Building a portfolio is the reason many of us are photographers. Putting together images that we have captured into a collection we can share with friends, associates, or in some cases, to show potential employers.
The same rules of building a portfolio apply no matter the final use you envision for your images. As always, the reason you have rules is to break them.
Building a Portfolio Tips:
- Keep a portfolio of between nine and twelve images. If you cant, sell your talent with nine to twelve images, you aren’t going to sell your talent with fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five images.
- Are your friends and family still interested in your images after twelve?- a sure test!
- I have a pool of images I can quickly draw from to trade out portfolio images. An image I am willing to include on Monday may by Friday be out of favor.
- Each of the twelve images should be strong enough to stand on its own.
- Keep the verbiage to a minimum – event, driver, and car. The image will tell everything else.
- Include all information in PhotoShop – File information- Basic – Use both Description and Key Words.
- Be sure the Copyright Info is filled out for each image: both Copyright Status and Copyright Notice.
- Going left to right and right to left images, head-on images, detailed images, driver portraits should all be included.
- Spend some time getting the images to flow.
- Include a short bio including contact information. I have a bio compiled by another writer. I found he could say things about me that I was uncomfortable saying, even if true.
- From the above sentence, you will see I have a dry sense of humor. Consider leaving your sense of humor out of the Bio or other verbiage. Many clients do not share a sense of humor and often miss my humorous verbiage.
- This weekend I open my 2021 season with coverage of the HMSA Laguna Seca Spring Event. I’ll be shooting to capture three or four images to add to my Portfolio’s Pool of images. You will be able to see the results shortly here at Sports Car Digest.
Please leave any comments in the comments box below. Any questions can be sent to me at [email protected]
