Carla Thomas Photography

Overview

Portfolio and marketing website for Carla Thomas, a Cambridgeshire wedding photographer whose approach centres on helping couples feel at ease rather than on show.

I rebuilt the original Drupal website in Hugo and later implemented a full redesign supplied by India Pappalardo. The current site combines a distinctive editorial style with a clearer route from discovering Carla’s work to viewing galleries, learning about her approach and making an enquiry.

My role focused on translating the supplied designs into a responsive front-end, structuring the site for straightforward content management and preserving the speed and simplicity of a static-site workflow.

From Drupal to Hugo

The original website was migrated from Drupal to Hugo, replacing a database-driven content management system with a lightweight static build. This reduced the complexity of the production stack and made it possible to serve pre-generated pages with fewer runtime dependencies.

The Hugo implementation provides reusable templates for photography galleries, wedding stories, blog posts and supporting content. Carla can continue to publish image-led work while the shared layout and navigation remain consistent across the site.

The redesign

The 2025 redesign introduced a warmer, more editorial visual direction built around Carla’s personality and natural photographic style.

The homepage establishes the proposition immediately, supports it with clear calls to action and then introduces Carla, her free guide, featured work, testimonials and recent articles. The gallery uses a clean image-led grid that lets individual weddings act as both portfolio pieces and detailed stories.

I implemented the supplied visual system across desktop and mobile, including the responsive navigation, shaped imagery, typography, content cards and reusable calls to action. Particular attention was given to keeping photography prominent without allowing large image assets to compromise the experience.

Outcome

The finished site gives Carla a focused platform for presenting her work and communicating the relaxed experience she offers couples. It supports the complete customer journey: discovering the brand, exploring galleries and advice, understanding what it is like to work with Carla and starting an enquiry.

Hugo keeps the site fast and maintainable, while reusable templates allow new galleries and editorial content to be added without redesigning individual pages.

What I built

• Migration of the original Drupal site to Hugo
• Responsive implementation of the supplied redesign
• Reusable Hugo templates for galleries, wedding stories and blog content
• Desktop and mobile navigation and page layouts
• Image-led portfolio components and shaped-image treatments
• Calls to action for enquiries, consultations and lead-generation content
• Integration of analytics and third-party marketing forms