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The Photography Portfolio: Building
Your Reputation
by: Colin Hartness
If you have hopes of becoming a professional
photographer, or even just of trying to get your work published in a
public forum, you will need to create a photography portfolio. So
what’s so important about a photography portfolio anyway?
There are many reasons why having a portfolio of your
work available for others to view. If you are seeking employment as a
photographer, then the need for a portfolio is obvious. If you are not
seeking a photography job, there are still good reasons to have a
portfolio. For one, you love photography and you take a lot a pride in
your work. They are important to you. Most likely, some of them are
very good. Why not create a portfolio that showcases your best work so
you can show it to others (even if it’s just friends or family that
comes over for a visit)?
Building a Photography Portfolio
Before we get into what goes into your portfolio, let’s
discuss the portfolio itself. What should it be made of? How big should
it be? You may have seen portfolios with covers made of all types of
materials such as plastic, leather and even stainless steel. These
fancy covers are usually much more expensive and may not be practical
for a beginner. If you are competing for high-price jobs and want to
stand out from the crowd, these expensive covers may be a nice touch.
But for most people, a regular black plastic cover will work just fine.
It’s what’s inside the portfolio that is most important, right?
So, you are probably best to stick with a plain black
plastic cover and work hard on beefing up what’s inside. Don’t decorate
your portfolio with cutesy stickers and such; this will look amateurish
and unprofessional. It’s not a scrapbook; it’s supposed to represent
your high-quality work.
Now, as for size, this is going to depend on the size of
your largest pictures. An 8 X 10 is probably going to be your largest.
If your pictures are not this big, you don’t need a portfolio this big.
Your biggest will most likely be an 11 X 14 and it could be as small as
a 4 X 7.
The most important thing for you to remember is
convenience – both for you and for the person who will be looking at
your portfolio. You want to keep it professional and easy to hold,
carry and look over.
Using a Photography Portfolio
So now that you know what a portfolio is and what type
to get, how do you actually use it? Well, we mentioned you are going to
fill it with your best work. This means you want a portfolio that can
easily be changed. You may want to pull out old ones and add in new
ones. You don’t want to go for a job carrying along every picture
you’ve ever taken. You’re going to want to have 15-20 of your best
work. You are also going to want to be sure your pictures are relevant
to the job. If you are trying out for different types of assignments,
you may want to create portfolios that work for each of the types of
work you are doing.
Of course, you only want to show your best work but you
want to give the impression that you can handle any type of assignment
given to you ad not that you are “stuck” in only one type of
photography.
You want to showcase your best work; this is best
technically as well. You may have a photo that is really important to
you because of the image it represents or the memory it brings but if
it is not technically perfect, it doesn’t belong in a business
portfolio. Save that one for your coffee table.
by Colin Hartness
http://www.asaphotography.com
Here is today's feature Photography article.
Photography 101 Part 3
by: Kelly Paal
Content
Even if you feel that you already know what kind of photography you like to do, it’s always a good idea to try your talent at different aspects of photography.
Pictorial, this is a general term but it applies to any photographer who’s goal is simply to create beautiful photos. This breaks down into smaller subsets but the most popular form is landscape and nature photography. This is what I do and it’s tempting to go on and on but I will just say that this form of photography, to me, is a real art.
Click here to read the whole article.
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