Photography Director Jobs
Photography Portfolio - How To Build One
During many photographer's careers, an opportunity comes when it's time to turn pro. Although it may seem like a daunting task to go from a photographer hobbyist to a professional, it may be a lot easier than you think. It won't happen immediately and does require a lot of work, but eventually you can make a good income with shooting pictures. One of the most common first steps to shooting professionally is to create a portfolio of your images. Here is how to do it.
Get Focused
Are you trying to shoot for magazines in the fashion industry? Want to do advertisements? Professional portrait studios? Before you start building a portfolio, it is critical that you know what you are building it for. Your photos are what show your ability to perform the job you're chasing, so make sure that they're in line with what that job demands.
This is also a good time to decide on a theme for your portfolio. Although you can have unrelated images in your portfolio, it's always best to connect the images in your book to a specific theme or main idea.
Start Shooting A Lot
If you don't have any professional work at the moment, or you're just getting started in the industry, be prepared to shoot for free - a lot. Make sure to be taking pictures in the niche or industry you want and keep a look out for opportunities to build your reputation.
There are plenty of people out there that need photographs done for a variety of reasons, and shooting for free can often sneak you in under the pros. This way you'll get images for your portfolio as well as great experience. Finding work like this is especially easy if you're looking to do portraiture or headshots.
Get Real
There are advantages to a digital portfolio - portability, ease of display, and the ability to instantly show your photos to anyone in the world - but whenever possible you should present your photographs as hard copies. By having a physical portfolio, it will give you more of an opportunity to discuss your work and demonstrates that you know how to market your images.
And by having a physical portfolio, you also control what your potential client views. Your photos won't look the same on every monitor in the world, so having hard copies of them allows you to skip over any possible display issues.
Your Presentation Matters
One of the trickiest things about building a portfolio is deciding how to present it. Unfortunately, there is no secret weapon to have you magically land every photo job, but there are a few tips that you can use to make the process easier.
First, remember your audience. If you're going out for a local portrait studio, a nicely printed, leather-bound photo portfolio will probably be sufficient. If you're trying to land a gig with the top advertising agency in the country, the chances are good the Art Director has seen countless portfolios so yours needs to stand out from the pack.
It's always good to be creative, but just make sure that you're not sacrificing the quality of your images for the sake of looking different. No matter what you do with your photos, make sure that each one is easily viewed and makes its point without interference from what you've used to showcase it. Your portfolio will be viewed as an extension of your aesthetic sensibilities so it must be complementary to your photos and theme.
Finally, edit down. Therefore, you should only share your very best samples of your work. Art Directors and people who hire are busy so you'll often have less than a minute to have your images make their point so always present your best images first. Choose ten of your very best photographs and if you don't have 10 exceptional images then start shooting until you have them. And if possible try to select images with a similar theme like sunset pictures or your best animal photos.
In general, creating a portfolio isn't difficult but requires a lot of time and effort. Work on building a great body of amazing images and a reputation as someone who works with professionalism and a commitment to quality and you'll be landing jobs in no time.
Bullshit Jobs with Lisa Schwartz - Episode 1
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