Although all of the slideshows I looked at
were essentially similar there was one major difference. The vast majority were
self run, meaning that the viewer had to click an arrow to move onto the next
slide when they were ready. On or two, however, and in my view the best,
were automatic; when the viewer clicked on the show it then ran automatically.
Again the best of these also had an audio accompaniment.
Most had captions to go with the images but one or two did not; this was not
too much of a problem if they were based on a titled theme and bore some
linking relationship, but in one or two the images were unrelated. Some used fading and dissolving to enhance
the effect of the show but many moved from one image to the next without.
The only feature that all of the shows had in
common were that the viewer was presented with a series of images which in some
cases bore no relationship to each other, although the majority were linked by
a theme.
Many do not allow the viewer to choose the
method of playing the show. Those that
are played manually often have thumbnails of the images at the bottom, allowing
the viewer to click on one they are interested in and therefore short circuit
the show. Automated ones allow the
viewer to fast forward. Although the
photographer or publication would no doubt prefer the viewer to view the show
from beginning to end, from the point of view of the viewer who may have time
pressures and is perhaps looking for something specific, being able to short
circuit the show is desirable.
The standard of slide shows varies
tremendously. The least user friendly
are often those of publications, which may be complicated to operate, do not run
smoothly or give the viewer no choice in how the show is viewed. Of the best: those that are automated with a
soundtrack only allow the viewer to watch the complete show or to fast
forward. It would be good to have the
option of a manually operated alternative so that the viewer can dwell on
particular images, perhaps at full screen, although they do generally have the
option of a pause button.
If I were to construct a slide show for one
of these sites my priorities would be:
- automation
- a soundtrack, either commentary or music or a combination
- captions either underneath the slides or superimposed on the image. The caption could be programmed to fade in and out in order that the image can be viewed without the distraction of the caption
- the option to pause in order to view an image in detail and in one's own time or the option of a manual alternative. This would, however, be complicated to construct and take up space on the site.
Magnum Photos Rumble in the Jungle slide show features
images by Abbas and is of the famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and
George Forman in Zaire in 1974. The
soundtrack is a mixture of music and original recording from the build up and
the fight itself. The black and white images
are shown either one at a time or several to a screen. Sometimes they are changed rapidly, giving
the impression of video footage, at other times they are left for longer on the
screen with panning across them. Still
images are interspersed with captions.
Many website packages include a slide show such as
Zenfolio and Clickpic, which I use for my own website. There is also a range of software to enable photographers
to construct their own slideshows. I use
the ProShow Gold produced by Photodex for my own shows. This allows the user to build a sophisticated
show incorporating automation, a fast forward and pause feature, captions, and
a soundtrack. The soundtrack could be a commentary,
sound effects or music, which can be whole tracks or just clips. There is a large range of transitions,
although I tend to keep them to fade and dissolve to avoid distracting from the
images. Images can also be zoomed into
or panned across. As part of this
Exercise I have included one of my own slide shows incorporating all of those features which I consider to be high priority. Unfortunately it doesn't load up to my blog
site but I include it on the memory stick containing my work.
Web
slide shows researched
The Guardian/Observer Month
in Photography. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/interactive/2011/jan/06/new-review-month-in-photography
New York Times Travel's
PhotoFeed Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2014/03/10/travel/travel-photo-feed.html#30
Paris Match Janvier
2011 Available from: http://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Janvier-2011-482803#482844
Stern Available
from: http://www.stern.de/
Visit England Escape
to Another Place Available from: http://www.visitengland.com/experience/escape-another-place
The Telegraph Animal
Pictures of the Week Available from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/8274567/Animal-pictures-of-the-week-21-January-2011.html?image=7
Sodahead.com A Beautiful
Slideshow of Nature Available from: http://www.sodahead.com/living/a-beautiful-slideshow-of-nature/question-1982409/?slide=8
National Geographic Photo
of the Day Available from: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/great-gray-snow-finland/
Magnum Photos Rumble
in the Jungle Available from: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/great-gray-snow-finland/
Northshots Nature
Photography by Peter Cairns Available from: http://northshots.photoshelter.com/
Graham Watson Cycling Photographer Portfolio http://www.grahamwatson.com/galleries/portfolio.html
Graham Watson Cycling Photographer Portfolio http://www.grahamwatson.com/galleries/portfolio.html
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