I often wonder about what drives a website design. My husband is a graphic designer and I worked many years doing the same, so, we nerd out on this topic a few times a year. There are now templates that people use and fill in. There are simple blog sites and very involved corporate sites. Website designs are now priced so low that it seems small business web designers are falling out of the trade.
There are so many sites that inspire me but none that I base mine on. I often bookmark other photographers websites and review them to study what they do and do not do well. As you can imagine, it is a life long study.
When designing my site, I have tweaked many small elements but the overall display has remained the same. I want the focus to be on photography and I aim keep the navigation simple. I show enough photography that you get a real feel for what I do, not just a minor sampling of my very best work. That seems a bit disingenuous.
My site evolves with my work and the specialties within reflect that. I started into photography hoping NOT to exactly specialize but rather to get better at all of the elements of photography so that I can have a successful and interesting career.
Every month changes, each client is unique. I love my job!