My Photography Website

Built From Scratch

I didn't begin this website with a grand plan to build hundreds of pages. I started with what I needed most: a place to showcase my photography, explain my services and allow potential clients to learn more about me.

I've always believed that getting something useful online is better than spending forever planning the perfect website. Once the foundation was working, I continued improving it piece by piece.

That approach eventually turned a relatively simple photography website into something much larger. Besides my portfolio and photography services, it now contains articles, guides, photoshoot locations, information about how I work and many of the things I've learned through photography.

The website continues to evolve with my photography business. As I add new services, ideas and information, I also revisit older pages, reorganise content and improve how everything works together.

How I Build the Website

Almost everything you see here is managed by me. Besides creating the photographs, I work on the design, code, written content, organisation and ongoing improvements to the website.

1. Design

   My priorities have always been simplicity and usability. A photography website should make the photographs easy to view while helping visitors find the information they need without unnecessary distractions.
   
   The challenge is that the website has grown significantly over the years. Every new service, article and feature has to fit into an increasingly large structure, so the design and navigation have evolved along with the content.

2. Coding

   I began learning web development during my secondary school days, when I wrote code manually in Windows Notepad. That hands-on approach eventually carried over to this photography website.
   
   The website is built and maintained using technologies such as PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. PHP allows me to reuse common elements and manage a large website more efficiently, while HTML, CSS and JavaScript control the structure, presentation and interactive features.
   
   Building it myself also gives me the freedom to create features around the way I actually run my photography business instead of forcing everything into a ready-made website template.

3. Writing

   Unless otherwise stated, the content throughout this website is written and maintained by me.
   
   Writing gives me the space to explain my photography, working process, policies and ideas in much greater detail than I could through a typical portfolio or social media profile. It also allows me to answer common questions before someone even contacts me.
   
   I regularly revisit older pages because my experience, services and way of explaining things continue to develop. Some pages have therefore changed considerably from the versions I originally published.

4. Photography & Portfolio

   The website isn't separate from my photography work; the two grow together. New projects may become part of my portfolio, while experiences from actual photoshoots often inspire new articles, guides or improvements to my service pages.
   
   Having my own website also gives me much more control over how different types of work are organised. Portraits, events, interiors and other photography can each be presented in a way that makes sense instead of being mixed together in a single social media feed.

5. Ongoing Updates

   A website of this size is never truly finished. I regularly update information, improve wording, restructure pages, fix problems and introduce new features.
   
   Some changes are small enough that visitors may never notice them. Others involve redesigning entire sections of the website. The aim is simply to keep making the website clearer, faster and more useful as my photography work evolves.

Why I Maintain My Own Website

Social media is useful for sharing photographs and reaching people, but I don't want my entire photography presence to depend on platforms that I don't control.

A social media feed is designed around the platform's format and algorithm. My own website allows me to organise my work according to photography genres, explain my services properly, publish detailed information and decide how visitors explore everything.

It also allows potential clients to learn much more about me before making an enquiry. They can view my portfolio, explore my photography services, understand my rates, read about working with me and go through my photography articles and guides.

For me, the website isn't simply advertising. It is my portfolio, information centre, knowledge base and a record of how my photography has developed over the years.

What I Want the Website to Achieve

1. Showcase My Photography

   The original and most important purpose of this website is to showcase my work.
   
   Potential clients should be able to see what I actually photograph rather than relying solely on claims about what I can do. My portfolio covers different types of photography and real projects, allowing visitors to decide whether my style and approach suit what they are looking for.
   
   Unlike a chronological social media feed, a dedicated website also allows me to organise different genres properly so visitors can explore the work that is relevant to them.

2. Help Clients Understand How I Work

   Choosing a photographer involves more than looking at photographs. Clients may also want to understand pricing, preparation, communication, editing, delivery, privacy and what actually happens during a photoshoot.
   
   I therefore try to explain my working process openly throughout the website. The more useful information I can provide beforehand, the easier it is for potential clients to decide whether I'm the right photographer for them.

3. Help People Make Informed Decisions

   Photography can look deceptively simple from the outside. Pressing the shutter may take a fraction of a second, but professional photography can involve communication, planning, equipment, travel, lighting, problem-solving, photo selection and post-production.
   
   Through my service pages and articles, I try to explain these less-visible parts of the work. This also helps visitors better understand photography pricing and what they should consider when comparing photographers.
   
   I've also written about common misconceptions and myths in professional photography to help clients approach a photoshoot with more realistic expectations.

4. Share Photography Knowledge

   I've learned a great deal through actual photoshoots, experimentation, mistakes and problem-solving. Rather than keeping everything to myself, I use this website to document and share some of that knowledge.
   
   My photography articles and guides cover topics that may help clients prepare for their shoots as well as information that photographers and photography enthusiasts may find useful.
   
   Writing these resources is useful to me too. They give me a place to organise what I've learned and something I can refer people to when the same questions come up again.

5. Support Better Collaboration

   Photography often involves more than a photographer and client. Models, makeup artists, hairstylists, videographers and other creatives may work together on commercial projects or portfolio collaborations.
   
   Good collaboration works best when expectations, responsibilities and intended outcomes are understood by everyone involved. I therefore share information about collaboration opportunities and TFCD/TFP photography to make the process clearer and encourage fairer, more productive collaborations.

6. Connect With People

   The website has allowed people to discover my work without first meeting me or finding me through social media. Some arrive because they are looking for a photographer, while others find an article, portfolio, location guide or photography resource through a search.
   
   By sharing both my work and the thinking behind it, visitors can get a better sense of who I am and how I approach photography before they contact me.
   
   It has also helped me connect with models, creatives and other people interested in photography, including opportunities for creative collaboration.

7. Share Singapore as a Photoshoot Destination

   Singapore offers a wide variety of environments for photography, from modern architecture and city streets to parks, beaches, heritage areas and quieter neighbourhoods.
   
   I've created a growing guide to photoshoot locations in Singapore to help clients and other visitors explore possible locations. Where possible, I also use photographs from actual shoots to show what these places can look like through the camera.
   
   The resource is useful during my own planning as well, particularly when clients need ideas for choosing a suitable setting.

8. Keep a Record of My Photography Journey

   As the years pass, this website has also become an informal record of my development as a photographer.
   
   Older projects, articles and ideas remind me how my photography and business have changed. Newer pages reflect lessons learned from years of working with different people, locations and situations.
   
   Not everything I've written or created over the years will remain unchanged, but that evolution is part of the journey. The website grows as I do.

A Website That Keeps Evolving

I don't expect this website to ever be completely finished.

Photography changes. Technology changes. My services, experience and ideas change too. As long as I'm doing this work, there will probably be another photograph to add, another page to improve, another useful article to write or another piece of code I want to refine.

Building and maintaining everything takes a considerable amount of time, but it gives me something that a ready-made portfolio alone couldn't provide: a place that genuinely reflects both my photography and the way I think about my work.

If you've spent time exploring beyond my portfolio and ended up reading this page, thank you. You're seeing a part of Skai Chan Photography that normally stays behind the photographs.