
Storage Space
Look for gallery platforms that allow you to change
the format and add a personal touch. Often, this If you’re going to share many galleries, make sure the
customization comes in the form of gallery templates gallery platform gives you lots of storage space.
or layout options. When Flickr was acquired by Smugmug, they limited
Some common customizations include the following: the number of photos to 1,000 in their free accounts.
This may be fine for you, but before you invest a lot
·· Background colors of time into a gallery, find out what your limits are.

·· Gallery format (tiled, slideshow etc.) Photo Quality

·· Caption and text format I work hard on my photos, so I want them to look
stunning in my online gallery.
Many online galleries have other features you can
play with, such as animations or filters. You can use

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 Photograph by Jenn Mishra

Compare the original image (left) with the image uploaded to my Facebook album (right). Ideally, I shouldn’t be able to see the photo compression.

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 Most gallery platforms compress images. This Downloading and Printing
facilitates loading speeds and allows for more photos
within limited storage. Compression is normal, but I When choosing a platform for your gallery, find out
don’t want the compression to reduce the quality of about downloading options. I don’t allow viewers
my images. of my galleries to download images. But if you’re
sharing your gallery with family and friends, you may
Before you settle on a platform, compare an upload want them to be able to download photos.
with the original photo. I compared an original image
with an image I uploaded to a Facebook album. Online galleries are not necessarily about printing,
Ideally, I shouldn’t see a difference. but it’s nice to know whether this option is available
or not. Many sites allow you to easily print or even
Also, a gallery should never crop your photo unless make photo books from your galleries.
you ask it to.
Key Lesson: Select an online gallery that is
Longevity
easy to use and gives you lots of control over
We’re in a new world with online galleries and photo how your images are displayed. Storage space,
albums. It’s unclear how our photos will pass to the cost, and longevity are also features to consider.
next generation. When deciding where to host my
online gallery, I look for platforms that have a history
and appear stable for the foreseeable future.

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 Displaying Images Online

You’ve chosen your gallery images and

an online gallery platform. Now it’s time
to upload your photos and make the
finishing touches.

Resize Images

There’s a balancing act between retaining

the quality of your image and the speed
it takes to view the image online. Your
viewer will likely become impatient with
lengthy loading times.

Once you decide on your gallery host, do

a search for the platform and “optimal
image size.” If you can’t find image size
recommendations, a length of 2048 pixels
is a good place to start for online images.

Most post-processing programs allow you

to shrink image size without changing the
crop. If you don’t have a post-processing
program, there are online photo resizing
options. Pic Resize (https://picresize.com/)
is one option.

Save this photo as a copy and then

Photographs by Jenn Mishra upload it to your online gallery of choice.
A screenshot from my Instagram feed @jennatwitsend. The white space between images helps separate and highlight
individual photos, but the images are close enough to be seen as a collection. https://www.instagram.com/jennatwitsend/

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 Choose a Template and Layout Tip: Put your best photos at the beginning
and end of your gallery and group images into
Many online platforms include templates designed
mini-collections.
to take the hard work out of designing your online
gallery. Choose a template that fits your personality
I might also think about grouping similar photos into
and complements your photos. For instance, if you’re
mini-collections. For instance, in a landscape gallery,
posting a gallery of children, then bright colors might
I might put all of my waterfall images together. There
work great, but these same colors might compete
are many ways to organize images: by geography, by
with colorful sunset photos.
color, by shapes, by subject.
Leave lots of space between images. When images
There’s no hard and fast rule on how to organize your
are packed together, they visually melt together. Your
images. Organization will likely vary by collection.
viewer may not see each image as distinct.
Instead of defaulting to organizing by the date the
For instance, notice the white space between each photo was taken, give some thought to how the
image on Instagram. photos are organized.

Order Photos Add Story

Once you decide on your images, think about the Once your images are in place in your online gallery,
order in which they will be displayed. Think about it’s time to add captions and titles to your images.
viewing the collection as a journey.
Let your viewers in on the back story. This doesn’t
People tend to remember what they see first and need to be long; in fact, it shouldn’t be long (at most
what they see last. Choose a few of your strongest 50 words). Adding a story gives your viewers a peek
images to start your collection and end with a few into your creative process. On the following page
stunners. is the introduction to my India gallery. See the full
gallery here: https://www.jennifermishra.com/india.

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 Screenshot by Jenn Mishra

A short introduction for my India gallery on my website.

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 Some online galleries will take metadata
you already have in your photo and
transfer it, whereas on others you’ll need
to add this information. In this screenshot
from my Lightroom gallery on Italy, I
added a personal story behind the image.
The metadata like aperture and shutter
speed were uploaded with the image.

Key Lesson: Stories allow

viewers to connect with your images.

Recommended Reading: If you’d

like to improve your composition
skills for better images, grab a copy
of Photzy’s best-selling premium
guide: Advanced Composition.

Screenshot by Jenn Mishra

A screenshot of online Lightroom image showing the metadata and caption included with the image.

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 Photographs by Jenn Mishra

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 Summary

Creating an online gallery allows me to collect Choosing a high-quality gallery hosting platform is
and quickly share my best work. The gallery key to having a stunning gallery. Choose one that
communicates who I am as a photographer and gives you control over how your images are viewed
shows how I see the world. and which will safely store your images in the long
term. Choose templates and layouts that highlight
Creating a stunning online gallery starts with your images rather than distract from them.
selecting your best images. Limit your gallery by
theme and the number of photos. Include variety Finally, organize your images and add short captions
within the collection. This ensures that your viewer and titles to tell the story behind the images.
clearly understands your viewpoint and can fully
appreciate each image.

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 Self-Check Quiz:

1) What themes might you use for an online gallery?

2) Why is it important to set an image limit for your gallery?

3) What does it mean to include variety in your gallery collection?

4) What are some features to look for when considering platforms to host your gallery?

5) What are some common gallery customization options?

6) Why do online galleries compress images?

7) What is the default optimal image size?

8) Why might you put some of your best images at the end of your gallery collection?

9) What is a mini-collection?

10) Why should you add captions to your images?

Curating Exercise:

Based on the images you’ve created so far, select a theme and create a gallery of no more than 30 of your
best images.

Use the suggestions in this guide to help you cull your images. Select only your best and make sure there is
unity and variety in your collection.

Order the images into a photographic journey. Create mini-collections within your 30 images and select a few
of your best images for the end.

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 About the Author Congratulations! You’ve completed
this Photzy guide!

If you liked this photography tutorial, check

out one of our premium composition guides
to help you produce truly outstanding
images: Advanced Composition.

Jenn Mishra is a fine art travel and landscape photographer

based in the St. Louis metro area. Jenn is an active
photographic educator and has been invited to speak at
conferences such as Out of Chicago. Her photos have been
featured in a number of solo exhibitions. Her studio is Wits End
Photography. If you’d like to continue
Webpage: https://www.jennifermishra.com learning and improving
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.mishra your photography please
visit Photzy.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennatwitsend/

Blog: https://witsend-travel.com/

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jae_at_wits_end/
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