Not a single grand celebration is complete without a professional photographer, who is ordered in advance for the celebration. Creative shooting, beautiful shots, lively atmosphere of photography, all this is the result of the work of a true master of his craft. But any photographer should have a portfolio to present their work to a client. The main thing is to approach the question wisely:
- How to create a photography portfolio?
And, of course, have:
- Photographer portfolio template.
The main weapon of a photographer is not only his camera, but also samples of his portfolio. Before you are invited as a photographer to a celebration, you will be asked for examples of your shooting. Therefore, your portfolio must be impeccable.
How to create a photography portfolio
When you have mastered all the basics and secrets of photography, you need to create your own portfolio.
Portfolio is not just a gallery of the photographer's work, but also his face, style, and professionalism.
A portfolio is a set of professional artistic photographs that a photographer positions as examples of their work.
Portfolio photos must be of high quality and professional
Design
A portfolio is a presentation of a photographer's work. . First, you must decide on the design of your portfolio. This will require a special album or folder. It can be made of any material, be it ordinary cardboard or genuine leather. Of course, the folder looks more expensive and presentable, the better. You can decorate it yourself with various embroideries, stickers, paintings. Do not overdo it, the abundance of distracting design can alienate the client.
Choose a folder according to the size of the printed photos, the larger the better. Also decide on photo paper, let it be of the highest quality.
Portfolio folders should identify the photographer as a creative and professional person.
Topic
Focus on the audience. If a client who is interested in shooting a wedding will view the portfolio, then you need to include wedding photos in the folder.
You must put your photos together. Naturally, the portfolio will not fit all your photos, so you need to sort the work by topic. For each topic, a separate album, its own design and original captions. The client will not be interested if all the albums are designed the same way.
Topics in the portfolio should be sorted
Quality
The priority property of your works is their quality. It is better to provide the customer with 25 technically high-quality and creative photographs than 50 dull boring works. Photos should be sharp, clear, focused, beautiful. They should highlight the moment, reflect the essence.
Photography is the capture of emotions that a photograph should always convey. And the picture is the soul of the photographer, which he puts into his work.
If a client is interested in your work, he will definitely respond to your proposals for filming.
Shooting in the style of "Reportage", "Children", "Women", "Men", "Pin- Up»
Portfolio Format
You must have photographs, both printed and digital. What portfolio format the client will require is unknown, so you should have both options.
There are two types of portfolio:
- . For this type of portfolio, you need a special album where photos will be stored.
- Digital Portfolio. It is also called an online portfolio. On a specialized site, you can place all your work on topics.
If you design your personal website, it will be a plus for you, since you can always provide the client with a link to your online portfolio.
Photographer must have both types of portfolio
When creating a portfolio, you should remember the important components:
- Introduction: information about the photographer and a description of the theme of the portfolio.
- List of photographs.
- Photo captions: a brief description.
- Date and place of shooting.
- Photographer contacts.
Don't forget that portfolio photos need to be in a certain order to set the mood. It is always more interesting to watch works from beginning to end than in an absolutely incomprehensible order.
Technical quality and beautiful pictures– the key to an ideal portfolio
A few secrets of creating a photographer's portfolio:
- To take photos, only an expensive and high-quality camera is used. It should be mirrored, with a removable photo lens. The camera should have at least 3 lenses, for different tasks.
- Portfolio cannot be permanent. You create new masterpieces, your experience is constantly growing, so your portfolio as a photographer should grow and be updated.
- Photos are printed on the highest quality photo paper.
- A photographer's portfolio should not contain a bunch of photos. Otherwise, the client will simply get tired of viewing them, and all the photos will merge into one picture.
- Portfolio works should not be small. The standard size 10x15 will not fit. Ideally, these should be 20x30 cm photographs.
- Approach the design of the portfolio with intelligence and creative imagination. It doesn't have to be a boring book with a bunch of pasted photos.
The photographer is a professional in his field. He should have a lot of fresh thoughts, ideas and ideas. He should not stand still, but improve all the time. His portfolio should change and expand, and most importantly, every time it becomes more attractive and better.
If you are a photographer, building a portfolio is definitely one of the most important things you should do. There are a number of benefits that a portfolio can bring to you: it will showcase your work online, attract new clients, and create a stable and expansive online platform for your work. The sad thing is that not all photographers have the technical skills to build a portfolio. Some may feel a little concerned about the lack of knowledge in website development, while others may think that it takes a lot of time to create a portfolio.
The good news is that there are a number of platforms for creating an online portfolio for your work. At the same time, you do not need to waste your precious time and be able to program.
Here is a list of the top 10 portfolio websites for photography lovers, presented in random order.
1.Wfolio
is an online portfolio tool specifically for photographers and artists who want to have a professional portfolio and easily sell their work online. You don't need any knowledge of HTML or CSS to get it.
Foliolink features: mobile version of the site, e-commerce settings and tools, . You can create a free 7-day account before deciding which tariff plan suits you best.
is an online tool that will help you make an amazing portfolio quickly and painlessly. If you're a photographer looking for a platform to build an amazing portfolio or are seriously considering selling your work online, then Zenfolio is the right choice for you.
500px is a personal tool for quick and simple creation portfolio, as well as a marketing platform to sell your work.
With 500px you will be able to maintain and control the site at any time and for this there is no need to “dig into” the code. For registrants, they provide a wide range of features, such as advanced visitor tracking systems, unlimited photo uploads, a custom domain name, and a photo shop to sell photos online.
Working with color filters
Color filters are a tool to help transform a familiar space, maintain a chosen color scheme, or add intrigue to a tranquil scene. An orange filter will help create a cozy atmosphere, a combination of blue and orange filters will create a confrontation between cold and heat, which is a top color combination that pleases the eye. A pink filter will add tenderness to a light interior, and a purple one will add mystery. Most often, I use color filters for backlight and background light so that extra colors do not get on the model. The exception is a scheme with a low white balance temperature, in which case the orange key light filter will compensate for the temperature of the picture and return a warm natural tone to the skin.
In a bright photo studio, you need to use color filters especially carefully, choosing gentle, calm tones.
Working with color filters is a huge field for experimentation, but I would recommend thinking about the color scheme in advance and not using filters unnecessarily. Too active color can distract attention from the model, the wrong choice of color can upset the color balance.
Studio light in photography
Everyone loves to shoot with natural light. In addition to diffused soft lighting - a wonderful blur at an open aperture. But competent and skillful management of several light sources will allow you to always control the situation - to make an evening twilight on a sunny day and bright sunny photos in the evening.
Any novice photographer is familiar with pictures of studio lighting schemes common on the Internet. Backlight, classic scheme and so on. Dealing with studio flash control is also quite simple.
Working with green
Working with green.
Green color - fresh, juicy, cheerful - has a huge number of shades and looks completely different in different situations.
Warm, cold, with yellow, blue, brown undertones - shades change depending on the season, plant species, time of day and lighting.
Everyone who is familiar with the Itten circle knows that the easiest way to achieve a harmonious combination of colors is to contrast colors in a circle (complementary scheme).
For example, in the circle of Itten, green is combined with red.
And then the fun begins. After all, colors are divided into hundreds of shades.
And if your model is wearing a terracotta dress (red is closer to orange), then, when using a complementary scheme, a cold shade of green will look more profitable than a warm one. But a rich burgundy color will work well with a warm green (on a sunny summer day, for example).
On the other hand, an analog scheme (three colors side by side) for such a dress will require a delicate light green hue and the addition of yellow elements.
Thus, when starting to process a photo, you need to understand what shade of green will look most advantageous with the color of clothes and other elements in your photo.
And then it's a matter of technology.
First of all, I set the green tone in Lightroom. This is working with color in HSL (Hue, Saturation, Luminance).
With further photo retouching in Photoshop, we achieve the desired shade of green through Color Balance, Selective Color Correction (yellow, green, cyan), Color (soft light blend mode) and, if necessary, saturate the shades in Lab space.
You can see an example of working with green color in the video.
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5 reasons why you don't like a photo.
Imagine that tomorrow you have an interesting photo session. You close your eyes and see your tomorrow's photo as if it already exists. And your brain draws her ideal for you. The characters are well lit and look voluminous, while the background delicately recedes into a beautiful blur, the colors blend harmoniously.
But in reality, everything may turn out to be completely different.
I've put together 5 reasons why:
1. Extra details.
When an artist paints a picture, he includes in it only those objects that have a semantic load. The photographer, on the other hand, is faced with the problem of “photographic garbage”, it can be cars, trash cans, ugly branches, curbs. What the artist cuts off in his picture becomes an obstacle on the way to a holistic and harmonious photograph. Therefore, it is important for the photographer to see this garbage and be able to not include it in the frame. Some objects can be hidden behind the back of the model, some can be cut off by framing. Of course, many details can be removed during the retouching process, but this will increase the time you spend on processing.
2. Volume.
We all like the volume in the photo, the photo that you want to dive into, something like a tunnel. If you have a foreground (photographers often use twigs for this) and a lot of air behind the subject, the viewer will be pulled into your photo. But if, for example, there is a tree behind the model, then the feeling of the tunnel will collapse.
3. Color harmony.
If in a family of three, mom is dressed in a green dress, the child is in yellow overalls, and dad is in blue jeans and a red T-shirt, even golden hands will not save you. That is why the selection of clothes for a photo shoot must be carefully controlled.
4. Emotions.
I will not discover America if I say that a photographer must be a psychologist and be able to create a comfortable atmosphere at a photo session. I often tell the subjects of my photo shoots that the shooting process is like playing in the theater. Only by plunging into your story, the subjects of the shooting will be able to convey the right mood, and the photo will acquire its intended meaning.
5. Light.
Take the light as your allies, control the light so that it works for your idea. First, the light should work to create volume. Incorrectly supplied light can flatten the image, and you will spend a lot of extra time on drawing light and shade. Secondly, the lighting should support your idea - hard light is suitable for a dynamic plot or creating a dramatic effect, while soft diffused lighting emphasizes the tenderness of the moment. And thirdly, by controlling the light, you can draw the viewer's attention to the necessary details.
At Wix, we often get questions from freelance photographers who want to learn how to create a professional online portfolio. And while we have plenty of material on how and how best to use Wix's editor tools, especially with regard to photographers, experience shows that one picture is worth a thousand words.
This is what prompted us to go through hundreds of newly created Wix sites to select the top 10 and show them to you. Nothing contributes to the flow creative ideas to create your own portfolio, like viewing beautiful, high-quality photo portfolios. This will help you understand what your colleagues are doing to attract the attention of potential customers, plus you will know what is trendy in web design and interface design these days.
But before we get started, here are a few questions to ask yourself as you browse other portfolios:
What makes this site stand out, and how can you play on it?
What are the flaws in the design of this site, and how could you fix it?
How is the photo portfolio organized, is it categorized and is there a slideshow?
What is on the site besides the portfolio, and how does this content help potential customers make their choice?
Born in Cuba and now based in Miami, this photographer specializes in photography for property sales, menu design, weddings and various products. His website is dynamic and simple, using large sliders that act as a background to showcase best work photographer. The "Services" page presents a typical set of job descriptions and prices.
Austrian paparazzi photographer David Boman has been actively involved in professional photography for the past 4 years. At first glance, his portfolio looks very unpretentious: nothing superfluous and a plain white background. The photo gallery is divided into 14 sections, which are very convenient to navigate, and is designed in the form of a modular grid. His portraits feature very curious characters (and there are many businessmen among them!), his photographs of architecture are distinguished by unconventional compositions and the use of special lenses, and photographs from weddings convey a festive mood.
Photographer with 20 years of experience in sports photography, travel, portraits and advertising, talented German Jern Polex created a website in the design of which he decided to use a minimalistic style. The use of photo thumbnails allows you to show all his works, regardless of their size and proportions, on one page.
A Canadian couple takes "bright, exciting, spectacular, exciting, and most importantly emotional" pictures. The About Us section of their website features their childhood photos with brief biographical information about each of them – a great way to put a human face on the brand.
Carlo Heathcote from Singapore presents his portfolio as an activist project aimed at drawing attention to the global problems of humanity. His photographs tell of the massive famine in Niger, the victims of the earthquake in Kashmir and the military conflicts in Afghanistan. “This exhibition was created to give voice to the people photographed at the most difficult moments of their lives,” Heathcote writes on the “About Me” page.
Japanese Kita Koyi specializes in studio photography of various products and models, but he also works equally well with wedding photography and guidebook illustrations. The calm gray tones of the background on the site help to focus on the photos themselves, which is actually the purpose of the portfolio.
Laura Garilio isn't afraid to use bold colors on her site, from a plethora of greens to a palette of grays punctuated with pops of bright pink. This approach requires careful thought and careful work, but the result is worth it.
A wise decision was to create a "My Style" section, where she shares how to draw inspiration from every day, in addition to the classic "About me" page, where Laura talks about how she was once an artist, and then moved to Canary Islands and changed my life. The "Your Photoshoot" section is devoted to pricing for various shooting options. It's great that her portfolio is provided with so much information: this is how she not only introduces herself to potential clients, but also works to promote the site in search engines.
Galleries organized by topic look very neat. In them you will find photographs of people on vacation, enjoying life, and the surrounding nature of the Canary Islands only enhances this impression. The photo project “Future Dads” is especially attractive with its emotional pictures of newly-made fathers.
Portfolio of a businessman - work book.
A detailed guide for photographers who want to build their portfolio competently and independently. The note is based on: basic knowledge, special cases, minor differences that must be taken into account when working with a customer. Free photographers will also find for themselves useful information, because basic principles do not depend on the genre, geography and other external differences. Frankly, as I develop in the profession, I notice less and less that the role of the portfolio of a designer or architect, for example, is somewhat different from that of a photographer, and this is not surprising, as well as the fact that authors, like professions, are distinguished by the specifics that someone one ignores and creates a stamp, while the other notices and finds its viewer.
I do not seek to retrain anyone, but I will not mislead. There are no tricks in compiling or updating a portfolio, but there is a method that you need to master once, and then go on your own, as you believe and feel: your creativity, your audience. Please note that the portfolio:
- This is not a collection of technically correct works, but a selection of the author's works, which are united in style and subject matter, the author's view.
- It can be composed of both the newest works and the oldest ones, because the true, most valuable photograph is always timeless.
With the help of a portfolio, the photographer solves the following tasks:
- Creation of a single visual range, demonstration of the narrative.
- Finding your audience and drawing attention to your work.
Compiling a portfolio is not an insane emotional impulse, according to the principle “like everyone else, so am I”, but a meaningful decision - to create a tool that will help you get away from the masses and convey your message to an audience with which the author has common views on life and values that are reflected in the portfolio; that is why, I believe that compiling a portfolio is not a whim, and not a process “left for tomorrow”, but the primary task that the photographer, if he reads these lines, must solve in the first place, because:
- A portfolio saves a photographer's time.
- The portfolio demonstrates the skills and experience of the author.
- The portfolio enriches the photographer if he updates it.
Photographic equipment is secondary, the portfolio is the main asset of the photographer.
Basic knowledge - the volume of the text. Of course, I will try to write concisely where possible, but nevertheless, for convenience, I will compile a list of chapters:
- General Portfolio Guidelines
- Drafting
- Studying Central Asia
- Snapshot selection
- Format selection
- Choice of design
- Update
- How often to update portfolio
- Drafting
- Instead of a conclusion
The first thing I would like to draw the reader's attention to is self-criticism. Only a sober, detached look at your work will help you create a portfolio that you like and will attract the attention of the viewer. I understand it's difficult. But the first impression can be made (and should not be surprised) only once. It is necessary to exclude random works: passing and those that evoke our memories, which the viewer is deprived of. If this is not done, then you can independently verify that a person’s patience ends faster than we think.
The second thing to remember is that a portfolio is not a static product. No matter how ingeniously and, I do not rule out, professionally designed portfolio, one day you will have to reassemble everything again, because creativity matures, the client or place of residence changes, and those works that previously guaranteed cooperation are no longer enough for the customer, his look and thought, could understand the photographer. From here another piece of advice follows, combine and constantly review the portfolio, and if you no longer like the frame, remove it; don't be afraid of concise episodes, be afraid of boring ones.
Drafting
If you don't have a portfolio, you have nothing to sell.
What are your thoughts on portfolio development? Portfolio is a photographer's tool and without it you can't find a client? No, although they are useful, it is better to think about something else - in what sequence to work on a portfolio, who will see it first, what feelings, thoughts and desires should awaken in the person with whom the photographer would like to work. Many portfolio guides show a common problem - they call for the author to select the best shots and present them. I propose to act a little differently: think, decide, make a selection, think again, arrange and show.
Creating a portfolio - time, effort, financial costs. That is why, I suggest taking your time and compiling taking into account the viewer, and not your own capabilities, which will grow:
- To master technical skills is time, and it is enough.
- To shoot the missing shots is a desire that will appear if you are busy with your business.
Another thing is more important: the theme that will unite the works; style, albeit unique. To make it easier for you, and for me, I will describe the sequence:
- Studying Central Asia
- Snapshot selection
- Format selection
- Choice of design
Now let's look at all the steps.
Studying the target audience
A good portfolio does not delight everyone, and this is normal, because among the audience, and this is also normal, there are not so many of our clients:
- Some people like to watch.
- Others - to discuss or condemn.
- There are others - they like it, but they won't buy it.
Therefore, we need to look for those who will understand our work and say: “This is mine! Tell me, when will you have time for us to discuss the terms of cooperation?” The portfolio should remove the viewer from the information field of the photographer and attract the customer. How to do it? First, study all the characters, but the first thing is to draw up a portrait of your client.
Consideration should be given to age, occupation, social status, if important - material and emotional data; hobbies, habits, problems and desires (sometimes hidden, when the customer himself does not admit to them); sometimes you have to take into account appearance, diet, music and cosmetics (attitude towards it), preferred wardrobe, mode of transportation; holidays, family and national traditions. There are many criteria, but they, like a designer, help not only to draw up a portrait of the target audience, but also to choose the right amount, theme, style, design (which should not be forgotten) of your portfolio.
Snapshot selection
You have chosen your market segment, the main characters have been identified, it's time to select pictures, but which ones and how many? There is no consensus, but there are important observations:
- Quality. Stability in the work speaks about the level - the first thing to consider when selecting. The rule that the first and last 2 photos are important is erroneous, as well as the fact that weak works can be mixed in the middle, for the sake of quantity. All photographs must be uniform in technical execution, or in style (not stylization). Somewhere I heard a long time ago that one bad job outweighs 100 good ones; social networks like VKontakte and Instagram convinced me of this. Pictures are required to hold attention, to evoke a response in the heart of the viewer; workflows cannot be shown.
- Quantity. The optimal number of photos is 20. But it’s better to start “screening out” when you have 100 or more in your hands. Self choose 30-40 the best photos in which you are confident and show the draft portfolio to friends or relatives who are strong in understanding visual art and are similar to the portrait of your target audience, and are ready to respond to your portfolio. Pictures that did not evoke emotions can, and should, be deleted. If there are more or less than 20 works, for example, 12 or 21, then it's okay, the optimal number is not a hard rule, but a recommendation.
When you select photos yourself, it is important not to think about numbers. More importantly, what potential client will find its reflection (after all, as you know, we see it in the work of the author), as he imagines the soul of the photographer. Contrary to popular belief, the client needs confidence, which is why he looks at the portfolio; who needs emotion, he asks - how much does it cost?
Format selection
“Digital portfolio or traditional, styled prints?” - a question that they often write to me, in e-mails, or in personal messages on VK. I understand that it is relevant, but my opinion is always a compromise. Look for him. Consider the benefits of either solution. A portfolio on the Internet is convenient, prints are weighty. I propose to combine and find the optimal combinations for yourself. For example, it’s convenient for me to place prints in a folder, I don’t like photo books, and I don’t consider them at all; but it is convenient for a meeting, an Internet site (personal choice), but there are significantly more options:
- Digital Portfolio
- Personal site
- Social networks
- photosites
- Slide show
- Photo archive
- Printed portfolio
- imprints
- Passepartout prints
- Photobooks
Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.
Digital Portfolio
Photos in in electronic format- no dependence on geography, saving time, effort and the ability to demonstrate a portfolio in a passive mode, since it is available and works for the author, around the clock. But there is a problem - technology. All devices are different, and their screens, for the most part, do not go through colorimetric adjustment, and what is most unpleasant for us, a photograph in electronic form is a glow on the screen, while prints and photo books are reflected light, like all information from the real world. We humble ourselves, read and choose one (or several) solutions for ourselves that will complement the prints.
Personal site
Advantages:
- Confidence. Many do not know how the site works, but they understand the costs, the intentions of those who invest in development and updating. Other things being equal, the customer will look at the portfolio on the site, and not in in social networks(for example).
- Independence. From the moderators, their mood and rules, technical restrictions and, worst of all, legal juggling in the user agreement. Somewhere it happens differently, but in most cases: the service does not owe anything, the photographer is nobody.
- Versatility. Accounts, registrations, personal data and any, to some extent useful, services are not needed. All the necessary information: contacts and price lists, frequently asked questions and reviews can be collected in one project. Comfortable!
- Quality control. Both images, so that the customer sees the portfolio in the best possible way, without serious visible distortions, and the surrounding space (in some projects, comments are needed, while in others they are not, for example).
- Attention management. Your project - freedom of action. You can implement different schemes for the presentation of material in order to derive the optimal sequence and speed of portfolio review; eliminate distractions in the interface.
Flaws:
- For a long time. The site is a separate project. It takes a lot of time for discussion, development and, what is not the end, implementation; further tests, amendments, promotion, constant monitoring and improvements: updating the portfolio, structure, etc.
- Expensive. Creation and support in working order - money, if not with your own hands - a lot. You will have to either study (and this is time and money), or constantly pay, keep on the balance sheet, a freelancer (which is also expensive).
- Responsibly. He is his own boss, but there is a limitation - the legislation of the Russian Federation.
A personal website, in my opinion, is the most convenient and high-quality option for your portfolio on the Internet.
Social networks
Advantages:
- Fast. Completely setting up an account, posting a portfolio, and setting up a public page or community takes less than an hour. Get comfortable in advertising office, without which the presence in social networks is meaningless, another one or two hours.
- Is free. Relatively.
Flaws:
- Addiction. From the leadership, popularity and target audience of the selected site; mood and user agreement change unilaterally. The photographer cannot remove all the data after changing or leaving the site (the "delete" button is a sham).
- Restrictions. Portfolio viewing is available without registration (if you do not limit this in the settings), but contacting the photographer requires an account. Posting pictures is easy, but managing the quality and sequence of viewing is impossible.
- fragility. The practice of blocking social media, under one pretext or another, will increase. The influence of politics and augmented reality will lead to the disappearance or decline in popularity of domestic sites, and the blocking of objectionable "others".
Social media is a free marketplace that every photographer considers. One sees opportunities in it, the other sees limitations: inconvenient navigation (a long way to the goal increases the income of owners), color distortion (nothing has changed in this matter in 10 years), lack of customization (design solutions can be left to yourself, no one considers them ); social media can be considered both as an independent solution and as an advertising channel to drive additional traffic to a personal website.
photosites
Advantages:
- Status. Portfolio on PhotoVogue is not easy, works are selected by the editors of Vogue.It; the appearance is visible on MyWed wedding photography runet; Behance brings together talent, and employers, from all over the world. Recognition among colleagues builds customer trust.
- Quality. The color profile is not removed from the file, the optimal size of the photo for the Internet does not change; colors are not distorted, detailing does not fall. It is on these sites that you can, without fear, place your portfolio.
- Is free. Nicely.
Flaws:
- Addiction. A third-party solution is dependent on its owners, and photo sites, alas, are no exception. How long will the publication last, how will the project change and what will happen if, for example, new design cause dislike among the photographer's clients?
- Uniformity. Change the layout, redesign and implement new technology, which I spied on a colleague - it will not work; the technical part is hidden from the author (and in many situations this is good, but still, the limitation is a disadvantage).
Photo sites are the closest to a regular site - they allow you to place the author's portfolio and, which pleases, not to spoil the image. Provide convenient navigation and demonstrate the opinion of a professional board: editors and photographers; Of course, this is a possible, and largely controversial, argument - public opinion, but consider it if you choose the path of a freelance photographer.
Slide show
Advantages:
- Is free. Relatively, because good software is money. Free solutions - outside of Windows, for example, Linux, but it's time to master this OS; choose a program - time again, figure it out ... well, you understand. relative advantage.
- Qualitatively. The only limitation is sRGB (but the photographer always takes it into account: when printing, publishing on the Internet, viewing on device screens). Otherwise, we are limited by our experience or choice: to squeeze or not (photos and videos).
- Attention management. There are no restrictions, except for the imagination of the author. You can control and manipulate attention, and emotional state, viewer. It will come in handy, and more than once, the experience of a builder, director, designer, marketer and psychologist.
Flaws:
- Uncomfortable. A mandatory condition for the portfolio is updating; slideshow excludes this, because removing, adding or correcting the sequence of photos is tantamount to creating a new project. Reminds me of a house of cards.
- Waste of time. Both in the literal sense - to master the software, choose the plot, pace and music, and figuratively - no one is interested, no one else is watching. Time has passed.
Even 10 years ago, this way of displaying a portfolio was convenient, but now, people do not want, or cannot, waste time viewing slide shows. Statistics, user experience and the new paradigm of web development convince us of this.
Photo archive
Advantages:
- None. This is not a portfolio.
Flaws:
- Wrong decision.
Send pictures by mail so that the customer can evaluate the level of work - probably, it once made sense, but this has nothing to do with the portfolio. It is impossible to consider this option of demonstrating your works, you need to learn how to select works and make thematic selections; to frame them and provide the viewer with a complete product, not a pile of fragments.
An e-portfolio is part of an Internet marketing strategy that a photographer must, if not must, develop before picking up a camera (which is on the shelf in the store); from this position, it is better to assess the prospects of a particular solution, and not in a global, but in a narrower direction - for oneself.
Printed portfolio
A traditional portfolio, prints in a folder, or a photo book is an elegant and solid solution that is suitable for personal meetings with a customer, finding a mentor and visiting a friend in the craft, with whom it is better to communicate outside the virtual world.
A classic printed portfolio, unlike an electronic one, is a tactile sensation, without which, sometimes, it is difficult to realize the real value of a work. If a photographer decides to work with agencies or magazines, then without prints he will not be able to express himself.
imprints
Advantages:
- Photo. Real, desired. Correctly selected paper, conditions and method of printing. In the hands is not a semi-finished product, but a finished product, which is exhibited, fixed, designed and packaged.
- Tactile sensations. Without them, the photograph does not remain in the memory for a long time. Our strength is at the limit, the information field is overloaded and it is difficult to keep one more picture in mind, if you do not touch it with your hands, do not feel the weight and texture.
- Visibility in reflected light. Traditional perception of information of the surrounding world. This is why traditional photography is valuable, despite the fact that for the most part, modern devices reproduce wider color gamuts.
Flaws:
- Expensive. Of course, it depends on the format, printing method and type of paper, but on average prices are from 40-50r to 900r for an A4 print. With regular updates and replacement of damaged photos, you will have to fork out an amount equal to the average budget lens.
- Not durable. Paper is paper. I accidentally knocked over a glass of water, or a cup of coffee, everything, the picture is damaged, I will have to replace it. Additional costs for a visit to the printing house and printing (costs are growing).
- Personal contact. A traditional portfolio requires, from the author, the ability to present, in many ways - to interest in demonstrating their product. You can't do without communication skills and marketing experience. More self-education is needed.
Traditional prints, arranged in an album folder, are not a relic of the past, but rather the opposite - the basic portfolio of a photographer. Another, more expensive and protected version - pictures designed according to museum standards, we will consider them in detail.
Passepartout prints
Advantages:
- Durability. Cardboard protects the print from kinks and chips (in case of falls), but this is a half measure, because the main threat to photography is humidity and ultraviolet, from which the full design (baguette and glass) protects. Looks and is expensive.
- visual perception. Passe-partout is not just a piece of cardboard, but an additional, or rather, artistic element, a tool with which it is quite easy to control the client's visual perception. The main thing is to choose the right size and color.
- The final look of the photo. Museum design standard - 200 years of print preservation, and aesthetic pleasure from viewing. An ideal portfolio option for a mature author, owner of a photography studio.
Flaws:
- Dimensions. The weight and dimensions of the designed prints are large, which makes them uncomfortable, I would even say - unsuitable for meetings outside the space where they are placed, and their own studio - necessary condition to host and display this portfolio.
- Price. Quality is expensive, museum quality is even more expensive.
Pictures, decorated in a classic passepartout, complemented by a baguette and museum glass, and marked with the author's personal seal - an expensive type of portfolio that is not convenient or, rather, unsuitable for meetings outside the photo studio.
Photobooks
Advantages:
- Comfortable. Most books are packaged in "boxes", wooden boxes that can be taken to a meeting or given for review. The format of the book is the value "to taste and requirement", which is also convenient.
- Original. The book, in a sense, is an element of the brand. There are no restrictions on the layout or type of paper, the existing standards are a big convention, a limitation for those who do not need to “find their own”.
Flaws:
- Collage. A photobook is not a photo album; there is no scene in it, understanding the plot - a snapshot and this is bad; we fill the space and create visual noise, what can be conveyed to the viewer in this way is not clear. Photobooks are exclusively for serial shooting.
- Price. A quality product is expensive, packaging is even more expensive. The "paradox" is that the cost of printing is lower than the cost of manufacturing; the photographer does not pay for the view, it is his duty to fork out for the production. Although he needs a portfolio.
- fragility. The print is mostly of poor quality, but often the author is not aware of this, because he will throw the book away much earlier, because the frame is outdated, how to update it? How to complete a portfolio? That's right, a new print.
- Inconvenient format. It cannot be updated, it cannot be considered together with the customer: the frame, even if it is spread out, is small, transferring it is by no means an easy task. It cannot be hung on the wall, which excludes the possibility of placing such a portfolio in the studio.
Photobook is a strange phenomenon. It is expensive and looks beautiful, but its main task, to be "picky", performs badly. Sure, it holds a lot and, not surprisingly, it's compact, but is it when you're working on a timeless photo?
A printed portfolio is of high quality, solid and durable, but it has one common, and at first unpleasant, problem - what to do with outdated photographs? Electronic photos, files on a disk, are easy to delete, but what about printing? I propose to give: to those who are in the frame and to those who are interested in these frames. The photographer will not lose.
I understand that genres and styles are different for everyone, but try to combine different formats, types and versions of the portfolio; take into account the portrait of your target audience, so as not to make a mistake or to exclude in time the attention of those who take time, but do not pay for labor. There will be questions - write letters, I will try to help.
Choice of design
Registration begins with the choice of format. Optimal, for hand-held viewing, 20x30 (A4), and this, of course, applies to the printed portfolio. The basic design is a passe-partout, but it is not appropriate to use it everywhere, in most cases - a folder (made of leatherette or leather) and transparent files in it for storing photos. There are ready-made solutions (on the Internet and beyond), but manual work is better, which does not limit the flight of fancy; the main thing is not to forget that clumsy design is bad, and not because there are ignorant people around - they can’t appreciate “beauty”, it’s just that the photographer should show photos, that’s why the portfolio.
I can’t say anything about the design of books, I didn’t like them from the very beginning, and I use folders, in the near future - self made, since there is an opportunity and why not get away from the impersonal format.
An electronic portfolio does not need to be designed (that's its charm) and, rather, it requires cleaning: in social networks, advertising distracts; on photosites - extra buttons and ads; we spoil personal sites on our own. Look again at the pictures and at the portrait of the target audience, think about what spoils the impression of viewing the pictures and whether it can be corrected; designing a portfolio, as well as compiling it, is not to show everything that you can do, but to show what the client would like to see; something that I would like to reproduce again, but already on a more high level; yes, portfolio design is a demonstration of taste.
Update
Portfolio is not a static product. The photographer hones his skills, looks for new solutions - in the means of expression, and inevitably comes to the understanding: "Something needs to be changed!". This is where self-criticism, the ability to scribble oneself (as F. M. Dostoevsky said) comes in handy; but simply removing the "old" to make way for the "new" is a mistake. "Date of manufacture" is not a selection criterion; the photographer must understand what pictures are missing in his portfolio, and what will change in his work if “edits” are made.
How often to update portfolio
There are many opinions, but I believe that it is necessary to compile a portfolio once and for many years. No, I'm not against minor edits, but if the relevance of the portfolio is rapidly declining, for example, from season to season, then it's better to re-create the portfolio (and advertise it well). In the list below, I will list all thoughts on this issue:
- The frequency of updates is an indicator of the stability, completeness of the portfolio. If there is no, or almost no, day without edits, then the portfolio is made for a wide audience, and its goal is simple - to increase coverage. Its price is low, there is no value.
- The update schedule is a misguided phenomenon in the life of a photographer. A valuable shot appeared and he found a place in the portfolio - good; no - a reason to work further. A shot in a portfolio is not a fixed result, but a share of luck.
- Portfolio update - work on quality, not quantity. Sometimes, and there is nothing terrible about it, you add one frame and remove three, the portfolio decreases and empty files appear (we are talking about printing), but the overall picture becomes clearer. Here is the price.
Competent updates highlight the "backbone", the basis - photographs are timeless; show, attract attention, confirm the achievements, skills and experience of the author. Such photographs bring "their viewer", the customer who needs the author, and not his price tag.
How to select pictures for updates
The opinion is not a dogma, but it may be useful to someone:
- Ignore fashion, seasonal trends. The season of that… the season of that… stupidity and DIY Instagram. Consider the values (not material) of your client and publish timeless photos in which: you are sure, and the customer has found himself.
- Durability is the main criterion. Passage shots or sketch frames are not something that will live for years. Do not publish them even on social media, accustom yourself to see and discuss only what is not without meaning, value (bypassing the price tag).
- Post photos that you have forgotten in your portfolio. Like the picture? Hide it from yourself for a month, or better - six months or a year, so that the emotions, feelings, thoughts that this frame is associated with are gone. After a while, the frame is interesting - publish it, no - in the trash it.
Instead of a conclusion
Portfolio of a businessman - work book.
not big words, but the meek truth.
Added on 01/05/2018
Peace to all, and passing light on the places of photographic battles.
Your,
Andrew Bondar.
