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My new evaluation criteria for my portfolio work…

25 Apr

From the inimitable “Burns Auto Parts Blog”

 

 

So here’s my challenge to you: look at your work on your site. Do you love it–all of it? Does it make you smile/get you excited/make you want to do more of it? Be honest–don’t look at it from its technical side and definitely do not ask “Do I think buyers will want this?” If you do, then look at your marketing.

If you don’t, then get off your creative butt and start making the work that you make out of love and that weird compulsion that makes you do this and not be a 9-5 “normal” person.

 

 

Words of wisdom indeed.  I have been working on a major portfolio overhaul, with just this in mind.  You know the saying… Show what you wanna shoot!

 

 

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How to Build a Travel Photography Portfolio

15 Apr

Building a photography portfolio can be a scary proposition, as it forces you to choose images that best represent you as an artist and creator, whilst also demonstrating your technical skill and storytelling ability. Developing a travel photography portfolio is no different.

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However, developing a portfolio is an exercise that has many benefits, both from a personal growth as well as professional perspective.

Unlike many areas of photography, there are some extra considerations for a travel specific portfolio. The main difference with travel photography, as opposed to specializing in weddings, events, or commercial, for example, is that there is a far greater need for you to be flexible in your approach to image making while allowing for the huge variety of subject matter one would normally encounter.

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Start planning your portfolio before you travel

This, of course, comes down to why you want to develop a portfolio of work and who you are aiming to show it to. I have always found this can shift depending on whether I am planning an exhibition, developing a book, building a stock library, showing work to an editor, planning a photography tour and marketing to potential attendees, or simply showing friends and family a new place I have been fortunate enough to visit and photograph. All are valid reasons to develop a travel photography portfolio. If you keep these options in mind before you travel, you are more likely to return with images that can be used across multiple platforms and for different reasons.

The consideration here is you may need to have multiple portfolios depending on to whom and where you are marketing. This is a key factor to consider before traveling as it will shape your approach to image making while on your trip. Having said this, it is also great to stay open to potential opportunities that may present themselves in the future by having covered a subject or place well.

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One of the biggest lessons I have learned is to stay completely open to any possibility. This is especially true when visiting destinations that are expensive or difficult to get to, which ultimately means it may be a while before I return, or perhaps not at all. This means that when you are shooting in this situation, make the absolute most of your time. Be open to possible image usage across multiple platforms and for many reasons. This is best done with thorough research for all possible uses of images from the location you are visiting.

What if you aren’t traveling soon?

So how do you start in building your portfolio if you are not planning to travel? Your local area is an excellent place to create content, and for many reasons, some of which I have listed below:

  • You build your skills working in different and changing lighting conditions.
  • Learn how to deal with bad weather while still coming home with images that describe a place well.
  • You learn how to show a destination through images. The goal being to give people who have not been there an understanding of this destination.
  • You are able to visit during different seasons, times, and weather conditions with ease.
  • Research the most common images available for that area. This is handy if your aim is to build a stock library for editorial or commercial use. Then push yourself to photograph this area in a new creative way.
  • You develop your ability to work with local organizations and businesses to help you get the images you need.
  • Build your understanding of the process of storytelling with your images from a destination.
  • You will further your understanding and knowledge of your camera gear and the photographic process before you are looking at an unrepeatable moment. There is nothing worse than a once in a lifetime image opportunity and not having the confidence or ability to capture it well with a camera.

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Now do the same at a destination

Transferring this process to travel destinations is no different. However, the importance of thorough research before you leave is far more critical as you will not know a travel destination as well as your local area. While it is important to have a plan of attack before you land, remain open to opportunities that may arise during your travels.

It is also important to travel to different destinations that have a variety of cultural backgrounds, landscapes, architectural styles, and ultimately photography opportunities. This will further help diversify your images which can then be presented in your travel photography portfolio.

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Your first trip

Your initial trip can be considered the most important as it will be your first opportunity to build a library of images. I always recommend making your journey as long as possible, across different destinations, to help you get a wide variety of images.

While traveling I look for eight main areas of subject matter:

  1. Landscape
  2. Portrait
  3. Wildlife
  4. Food
  5. Architecture
  6. Culture
  7. Transport
  8. Local events, festivals and activities

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Not every destination will give you the opportunity to photograph all of the above options. However, I have found over the years these will give you the best chance of showing that destination and what it would be like to be there.

If you were to make a list of potential images of your local area or any destination based on the list above, you can easily build a large library that shows it in a comprehensive way. As well, taking into account different demographics of people will further build your portfolio of images to show any destination in a more comprehensive fashion. For example, budget accommodation through to more expensive options.

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Diversify

Diversity is also of key importance for your work, especially if you are visiting a location that receives a lot of tourist traffic, all with cameras in hand. Here are some key points to consider to build diversity into your work, regardless of where it will end up.

  • Visit during different times of the day than the norm.
  • If the weather goes bad, keep taking photographs.
  • Use a full range of focal lengths for each subject.
  • Try to shoot from an elevated position as well as crouch down low to help give different perspectives.
  • Be completely proficient in all lighting conditions so you are able to deal with them no matter what scenario.
  • Experiment with filming as well as stills. There is a huge demand for footage and video content.
  • Document the process of traveling.
  • Put people into your photographs, whether it be yourself, your friends and family, or people you meet along the way.
  • Be sure to always photograph the less exciting, day to day elements of travel as well. You never know where these could be used in the future.

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Hone your skills

It is important to have developed your ability before you go traveling to not feel a lack of confidence should a fantastic photographic opportunity arise. Practice, practice and more practice is critical for any area of photography. However, the extra cost and competitiveness of the travel photography industry mean you need to be highly proficient before you go traveling in order to make the most of the opportunities that will arise.

Travel is far from cheap and easy. Your time away should best be used creating content. So again, it is important to feel confident in your gear and process before you go to maximize this time away. While there are cheaper destinations to visit, it is still a resource hungry activity. Learning how to shoot efficiently when opportunities arise means you will further add to your diversity of images as well as your versatility and ability for future opportunities.

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Culling

Once home, the process of selecting images can begin. Again, look for a variety of images and subject matter that best show your ability, both technical and artistic. Try to avoid images that look similar or show the same subject more than once. Pick only your strongest work and focus your selection based on use. Images for an art instillation are going to be very different to images for stock of local transport or architecture. Having someone review your work with fresh eyes is also an option to consider.

Printing your images, even at smaller sizes can be a great way to finalize a selection of work. It allows you to interact with the images differently as well as being able to view them under different lighting sources to ensure your edits are the best possible. You are able to lay the images out offline to see how well they work as a series or collection, something that is very difficult to do on a computer screen.

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Conclusion

Remember, the more you get outside taking images, the more you can develop an understanding and skill level in working in all weather and lighting situations as well as working with people from different places and cultures. Practice, practice, practice.

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Create a Portfolio That Shows the Photographer as Well as the Photographs

13 Feb

portfolio-review

When it comes to telling their own story in images, photographers often struggle. While their photos and galleries may be memorable and unique their websites and portfolios are too frequently dull, derivative and, to a buyer who sees one slideshow after another, instantly forgettable. Instead of showing who they are, the websites become a collection of what they’ve shot, a series of images with no connection to the person who took them or the photographer the buyer will be booking.

According to one expert, it’s only when photographers see their websites and their portfolios not as marketing devices intended to show their skills and range but as autobiographies — as an opportunity to tell their own stories and show who they are — that they stand out and win jobs.

“The best portfolios, to me, are materially self-portraits regardless of the subject matter,” says Allegra Wilde. “This is not about a romanticizing the suffering or narcissistic artist. The kind of imagery I am talking about is much less likely to be forgotten by the viewer, or in the case of the pros, the buyer.”

For Wilde, who started her career selling ad space at Workbook before becoming the company’s Director of Talent and Agent Branding, a portfolio (and now a photographer’s website) should flow. The presentation should have a rhythm, match the work and, most importantly, tell the story of the photographer.

It Takes a Hero to Be a Successful Photographer

That’s not something that all photographers want to do — or think of doing as they create a site to pitch for work. Building a website that doesn’t just show pictures but shows who you are means putting yourself as well as your images on display. The personal projects become more important as they reveal the questions you address in your images, the aesthetic that attracts you, the messages you want your photos to communicate and the way you want them to speak. Buyers are invited to judge the photographer and their interests as easily as they judge the quality of their work. It’s not a display that makes all photographers comfortable.

“The most successful photographers (or any other artists for that matter), always take some kind of leap into discomfort,” says Wilde. “Usually this level of discomfort is rooted in their own personal ‘exposure,’ or fear that no one will like their images or hire them. These heroes of photography, (yes, I call them ‘heroes,’ because it takes enormous courage to do this) make images from a very naïve place, usually self-reflective and quite emotionally ‘naked.’”

After operating a couple of private online forums — one for photography and illustration agents; the other for ad agency photo editors and buyers — Wilde now runs Eyeist, her own photography review service. The company employs a team of photographers, buyers and photography business experts to examine photographers’ websites and portfolios, and recommend improvements. Photographers can register and upload images for free then book a review when they’re ready. They’ll be asked for “tons of info” about their images, their aims for the review and their development as a photographer before they select (or ask for) a reviewer and choose the kind of review they want. The fees range from $ 100 for a basic review consisting of an audio commentary critiquing up to 30 images to $ 350 for help with editing and sequencing a series of images so that it showcases the scope and storyline of a project. So far the company has provided around 200 reviews for photographers who range from students, emergent photographers and enthusiasts to full-time professionals.

The reviewers look at whether the words the photographer is using to describe his or her images actually match the images they’re showing. Often, says Wilde, the two things differ so the reviewer will focus first on repairing that disconnect. They’ll then start thinking about suggesting ways in which the photographer can create images that help them achieve their goals, change those goals or address their presentations and marketing.

Reviewers Reignite a Photographer’s Passion

The result should be not just a plan that a photographer can follow to improve their appearance, but a renewed interest in creating images that have something to say.

“It wasn’t enough to give the photographer a road map for improvement. You have to ignite (or re-ignite) their passion about their own work,” says Wilde. “That way, they have a much better internal sense of how to make progress and become much more open to creative ideas that they might not have entertained before.”

None of these recommendations, says Wilde, compare to the sort of congratulatory comments that you’ll find placed by friends or family at the bottom of a Flickr set or a Facebook album. Those comments might make you feel good but they won’t point out the flaws that are preventing you from winning work.

Overall, Eyeist’s reviewers tend to find two mistakes in photographers’ presentations. The first is the tendency of photographers to aim at a particular market or follow a popular style in the hope that joining the crowd will bring success. In fact, says, Wilde, it just brings them more competition. And the second is not pushing their images hard enough or spreading them widely enough so that both the photographer and the photographs connect with the right buyers.

“I know this sounds crazy in this day and age of photo sharing, social and business networking with photographs, but many photographers either undersell their work by not marketing it enough, or, by overselling it — by first dumbing down the work (making it more generic to follow the marketplace), and/or by constantly promoting and posting their images and assignments without any personal context,” says Wilde. “This makes it hard for the viewer, and especially the buyer, to ‘invest’ in the work, and to engage with the photographer personally as a possible collaborator.”

At a time when social media has made branding personal, photographers are going to have to learn to step out from behind their cameras and put themselves on display. They don’t have to shoot self-portraits but the way they show their work has to be about them as much as about the subjects of their images.


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Winners of the Portfolio Website CMS Giveaway

27 Feb

A big thank you to all entrants of our recent portfolio website CMS giveaway. We were excited to see such a great response, you rock guys! We won’t drag things out any longer. Drumroll please… And the lucky winners of the MotoCMS giveaway are: 1st Place Winner – Wayne Johnson Prize: Full License for MotoCMS 3.0 “I’m Wayne a portrait Continue Reading

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Win a Pro-Level Portfolio Website CMS for FREE

15 Feb

In this giveaway you can win one of 5 great prizes provided by our friends at MotoCMS. Whether you’re professionally into photography or you just plan to start making money out of your photos, you probably know by now that a good website managing software is a gold find for your business. Something that would have a lot of design Continue Reading

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Adobe Portfolio brings customizable personal websites to Creative Cloud

27 Jan

Adobe has introduced Adobe Portfolio, a website creation platform similar to Squarespace. Part of Creative Cloud, Adobe Portfolio is offered under three subscription tiers and aims to provide creatives and professionals with a simple way to showcase their work online.

The Adobe Portfolio service offers pre-made layouts, as well as customization options for website elements like the header, logo, navigation, background and footer. The designs are responsive, able to scale for various screen sizes and there’s an option for a personalized website URL. Features include galleries for showcasing content, password-protected pages and website analytics. Subscribers can also integrate a Behance account with Portfolio for seamless content syncing.

Adobe Portfolio is available to individuals under three Creative Cloud pricing tiers: $ 9.99 USD/month with included access to Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC, $ 19.99 USD/month with access to 20GB of cloud storage and one desktop app and $ 49.99 USD/month with access to all Adobe creative apps.

Via: Adobe Blog

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7 Tips For Creating A Standout Photography Portfolio

05 Sep

Photography Industry Leaders Share 7 Top Tips For Putting Together A Standout Portfolio

7 Top Tips For Putting Together A Standout Portfolio

FashionPhotographyBlog.com welcomes our friends at the Dots to join us on our site and share with our readers, the great tips they have uncovered from their recent masterclass in London, UK. The Dots is a community of creative professionals, designed to connect creatives with collaborators, companies and commercial opportunities. They are about collectively building a stronger, more profitable and diverse creative sector and we are excited to have them here with us today.

 

The Dots hosted a Photography Portfolio Masterclass at the incredible Spring Studios to give talented emerging Photographers the chance to have their work reviewed by some of the UK’s most prominent Picture Editors and Photographic Agents. With such a wealth of experience in the room, The Dots team took the opportunity to ask a few questions on how to get ahead in the hugely competitive Photography industry. Here’s what the industry representatives had to say:

 

Photography Portfolios – 7 Top Tips

 

  1. Showcase your work through different platforms

 

In a digital age, it is important to remember that there are many other ways to showcase your work than through the standard printed photography portfolio and the more widespread your work is, the more likely Creative Directors are going to find (and possibly hire) you.

 

Robin Derrick (Executive Creative Director, Spring Studios) told us, “I think a traditional portfolio is a rather out-dated way to present work […] I’ve normally discovered a photographer online.”

 

David Birkitt (Owner & Managing Director, DMB Represents) supported this by telling us to “consider that everything’s a portfolio these days. Anything you’re putting work out on, any platform you’re using – printed, social, online – they’re all different platforms, they’re all different portfolios and they all do different things in different ways for different reasons.”

 

In short, get your work out on as many platforms as you can and curate each as carefully as you curate your physical photography portfolio.

 

  1. Have your own style

 

There will obviously be photographers or magazines that you look up to and admire and it’s hard not to be influenced by them or feel that you have to create the same kind of work in order to get the job. But one of the key points the Masterclass Mentors all agreed on was to have your own sense of style and identity.

 

Nicola Kavanagh (Editor in Chief, Glass Magazine) strongly advocated this – “I think having your own visual identity is the strongest thing that you can have as a photographer.”

 

David Birkitt also advised to make sure that your photography portfolio is “an extension of you and it feels comfortable and it forms a part of you, your being, and your character.”

 

  1. Show personal work

 

The Masterclass Mentors all agreed that a photography portfolio “is not just about commercial work or editorial, it’s about projects that you’ve done off your own back that show how passionate you are about taking pictures.” (Holly Hay, Photographic Editor, AnOther Magazine & Another Man).

 

Matt Davey (Co-Founder & Director, Probation London) advises to “never underestimate the value of your personal work […] that’s the stuff that people remember, they want to see what a photographer’s heart and soul is, not just what they’ve been paid to create.” We couldn’t have put it better ourselves!

 

  1. Put your best foot forward.

 

Start your photography portfolio really strong and prioritise certain images to go near the front.  

 

Jamie Klinger (Publishing Manager, Shortlist/Stylist Magazine) explains why… “If the first 6 shots you see are landscape but they want to be a portrait photographer, you’re never going to think about them for portraits because it’s going to be at the end of their book.”

 

Lauren Ford (Photo Editor & Producer, Dazed) reinforced this point by reminding photographers “to make sure that you’re opening your book with something really strong and something that shows who you are and what your point of view is as a photographer.”

 

  1. Tell a story. Stimulate a conversation

 

Holly Hay advised that “there should be a reason for every single image in your portfolio, there should be a story behind every image. There should be a reason for it being there and a reason why you love it and a reason why you want to tell people about it.”

 

Matt Davey also emphasized this point “construct your portfolio in a way that stimulates conversation. Be able to talk about your work and present it confidently when you’re having a face-to-face meeting, it’s not just about the flow of the images it’s about how you present it.”

 

So, if you make sure your best work is at the front, your photography portfolio flows well and stimulates conversation, then you’re off to a cracking start.

 

  1. Edit, edit, edit!

 

This follows on nicely to our next point – be selective. Don’t add 20 different photos from the same shoot to your photography portfolio when you could have only added two. Whoever is looking through your photography portfolio is either going to get bored or think that is the only thing you can do.

 

Steve Peck (Picture Editor, WIRED Magazine) indicated the main thing he looks for is, “a lot of variation in someone’s book. If you are a portrait photographer that’s fine, but I don’t want to see the same head and shoulders crop 15 times, I know you can do that after I’ve seen two – so that’s great, move on, show me something else.”

 

As Nicola Kavanagh points out, “your portfolio is your most valuable tool in an interview, so make sure you present that as best you can, edit harshly […] make sure it’s really succinct.”

So, make sure you keep things short and sweet and ensure there’s a reason or a story behind every image.

 

  1. Get a second opinion!

 

You’ve taken amazing shots, edited and arranged your photography portfolio with a fine tooth comb… What else should you do before showing it to a potential client?

 

Jamie Klingler suggested “to have someone else edit your portfolio. You are too close to your work and you don’t know what your best shots are.”

 

This point was reinforced by Nicola Kavanagh who told us to “make sure your portfolio is the best it can be: get it up to scratch, try and get feedback from people from agencies before you present to clients or magazines,”

 

What we’re basically saying is a second (professional) opinion never hurt, and if anyone who knows what they’re talking about is offering to help – take it.

 

 

Looking to get feedback on your photography portfolio? Find out about The Dots’ next Photography Portfolio Masterclasses here: https://the-dots.co.uk/about/portfolio-masterclasses

 

You can also check out The Dots’ Vimeo channel for video interviews, tips & highlights from the Photography Portfolio Masterclass here:  https://vimeo.com/album/3444505 

 

 

 

IMAGE SOURCE: 

Feature image & images 1: courtesy of Jack Woodhouse


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The Secret to Great Photography Portfolio

30 Jul

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If you’ve been around the photography world for a short time, you probably have at least a basic grasp of the technical skills. You know how to manipulate depth of field with aperture, where to focus in a portrait, and how to compensate your exposure for extremes in shadows and highlights. Even knowing things like that, you’ve probably stumbled across some incredible portfolios or magazine spreads and asked, “How did they do that?” Or even “What’s their secret?”

The secret to a great photography portfolio is simple. It isn’t even a secret at all, although it’s not often talked about in photography communities. Simply put, the secret is:

Master the technical skills until they’re automatic, then go out and endlessly make photographs, a lot of photographs. Only a handful should ever be shown to anyone.

Photography is easy; at least the technical side. Yes, that’s a quite a contentious statement, but I’m not the one who said it. It was David Bailey being interviewed by Rankin and answering the question, “What makes a good photographer?” His answer was:

“You can learn to take pictures in three months. You can learn to draw in three months, but only technically. It’s where you go from there.”

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The critical point is that it’s not the technical skills that make good photography. They’re vital ingredients but it’s how they’re put together with your subject to create an end result that is most important.

Think of it like cake. If you’re digging in to a piece of cake and you actually notice any of the individual elements of eggs, flour, butter or sugar, something’s gone horribly wrong in the baking process.

What comes after the technical skills?

There are two elements to consider when thinking about what to do next:

  • First, creating a lot of images and showing only a few.
  • Secondly, giving your subject comprehensive coverage.

Create many, show few

In an article, that I read a few years back, a National Geographic photographer said that they use to go through 1500 rolls of film to create a single set of 10 to 20 images for an article.

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To translate that, assuming they used 120 film in a 6×9 medium format camera; that yields eight frames per roll of film. That’s 12,000 photographs. Also assume that those photographers would have bracketed one or two stops on either side. (Bracketing is the practice of taking a normally exposed photograph, then taking two more – generally one overexposed, one underexposed. This was useful in the days of transparency film which offered very little in terms of exposure latitude.) That brings the number to 4000. Finally, say 50% of those weren’t good enough to show the editor.

That leaves 2000 photographs that most people would probably be more than happy to have taken. The final spread used about a dozen of the very, very best or 0.6% of all of the images taken.

To apply this concept to your own portfolio, you have to learn how to be ruthless. If it isn’t your very best, scrap it. It can be hard work, especially considering the emotional connections we, as photographers, have with our work, but if you can learn to turn that off then your portfolio will be better for it.

Comprehensive coverage

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Back to dissecting National Geographic, my favourite article is one that covers the glamorous topic of caffeine. This one is a large spread and is made up of 23 photos.

Breaking it down: nine images are environmental portraits, six are classical reportage, six are still-lifes, and two are landscapes.

The set of photos also covers five countries and five US cities; all within 23 photos.

To cover every possible aspect associated with caffeine, the photographer for that piece documented several facets of the human element of the topic, from production workers, to scientists in labs, as well as the consumers. The landscape images in the article showed the environmental impact of caffeine.

Hopefully you’re starting to see what comprehensive means in this context. Of course, very few people have the kind of resources to approach a subject so thoroughly, but if you take the extra time to consider and follow through on other possible aspects of your subject matter, you may be surprised with the results.

Icing on the cake

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To return to the cake metaphor: when you’re at a bakery, you only see the shop floor, with the well presented finished products. You don’t see the chefs slogging through hours of batter and hot ovens. You don’t see the logistics of bringing chefs and ingredients together in the right place. You just see cake.

Hopefully, you now have a little more insight on what may have gone on behind the scenes, albeit a simplified interpretation, when you look at a photo that you admire, and what steps you can take to push yourself in that direction.

Just remember: get the technical skills mastered and out of the way, then go wild.

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MotoCMS 3.0: The Best Option to Build a Photo Portfolio Website

18 Jul

Photography and web design are going hand in hand. A good-looking website requires stylish photo content to attract audience, as well as to compete with other web pages. And as photography gains more popularity year by year, this rivalry becomes much fiercer. So, acquiring good looking, attractive, creatively different photo web page is a high-priority task for every photographer who Continue Reading

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How to Build an Impressive Photography Portfolio from Scratch

08 Jun

Creating a photography portfolio can be a daunting experience. As a rule, photographers have basic or no knowledge of design at all. Moreover, creating a site with the pictures in focus can be a tricky task.

Being a photographer makes you a wearer of many hats. It’s critically important to have an online portfolio, so you can easily show your potential clients what you’re capable of. If you have no idea how to start, where to take pictures, how many of them you need for a site, and how to make your portfolio work for you, these tips may help you get started:

What is a portfolio? How Many Shots Do You Need?

A portfolio is an opportunity for you to present your work, but it’s important to consider why you need this portfolio. Are you going to use it to apply for a job? Do you want to use it to start your own photography business? Or do you just want to exhibit your work?

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Portfolio by Marcus Smith

Also, you have to think about how many images you need to upload to your site. The layout usually looks good with a small amount of images uploaded on the home page. There should be a balance between the number of images you’re going to show and the negative spaces you leave between, or around them. If you have many images, consider separating them into categories.

When it comes to the home page, there should be something to pull the user in, then let them decide what to look at next. Value visitors’ time – they don’t need to see all the photos you took since 2008. Rather, display only your top-notch work and then show the potential client more photos if they request it. Don’t overwhelm them with pictures. Put the best pictures on the first page to stand out, and leave your other good work on the second page.

Think of Your Audience

Once you have decided why you need an online portfolio, you need to consider the audience you’re going to reach. Think of the reaction you want to evoke – do you want your clients to be touched, surprised or even shocked by your pictures?

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Portfolio by Brian Ingram

If you’re aiming to specialize in wedding or portrait photography, it’s logical to include these shots first in your portfolio. There is no need to demonstrate your awesome landscape shots if you are aiming to attract clients for portrait photography. Keep your target audience in mind and do your best to create a site that solves their problems and provides answers to their queries, rather than simply bragging about your versatility as a photographer.

Brainstorm Project Ideas

If you have no idea what photos to upload to your portfolio, or you have no photos yet, you need to do some brainstorming. You’re building your portfolio in hopes of getting more clients, meaning that you don’t have hundreds of photo models knocking at your door. Start photographing your friends for free, shoot some events for charity, or even ask a popular wedding photographer from your area to hire you as an assistant, just to get wedding photos for your portfolio.

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Portfolio by  Brett Arthur

There are many options when trying to find new project ideas: you can start a 365-day or 52-week project which will give you a great chance to practice as a photographer. This could lead to you shooting a subject that you never thought about and may result in a set of great shots for your online portfolio. Look at the work of other photographers to get new ideas for shooting, analyze their portfolios and try to make your own.

Present Like a Pro

Your portfolio website is nothing but a presentation, so when creating it, refer to some iconic presenters like Steve Jobs for better results. For instance, here are three presentation techniques from Apple’s founder you can apply to your own portfolio:

1. Make your passion prominent.

Jobs was passionate about every product he was involved in, his enthusiasm was obvious to anyone who heard him speak. There are few things in the world that spread as quickly as enthusiasm. Connect with your website visitors on an emotional level by showing your passion for what you do. This can be achieved through things like personal notes or comments on every image in your portfolio, a funny story told on your About page, or a set of behind-the-scenes photos shown in your main image slider or website background.

2. Build a clean, visual interface.

In his iPhone presentation, Steve Jobs used 19 words compared to the average 40 words used in a PowerPoint presentation. Make your website less wordy by utilizing a spacious preview page layout, big image sliders, and clean typography. Your business is about good pictures after all, not about writing essays. Make sure your site looks great on mobile devices and tablets, as that’s where the lion’s share of your visits will come from.

4

Defrozo

Among some free website builders that enable you to create beautiful, mobile-friendly websites are Defrozo and Koken. The first one is actually a multi-tool marketing platform that includes a full-fledged photography CRM (customer relation management), shopping-cart system, and other photo business tools in addition to a website builder. While Defrozo is a hosted service offering automatic updates and user support, Koken needs to be deployed on your own server.

3. Inspire your audience.

Every presentation by Steve Jobs was a great source of inspiration and education for his listeners. Images are a powerful medium that you, as a photographer, take advantage of by default. On your website, create a combination of images and words that would make people want to act and achieve something.

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Portfolio by Estevez & Belloso

For instance, using a famous quote next to a photo, or telling a story behind one of your projects, can do the job of creating an extra layer of interactivity and inspire your web viewers.

Tell a story

Who doesn’t like a good story? Storytelling has become a powerful marketing engine lately and there’s no reason you can’t leverage it for your own business.

When uploading photos to your portfolio, you must describe them. A description is even more important than a title. Remember, when people see your photos for the first time, they want to know who or what is displayed in the image, what the context is behind the image. Maybe there were some interesting facts connected to the image. Feel free to share this with your audience.

Ask for Feedback

Getting your portfolio in front of other eyes can help you pick up on the omissions and bugs in the site’s design and performance. Submit the preview link to some forums and photography communities you’re a member of, or simply let your friends and family play around the site. Create a quick survey for them to fill in after they have checked it out – keep it short and to the point, asking only questions you plan to act on, and include some open-ended questions at the end.

Have different options

You need to decide what kind of portfolio you need: digital or paper? In the past, everything was on paper.

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Portfolio by Michael David Adams

While a digital portfolio seems the ultimate solution these days, it’s also good to have a print portfolio for meetings with clients. Digital cannot fully replace print because of the special feel a printed photograph gives to the viewer. Consider creating your printed portfolio in a smaller format for portability purposes.

A beautifully designed image slideshow with emotional music added to it is also an essential element to your portfolio package. Along with a responsive website and personalized client photo galleries, it will make your digital showcase toolkit work at full power.

Over to You

What are your top techniques of building your photography portfolio? Share your proven tips with fellow photographers in the comments below.

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