I’ve been working on small websites for the past five or six years, and in that time I’ve used two web hosts. I started with IX Webhosting, and I left at the end of my second year. I would not recommend them at all.

The next host I found, on the other hand, has done pretty well by me. If you’re looking for a cheap place to host your own photography blog or portfolio website, you could do a lot worse than HostGator.

I’ve been with them for going on three years, I think. In that time, I’ve had no major disruptions in service (a problem I had with IX Webhosting), and I’ve had no problems hosting multiple sites/domains on my account. The price is fair – I’m paying between $7 and $8 a month for the middle plan. I’ve been able to do everything I needed to in CPanel, and I don’t think I ever had to open a ticket or contact support to help get something working properly.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that HostGator is the best host ever or that the basic plans are good for an enterprise scale website… but they are great for personal projects or small business websites. I’ve hosted WordPress sites as well as Drupal sites, and some of these projects delivered upwards of 10k pageviews a month with no problems. I’ve used a lot of space and a lot of bandwidth (my photography studio website hosts a lot of pictures) and I’ve never heard a complaint from HostGator.

There are two very good reasons why you might want to try them out, though, if you’re looking for a host.

First, the coupon codes. At the moment, there are a few active coupons that will get you the first month hosting free. If you use the coupon code FALL2k11PENNY, you’ll get $9.95 off your order. If you picked the monthly payment, that’s a full discount down to $0.01. Low risk there. If you want to sign up for longer, you can get better pricing, and you can use the coupon code 25OFFFALL2K11 to get 25% off. [Note: That doesn't cover the cost of a domain. If you need a domain, don't register through HostGator, as the prices are high. I always register domains through Moniker.]

Second, the Google adsense voucher. You get $100 of free Google adwords with every account. That’s a nice bonus, especially if you’re starting a portfolio/studio website and you want to get some exposure. It can be hard to get people to find your products through natural search quickly, but a little paid advertising can go a long way. I used a voucher to advertise my new comp card design/printing services, and I had an order in my inbox the following morning.

So what are you waiting for? Go start your website. Sign up for HostGator, grab a domain at Moniker, and start up a WordPress blog.

By the way, the links to HostGator in this post are affiliate links. If you follow them and sign up for an account, I will receive a commission. However, I only promote products that I actually like. The only two affiliate systems that I participate in are HostGator and Amazon. Both have provided me with great service in the past, so I don’t feel any qualms about getting paid to promote those services here. I don’t have an affiliate account with any other web hosts.

Photo by: Ashutosh Khandha.

This is a nice, standard studio portrait. Good illustration of a basic lighting design. You’ve got one large light source coming from high and camera right as a key, and you’ve got a second light source filling in the shadows from a little to camera left. The shadows and the catchlights are easy give-aways.

It looks like the black background has some texture on it, which you don’t see in most of the picture because the background isn’t lit. But, just above the model’s head the keylight appears to spill onto the background bringing out the texture. I don’t know if the effect was intentional… it seems like it would be better to either light the background (and create a little glow/separation from the model) or keep it completely black.