2012-04-11

Introduction

WordPress has become one of the most popular blogging tools available today. It is a powerful Content Management System (CMS) that is great for blogging, building websites, and much more. Another key point is that WordPress has search engine optimization (SEO). Content is easily managed and updated without having extensive knowledge of HTML. Admin interference is no longer restricted to webmasters.

Developers were quick to recognize the potential of WordPress and are now creating plug-ins, themes and widgets for even more variety in your website or blog. Below are some of some of the top premium themes that we recommend. Paid themes are more advantageous because of the customer support, upgrades and of course premium features, not to mention top-of-the-line design.

Canon5Dtips.com site is as well running on WordPress Engine.

Note: Responsive themes are good for mobile phones and other handheld devices, but there are enough plugins that can turn any, or at least help with alternative themes for your WordPress site, for mobile and other device users.

Some themes from this list are great for Photo and Video in same time. Check list of features and check live preview to see which theme suit your needs the best. Check video theme top list: Top 15 WordPress Themes for Video (vlog)

1. Photorific



Live Preview Screenshots

Photorific is a neat WordPress theme that features unlimited sidebars and three widgets, namely Recent, Popular, Flickr, among many others. It is a premium WordPress theme that is particularly appealing for photographers because of the wide space allotted for photo posts. Its sleek design and video support makes it a viable choice for photographers of all kinds.

List of Features – Photorific

Fullscreen Background Image Slideshow (Upload unlimited images for each page/post/portfolio item)

Custom Background Image(s) for every page/post/portfolio item

Black and White Navigation Style (Choose the style you want from the admin panel)

Slideshow Options

Slideshow On/Off

Display images randomly or in order

Slide effect (fade, slide right, slide left, slide top and more)

Slide Interval Time

Slide Transition Time

Pause On Hover On/Off (pauses slideshow when user hovers image if set to on)

Image Protect On/Off (disable right clicks and image dragging)

Keyboard Nav On/Off (use keys to navigate through images)

Set slideshow performance options

Lightbox OptionsCustom Post Type for Portfolio

Easily Change Lightbox Theme From Within Admin Panel

Lightbox Gallery (go through images through lightbox by clicking arrows/thumbnaills)

Allow/Dissallow Image Resize

Show/Hide Lightbox Title

Change Opacity

Default Image Width

Default Image Height

Custom Post Type for Gallery

4 Portfolio Layouts (1, 2, 3 and 4 columns)

Choose Your Own Colors With Color Picker

Navigation Links Colors

Search bar background/text color

Logo Color

Text color, link color, headings color (h1, h2, h3)

Much more..

Font Settings7 Cufon Fonts Installed

Choose font family for text

Choose font for navigation/headings (cufon)

Change font sizes for text, header items and more

30+ Shortcodes (Blog, Buttons, Columns, etc)

3 Custom Widgets (Recent Posts, Popular Posts, Flickr)

prettyPhoto Lightbox (with video support) for portfolio

Unlimited Sidebars

Compatible on all major browsers

Threaded Comments

Enable/Disable Footer

Enable/Disable search bar

Google Analytics

PSDs Included for easy editing

2. Viewfinder

 



Live Preview Screenshots

Viewfinder comes in two options for you to choose from: dark and light — great for those who have difficulty choosing between “on white” or “on black” backgrounds. It is minimal in design, which paves the way for the visual impact of your photos. There is plenty of room to maneuver the different settings to better suit your preferences, whilst still retaining its simplicity.

List of Features – Viewfinder

Minimalistic Design & Valid HTML

2 Homepage Layouts: Slider (user defined width) or Grid

2 Colour Variations: Light & Dark

Create Unlimited Galleries

Optional EXIF Data Display

Small, Medium or Large Thumbnail Display (small in demo)

Full Localisation Support (contains .po/.mo files)

3 Custom Widgets (Twitter, Flickr, Video Embed)

Extensive Theme Options (Unbranded!)

WordPress 3.0+ Ready (Menus & Featured Images)

jQuery Magic (Dropdown Menus, Homepage Slider, Filterable Galleries)

Page Templates (Archives, Full Width, jQuery Contact Form)

Custom Login Logo & Custom Default Gravatar Support

Column Shortcodes

Layered PSDs for Customisation

Extensive Documentation

3. Panorama

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It doesn’t get much better than full screen space for a photographer looking to showcase his work to the wide, wide web. Not all people are confident enough to post their work at this size, but for those who do, check out Panorama by themeforest. Knowledge of programming [particularly PHP5] is required to fully utilize this theme, and when you do, you’ll be amazed at how far you can customize your website. Content is viewed in slide form, providing a seamless and professional feel to your galleries.

List of Features – Panorama Full Screen

EXIF Data

Valid HTML

Background pattern theme option

YouTube video fullscreen background option

YouTube video mute sound option from theme option

Fullscreen photo slideshow auto-paginated background (for Home Page, Categories, Search results, Posts, Tags)

jQuery custom events calendar solution

Premium MP3 Player integrated

2 WordPress custom menu positions (left / right)

Scrolling tags menu option (right position)

Standard sliding menu for 2 positions (left / right)

Theme option to disable unwanted standard menu buttons

7 rooms for your own social links (flexible width container) editable via theme options

Blog

Working contact form with validator

Google Analytics

Google Web Fonts

Cross browser

OptionTree

4. Gallerific 2

Live Preview Screenshots

Gallerific 2 is a must-try for any serious photographer. It’s complete without seeming cluttered; sophisticated but not coming across as too much. It boasts some great features like custom post types, widgets and a custom-built homepage slider. Best of all, it’s totally free to all Gallerific customers!

List of Features – Gallerific 2

Clean code and fancy jQuery makes this theme a blast to browse through.

Post Format Support (Images, Quotes, Standard, Video)

4 custom widgets (Child Page List, Recent Posts, Flickr, and PhotoDune Photos)

Simple, non-branded theme options

WordPress 3.2+ ready (menus, featured images, custom post types, post formats)

Page templates (Archives, Full Width, Galleries)

Layered PSDs for easy customization

Extensive documentation

5. Momento (responsive)

Live Preview Screenshots

Momento is another well-designed theme out of the Obox factory. It is a WordPress Theme on a seemingly basic design, but with a scalable layout (responsive). One of the most important things in showcasing photos is the compatibility of the theme with the dimensions of both landscape and portrait-oriented photos. No more stress figuring out how to re-size your photos to fit your theme! Momento takes care of this problem with its full-width slider. You can also use this theme to incorporate your blog into your website.

List of Features – Momento

Unlimited Color Schemes

Adjust the header background to any transparency

Full Width Slider along with a second optional slider

Page-Title Background Image can also be a slideshow (see About page for example)

Video Support in the 1, 2, & 3 column portfolios

Video Documentation with a detailed written help file

Demo Content included in an XML Import file for quick setup

Easily adjust the default heading sizes and colors from the options panel

Shortcodes built into the WordPress Visual Editor for ease of use

Support for WordPress custom navigation menus

Flickr, Twitter, & Social Media Widgets built-in to the theme

Includes layered PSDs

Responsive Design

OCMX Live Features:

Custom Logo Input

Page Templates

Menu Management

Advert Management

Automatic Image Resizin

Ajax Comments

6. Knead (responsive)

Live Preview Screenshots

Knead is simple way to show your work with portfolio template page. The template offers three different column layouts to choose from. Knead theme has that simple (minimal design) look, it’s incredibly easy to navigate without having to sacrifice the design aspect of your site. You can use it as standard blog with side widgets as well. Knead offers two color options for you to choose from (light or dark).

List of Features – Knead

Portfolio Section with 3 different column layouts to choose from

Services Section – allows you to list all your latest work

Adding a service with a short title, icon and detailed copy including images and video

Includes some slick jQuery effects

Include a feature slider, services, portfolio items and blog posts!

Widgetized Home Page – change home page layout to suit your needs

Slogan Widget

Option to work like standard blog

Two color schemes

Responsive Design

OCMX Live Features:

Custom Logo Input

Page Templates

Menu Management

Advert Management

Automatic Image Resizin

Ajax Comments

Note: Somewhat lower rating from users on Themeforest, but we believe support solved issues members had, after changes this theme is 5 star as well.

7. Photolist

Live Preview Screenshots

Photolist is yet another sleek design theme. It features a unique photo slider that extends across the full width of your screen, without detracting from the overall minimalist impact. A new gallery plugin lets you drag and drop your photos for faster customization. It also has built-in filters like negative, brightness, Gaussian blur, contrast, grayscale and colorize for you to choose from. The quotes custom post type feature is useful for showcasing positive feedback about your work on your homepage, to pique clients’ interests. It comes in seven different colors that are all equally attractive should you decide to change things up a bit once in a while.

List of Features – Photolist

Includes a unique custom slider

Galleries and Filters

Quotes Custom post type

Seven color schemes

Responsive Design

OCMX Live Features:

Custom Logo Input

Page Templates

Menu Management

Advert Management

Automatic Image Resizin

Ajax Comments

8. Azione (mobile compatible) – New

Live Preview Screenshots

Azione takes a very modern approach to online portfolios because of Obox Mobile. Obox Mobile is a WordPress plugin that converts your site and makes it compatible with mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Azione also allows unlimited videos in a categorized format. 940 pixels of viewing space is more than enough for showcasing photos and HD videos.

List of Features – Azione

Widgetized Home Page – change home page layout to suit your needs

Short URL Support

oEmbed Support

Self Hosted Video Support

Works as Standard Blog too

Light and Dark Color Scheme

Obox Mobile Compatible

OCMX Live Features:

Custom Logo Input

Page Templates

Menu Management

Advert Management

Automatic Image Resizin

Ajax Comments

9. Blocco (responsive)

Live Preview

Blocco is a cool, almost retro style photography theme that utilizes a “block” style to showcase your blogs, portfolios, medias and much more. Links are placed as tabs on the right hand portion of the page, customizable to include your social media links. Not only is it a great way to showcase your photos, it is optimized for videos as well. Its “responsive design” which adheres the site to suit your chosen device (laptop, tablet, mobile).

List of Features – Blocco

Cross Browser & SEO Friendly

Social Media Integration

Widgetized Content Areas

Custom Menus Support

Optimized for Video

100% Valid HTML and/or HTML5

100% Valid CSS and/or CSS3

10. Folio Elements

Live Preview

The Folio Elements is a minimalistic theme, featuring a slider to showcase your photos. Viewers simply need to click on the arrow buttons to browse through your photos. The black background provides a good contrast to your photos. Links on the upper right hand portion of the page are customizable. Each video or photo has details on mouse over.

Easy way to show your work with no extra stuff that gets on the way, very minimalistic design that points out what is most important, and that is your work. Each post can contain either 1 video or up to 6 images within a photo set.

List of Features – Folio Elements

Cross Browser & SEO Friendly

Custom Menus Support

Custom Color Options

Optimized for Photo

Optimized for Video

Social Media Integration

100% Valid HTML and/or HTML5

100% Valid CSS and/or CSS3

11. DeepFocus

Live Preview

The DeepFocus WordPress theme by elegantthemes was created as a CMS with Page-Based structure; however, it can be used as a regular blog as well. Thumbnails are re-sized automatically to create a uniform look. For ads and announcements, a 125×125 and a 468×60 space are allotted. This space is modified through wp-admin and can easily be turned on and off. With the gallery layout, robust blog and CMS-style homepage as well, making a DeepFocus an amazing solution for artists/photographers looking to build an online presence.

List of Features – DeepFocus

Opera compatible

Netscape compatible

Safari compatible

WordPress 3.3 compatible

Five Color Schemes

Gallery Section

Threaded Comments

Optional Blog-style Structure

Gravatar ready

Firefox compatible

IE8 + IE7 + IE6 compatible

Advertisement Ready

Widget ready sidebars

Theme Options Page

Custom thumbnail images

PSD files

Valid XHTML + CSS

Smooth tabless design

Advanced Features:

ePanel theme options

Shortcodes collection

Page Templates

Complete Localization

Support and Updates

12. Envisioned

Live Preview

Envisioned comes in five color schemes (blue, gray, green, purple, brown). What’s great about this theme is how easily you can control it with the ePanel theme options. The use of shortcodes can help shorten your workflow in dealing with functionality and the variety of your content. The theme’s MO and PO files enable you to translate the theme’s design without the hassle of hunting through PHP files. Easy to use, nice effects, makes it one of the best themes for photographs out there.

List of Features – Envisioned

Opera compatible

Netscape compatible

Safari compatible

WordPress 3.3 compatible

Five Color Schemes

Gallery Section

Threaded Comments

Optional Blog-style Structure

Gravatar ready

Firefox compatible

IE8 + IE7 + IE6 compatible

Advertisement Ready

Widget ready sidebars

Theme Options Page

Custom thumbnail images

PSD files

Valid XHTML + CSS

Smooth tabless design

Advanced Features:

ePanel theme options

Shortcodes collection

Page Templates

Complete Localization

Support and Updates

13. ePhoto

Live Preview

ePhoto is a fabulous theme for those who wish to convert their blog into a gallery, most especially photographers. Other artists can also make us of this theme, as it is an efficient way of showcasing digital imagery. The content will be image-based, but there is a separate page where normal text blog posts can be integrated alongside photo posts. It comes in two skins — black and blue — that can be accessed at the Theme Options page. Its smooth, tabless design is something to consider.

List of Features – ePhoto

Opera compatible

Netscape compatible

Safari compatible

WordPress 3.3 compatible

Two Color Schemes

Integrated Blog Section

Threaded Comments

Optional Blog-style Structure

Gravatar ready

Firefox compatible

IE8 + IE7 +IE6 compatible

Advertisement Ready

Widget ready sidebars

Theme Option Pages

Custom thumbnail images

PSD files

Valid XHTML + CSS

Smooth tabless design

Advanced Features:

ePanel theme options

Shortcodes collection

Page Templates

Complete Localization

Support and Updates

14. Statua

Live Preview

Statua is theme from Woothemes that is incredibly easy to customize. It features a minimalist style that is attractive to many. Photography-wise, it allows a variety of options that can alter the look of your photography portfolio or photoblog, whether it is single image posts or image galleries for bulk images. There are three layouts for the homepage for you to choose from. Statua also has a layout for photos in a grid style as an overview of a number of photos all at once. Another homepage layout worth mentioning is the one emphasizing the photo sliders. Overall the theme is very flexible, with many layouts and settings that photographers would have fun combining to produce different effects to showcase their work.

List of Features – Statua

Custom Post Type for Photos

Alternative Layouts

Photo Sliders

Custom Typography

Custom Widgets

Alternative Styles

WooFramework:

Custom Shortcodes

Sidebar Manager

Custom Navigation

Built-in SEO options

Backend theme options

Cross-browser compatible

Auto-sizing thumbnails

Localized for translations

Custom page templates

 

15. ClearPhoto

Live Preview

ClearPhoto is a theme designed for photography enthusiasts and anyone with a portfolio wishing to showcase their work. It features a clean and elegant layout with a variety of features that also make it a good choice for business websites and blogs, or even online magazines.

List of Features – ClearPhoto

Theme Settings Page for Easy Customization

Alternate Home Page Template for Business Sites

Quick and Easy Logo Integration

Multiple Background Patters/Colors

Featured Content Slider

Featured Galleries/Projects Slider

Multiple Home Page and Archive Post Layouts

Multiple Page Layout Options

Featured Page Widget

Featured Category Posts Widget

Optional Custom Welcome Message

Subscription Form Widget With Social Networking Integration

Footer Widgets

Multiple Banner Ad Locations

Automatic Post Thumbnails

Built-In Author Page

And More….

 

Providers of above listed themes

There are plenty of other themes that could help you build amazing site. You might check providers of themes and find what you like the most:

 

Elegantthemes

Elegantthemes is one of the popular WordPress theme provider because themes are made very user-friendly, even without knowledge and skills in designing and programming. The ‘ePanel’ or options page lets you customize your site in many unique combinations. Each theme comes equipped with a widget-ready sidebar, custom thumbnail images, search bar and gravatar ready feature among others. Unlimited access to all of their themes for only $39, great value. They offer Handheld Theme, HandHeld works in tandem with your normal theme, and is only used when the plugin detects that your visitor is using a mobile phone.

 

Woothemes

Woothemes is a provider of themes developed using CSS, PHP and WordPress. These themes cater to a variety of functions such as magazine, portfolio, business and personal types. The backend part of the theme allows you to customize your page the way you like it without having to code it. You can also combine features from more than one theme. Resizing thumbnails and size of text is made easy with the auto-sizing feature. The unique Woo framework allows for custom page templates and even translation features. However, Woothemes is not as compatible cross-browser unlike Elegantthemes and Obox-design.

You have two options, buy themes separately and get 2-3 bonus themes, cheapest solution but you don’t get PSD files. Or the club participation which  is perfect for multi-site owners, freelancers, and web agencies needing access to ALL their themes.

 

Themeforest

Themeforest is one of the most popular marketplace for template developers such as WordPress, Joomla, Magento and many more. Themes have excellent functionality with an extensive network of tools that provide you a great number of options so that you can fine-tune every detail of you site. There are three main categories for Themeforest WordPress themes: blog, e-commerce and CMS or Content Management System. With over 750 premium WP themes to choose from and counting, customers will have a lot to consider.

Themeforest is part of big company name envato, and under same page you can easily browse and buy from other envato markets such as audiojungle, themeforest, videohive, codecanyon, photodune and others. Great thing about this market is that you can get all on one place.

 

Press75

Press75 is among the known theme providers of clean, unique and efficient WordPress themes. Users are faced with an interface with excellent content management options and features. One of the downsides to this provider is their rather limited selection of themes. At 17, they are behind other providers such as Woothemes, Elegantthemes, etc; however, they do release a new theme every month. Press75 Themes are also not SEO-friendly, but that problem is easily solved with free WordPress SEO plug-ins, like All in One Seo, or Platinum SEO.

Press75 has three very interesting packages:

Single – get 1 theme by your choice with lifetime updates and support

Essential - get all themes + all themes for 1 year

Lifetime – get all themes for lifetime

 

Obox-design

Obox-design themes were developed with both websites and blogs in mind, particular for business, news, portfolio and entertainment. Like Press75, their selection is considerably smaller than other providers; however, the diversity of themes is sufficient. Obox themes are good across browsers and are search engine optimized.

Themeforest include Obox themes in their marketplace.

Very interesting package from Obox:

Single Pack – 3 themes included

Developer Pack – 2 themes included with PSD and Obox Mobile

Membership Pack – all themes with everything

 

Solostream

Solostream is not so known WordPress theme provider, but they offer themes that are easy to customize and search engine optimized. Multiply page templates allow for variety within your site. Expect great support via forums, tutorials and videos. It’s relatively cheap, at $79 for 21 professionally designed themes.

May be cheapest from above:

Basic - get all themes with free update 1 month, free support 1 month

Silver – get whole package with everything, PSD included, 3 months updates and 3 months support, 1 theme each month, revenue is Quarterly

Gold – get everything as above with 12 months support, 12 months updates, revenue is annually

Solostream is different from others cause they have videos to help you get going with your site, and can help you how to generate more traffic and make better content on your site.

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