Portfolio

[shannonkelly2103]

Hey y'all! I would like to start building a portfolio...any ideas on what would be the best way to do that? I don't have a web page...I would like to start out with an actual, physical portfolio. I got a photo album (I think I'd like to find one with black pages instead of white, but it'll do for now since I'm not showing it to anyone yet) and I've been putting some of what I think are my best shots, and shots like what I would like to photograph for others. Any ideas

[cwfilms]

well there is always that first portfolio question ??
BUT, what you're asking is like.. "i wanna buy a car, what should i buy ??"

there are a 100 other questions you have to answer first before this question can even be approached..
i would say.."buy a Hummer H2,... i just got mine and LOOOOOOOVE it !!'

you have to define your "look"
you have to define your "style"
you have to define your "Market"

thats a good place to start..

cw

[Mark McCall]

I agree with CW.

What's your target audience?
Portrait, wedding, fine art?

Who are you selling to?

A website will definetly need to be a consideration as soon as your physical portfolio is built. I'd even recommend doing that first.

[nikonjedi]

Hey, count me in. I would like to know about this. I've been told here tons of times, that you cannot sell what you cannot show. Here's my question to the pros...if I could get about three or four weddings chock full of high quality photos, put together a couple/few albums, and larger prints, would this give me a good starting point to make the sales? OR, would more material be necessary?

NJ

[cwfilms]

i dont know much about the wedding photography world BUT, im sure it runs the same parallels as the Photography industry in general.. my thoughts are, that would be a great start as long as its your best work and it shows your vision and style. If people can "grab a hold" of what your shooting and see your art they will soon follow.

cw

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by nikonjedi

if I could get about three or four weddings chock full of high quality photos, put together a couple/few albums, and larger prints, would this give me a good starting point to make the sales? OR, would more material be necessary?

I'll take quality over quantity any day.
The larger the prints, the better. A larger image is ALWAYS a better image.

Avoid "greatest hits" albums. Don't mix images from different weddings in the same album.

[cwfilms]

Mark is Correct... its MUCH better to have 10 GREAT images then 20 or 30 good or so so images.. also, its very easy for one average image to kill a book. Meaning you have 12-15 great photos and then there is one thats "not up to par". That is more then likely going to be the image that stands out in a person's mind especially in the commercial world i work in.

Another thing, what you are creating is your own art and style through your photography. Whatever that is, thats what you want to show, as unique as possible.... and that should be the same with any photographer.

Thats what will make you stand out in a crowded room of Photographers.

cw

[lilbit330]

Originally Posted by Mark McCall

A website will definetly need to be a consideration as soon as your physical portfolio is built. I'd even recommend doing that first.

What do you do when you have no website-building skills ? I have a personal myspace .. but to me that doesnt seem professional ?

[cwfilms]

you can either find some high school kid that will build you a site for 100$ or buy into something like "Live Books" and go that route..
and anything in between-
Photography is SOOOOOO much more about business then 98% of the Peeps understand.. the quicker you grasp that, and "work it", the better off you will be..

i pay a LOT of $$$ for my simple site. it has its "PROS and cons" , i went the cheap route the first few years,.. now i pay big money for mine, BUT i got exactly what i want. my biggest issue now is keeping it updated.. i wish i could do it myself..

i host through: iPower.com
its cheap and works great for me... i'm sure there are others that may work better for you if you search.

cw

[shannonkelly2103]

I don't know if I would call myspace unpro...I mean, I'm no pro, but just about everyone has a myspace, and a know a few photographers who do. I think it's a great way to get people to look at your stuff...that's just my humble opinion..and you know what they say about opinions..

[lilbit330]

Originally Posted by shannonkelly2103

I don't know if I would call myspace unpro...I mean, I'm no pro, but just about everyone has a myspace, and a know a few photographers who do. I think it's a great way to get people to look at your stuff...that's just my humble opinion..and you know what they say about opinions..

Im sure myspace would be a good place to start anyways :]

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by shannonkelly2103

I don't know if I would call myspace unpro...I mean, I'm no pro, but just about everyone has a myspace, and a know a few photographers who do. I think it's a great way to get people to look at your stuff...that's just my humble opinion..and you know what they say about opinions..

MySpace is an option but it's hardly "pro". Consider the audience. There is no way I'm going to give a business card to a potential $5,000 wedding client that has a "myspace.com/imarockinphotoguy" address on it.

The MySpace audience is a different culture. If you want to work in that culture (and several do), stick with it. But presenting a portfolio to a commercial ad agency with a MySpace address is not going to show legitimacy.

[Steve Buchanan]

Assuming you know what kind of work you want to shoot and where you want to shoot it...

Determine your marketing budget for the year. If you say 'I have no budget' then you can't realistically expect to make a go of this. The usual guideline is 10% of desired profits. If you want to (realistically) make 20k next year from photography you need to be prepared to spend 2k on marketing.

Step 2... Write a marketing plan. If you don't know how, google

Step 3... For my money a website is worth much much more than a printed portfolio. The website is your key to opening the door. If your website is awful then nothing else matters because that's the first place people look. If you don't have a website up I would spend 50-70% of this year's budget on it.

Step 4... Printed portfolio. Get the coolest, hippest, baddest, (insert adjective here) that you can for the budget. A book is generally better than loose prints because it's easier to flip through. Also, if you can use a book that doesn't put acetate sheets between your images and the customer that much better. Moab paper makes a nice kit.

Step 5... patience. Remember marketing is not selling. A marketing consultant (Leslie Burns-Delaqua) used the analogy that selling is what the car salesperson does when you walk in the door at the Mini dealer. Marketing is what BMW does on miniusa.com that gets you in the door.

FWIW

SB