NATURESCAPES.NET PORTFOLIOS HELP PAGE

NatureScapes.Net Member Portfolios is a place for photographers to display their nature photographs and a resource for people interested in finding nature photos. Please note that all content on the NatureScapes.Net website is copyrighted and permission must be obtained from the author before using photographs in any way. Click here for more information on the terms of use of this website.

HELP INDEX

SEARCHING FOR PHOTOS

By Photographer
By Subject
Narrowing your Search
Viewing All Image Details
Contact a Photographer
Keeping Track of your Favorites

DISPLAYING YOUR PHOTOS

Becoming a Paid Member
Create a Portfolio
Subcategories
Add Images
Link to Your Portfolio from another Site

PORTFOLIO MAINTENANCE

Modify your Personal Information
Edit/Delete Images

SEARCHING FOR PHOTOS

Search for a Photographer
Thorough the Index page an alphabet is provided on the left side of the page. You can select the first letter of the photographer’s last name to search, or select “All” to view all portfolios in alphabetical order by last name. Or, use the search function with even a partial first or last name.

Search for a Nature Photograph
Visit the displays by category to peruse an assortment of photos: Birds, Wildlife, Marine, Landscapes, Flora, Macro, Elements of Humankind, Digital Art, and Astrophotography. Thumbnails in these individual categories can be sorted in ascending or descending order by title or date.

For detailed searches, use advanced search with the “Search Portfolios” icon towards the upper right corner of each page. Photos can be entered into the database with titles, descriptions, location and keywords, so narrow searches can often result in finding exact photos.

Refine your search based on format, medium, photographer, location, or with filters in the search fields.

Viewing all Image Details
To view all image details, click on the "Image Information" link below a full-sized image. The information pane will open up below, you may have to scroll down to see the details.

Contact a Photographer
Photographers may list phone, email, and other contact information on their Portfolio page. All photographers with portfolios have a secure contact form that will email your message to their email address on record. You will receive a copy of your correspondence by email at the address you indicated. “Contact Photographer” form links have been placed on all individual photo pages and on photographers’ Portfolio pages, making it easy and convenient to contact them.

Keeping Track of Your Favorites
Marking images as "favorites" can help immensely in keeping track of images you have visited and like. You can use the favorites feature to mark images you are interested in purchasing for a particular project so they are easy to find again later. Click on the "Image Information" link below a full-sized image and select "Add to Favorites" to bookmark the image. It can easily be referenced later via the "My Favorites" icon towards the upper right corner.

DISPLAYING YOUR PHOTOS

Sign up for Paid Membership
Paid NatureScapes.Net members are allowed a fifty-image portfolio and are also offered other benefits such as the image upload service for posting images in the critique forums. Space for additional images is available in fifty image increments for a nominal fee. See our membership page for more details.

Create Your Portfolio
Once a paid member and registered either through the NatureScapes.Net forums or portfolios, click on the “Portfolio” link on the upper left corner of the forums, or otherwise enter portfolios. To get started on your portfolio, click on the “Create Portfolio” icon towards the upper right corner of the screen once you have entered Portfolios.

Personal Information
Please use your real, full name for your portfolio. Your personal URL is then assigned based on your name entered in these fields: http://firstlast.naturescapes.net. Get preformatted member portfolio business cards.

Enter contact information that you wish to share, such as your nature photography website URL, email address, physical address, phone number, etc. Even if you do not enter contact information, each portfolio has a secure contact form that viewers can fill out and a message will be sent to your email address of record. Viewers will not get your email address during this process. Senders receive a copy of the correspondence they send at the address they entered.

Members can prepare a biography of up to 1,500 characters.

Meta tag keywords may be helpful in people finding your portfolio during various searches. Feel free to leave this line blank, or enter single words representative of your work and vision in photography.

Subcategories
Subcategories help divide your work into sections that you define, allowing you to personalize the presentation of your work. Assigning subcategories will group your images on your personal “all images” page, plus icons will appear at the bottom of your portfolio allowing a viewer to open images of a single subcategory.

If a subcategories title is assigned, it will appear at the bottom of your bio page over your subcategory thumbnails. If this field is left blank, no title will appear.

Click the text “Click to Edit Subcategories” to edit. Enter a title for each subcategory and its description. You can select a thumbnail from your existing images or, if none is selected, the most recently uploaded photo within that subcategory will be used.

Once the subcategories are created the order can be modified using the arrows. Editing can be accomplished by clicking on the “E” icon to the right of the subcategory.

Portfolio Thumbnail
A portfolio thumbnail can be selected once you have added photos. The thumbnail will represent your gallery during various searches on the site.

Review your changes and select “Update Portfolio” when completed.

Adding Images
You can add images to your portfolio after its creation by selecting the “Add Images” link at the upper right corner of the portfolios. Existing images in your portfolio can be edited by using the “Edit Images” button towards the upper right of your “Edit Portfolio” screen.

In the “Add Images” screen you may upload up to ten images at a time from either your computer or that are hosted elsewhere on the internet by entering the locations. You may wish to select only a few during your first upload to evaluate the time it takes for the files to upload with your connection speed.

Please note the image files should not exceed 200kb in size, nor should they exceed 750 pixels on the longest side except for panoramics, which may be 850 pixels on the longest side, no greater than 450 pixels on the shortest.

Once you have selected the images to upload click on the “Continue” button. You will be notified of a successful upload and can click “Continue” to proceed to assigning image information.

Please note that NatureScapes.Net Member Portfolios is a website dedicated to the display of nature photographs. Portfolios of non-nature photographs are best represented elsewhere. NatureScapes.Net reserves the right to remove any offensive or inappropriate photographs without notice.

Classify your Image
Indicate which category your image best falls under. The options are Birds, Wildlife, Marine, Landscapes, Flora, Macro, Elements of Humankind, Digital Art, and Astrophotography. This will help sort your image among the photos by all photographers.

Format
Select 35mm, medium format, large format, or undefined.

Medium
Select digital capture, print film, slide film, or undefined.

Location
Feel free to indicate the location where the image was taken. This information is reviewed by the search engine.

Subcategory
If you have defined subcategories you may select one for the image or select “none” to keep it from being grouped within your subcategories.

Image Title
The image title is the most visible text you will assign to your photo. Try to keep it short but accurate and relevant to what the subject is. Since this field is heavily reviewed by the search feature, it is suggested you avoid abbreviations and acronyms unless you feel they are more likely to be used during searches. For captive subjects it is recommended a (c) be placed after the subject title text.

Image Description
This field allows you to elaborate more on the image. Feel free to leave this blank.

Keywords
Keywords are searched by the portfolios search facility. Feel free to leave this line blank, or enter single words representative of the image.

Click “Continue” once your entries are complete. You should be taken back to your portfolio where you can review your additions.

Link to your Portfolio Using Banners
Use a NatureScapes.Net member portfolio banner to link to your portfolio from a personal website or online gallery. Click here to get a banner.

PORTFOLIO MAINTENANCE

Modify your Personal Information
Your bio and personal information can be modified at any time. While logged in at Portfolios (the same login as the NatureScapes.Net forums), simply click on the “Edit Portfolio” icon towards the upper right corner.

Edit/Delete Images
Information for uploaded images can be edited at any time, or the entry can be deleted altogether. From the Portfolio edit screen, click the “Edit Images” button towards the upper right.