[aclimatt]

In my brief scan, most of these designs seem to center around tasteful use of photography; there isn't as much in the way of impressive web design.

Good photography undoubtedly improves the visual appeal of a site, but I often find myself in a position with just layouts, text, and a few assets. Being able to turn your basic tools into a visually appealing site is what I see as excellent web design.

[howells]

I don't agree nor disagree with you. :-) A great site is only great with good content - be it either text or images. There are plenty of sites to be found on there where imagery is sparse but the typography is beautiful.