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ASMP SB3 Workshop "What makes a great portfolio?"
This document provides guidance on creating an effective photographer's portfolio. It discusses presenting a visual voice that speaks to target markets and inspires clients. Key recommendations include editing work down to the best pieces, creating a story or theme, considering design elements like palette, and updating portfolios regularly. The document also covers portfolio formats like printed books, websites, and iPad displays, as well as promoting work through social media, direct mail, and networking to engage with clients.
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ASMP SB3 Workshop "What makes a great portfolio?"
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- 4. What Kind ofPortfolio? ©Ed McCulloch
- 5. What Kind ofPortfolio? ©Ed McCulloch
- 6. What Kind ofPortfolio? ©Ed McCulloch
- 7. What Kind ofPortfolio? ©Ed McCulloch
- 8. What Kind ofPortfolio? ©Ed McCulloch
- 9. Objectives “I use my book to meet girls”-actual quote from a Getty Photographer Sample Objectives: • Introduce myself and my work to new clients • Show new work or new directions to established clients • Get reactions to personal work • Portfolio Reviews • For a rep
- 10. EDIT!!! and then...EDITsome more • Review objectives • PICK THE BEST OF THE BEST • Create a STORY • Consider the palette • Include personal work
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- 12. Websites “You are judged by the worst photo on your website”-Me Theories of website content: 1. Throw everything (good) at them in as many portfolios as it takes 2. Limit number of portfolios on the site and number of images in each 3. Have a separate stock site or not?
- 13. Multi-section | ManyImages ©Ken Penn
- 14. Targeted Sections |Limited Images ©K.C. Armstrong
- 15. Visual Impact ©K.C. Armstrong
- 16. BIO-Personality Contest? ©K.C. Armstrong
- 17. Etsy - Yourplace to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage, and supplies ©Eric Skaar
- 19. Best Practices forWebsites • No music • Only your best work • Make it personal • Design • Palette/brand • Update
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- 21. Printed Books ©Elizabeth Archibong
- 40. Thanks to NIckHall
- 41. Best Practices-Printed Book •Placement of images • Story/Theme • Paper • Palette • CLEAN • Update •17-25 Spreads • Double sided • Plastic? Print half to full stop over
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- 43. iPad display fromhttp://aphotofolio.com
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- 50. Don’t make theseprinted portfolio mistakes The most important lessons I’ve learned from reviewing thousands of hard copy portfolios: 1. Real Estate: Use all the space you have when showcasing images 2. No blurb or other self-publish books except as leave behinds 3. Keep it clean 4. Overly expensive/elaborate 5. No cheap shiny plastic sheets
- 51. Don’t Make TheseMistakes-Website/iPad 1. Real estate 2. Tell the truth. 3. Make the site easy to navigate 4. Hire a professional 5. Stay current with web technology
- 53. SHOOT •Personal Projects •New Work •Tear Sheets (web)
- 54. SHOOT PROMOTE •Personal Projects •Social Media •New Work •Direct mail •Tear Sheets (web) •Cold Calls •Leave behinds •SEO
- 55. SHOOT PROMOTE ENGAGE •Personal Projects •Social Media •Visit •New Work •Direct mail •Blog •Tear Sheets (web) •Cold Calls •Tweet •Leave behinds •Facebook •SEO •Network
- 56. SHOOT PROMOTE ENGAGE •Personal Projects •Social Media •Visit •New Work •Direct mail •Blog •Tear Sheets (web) •Cold Calls •Tweet •Leave behinds •Facebook •SEO •Network UPDATE •Book •Website •iPad (newest work
- 57. SHOOT PROMOTE ENGAGE •Personal Projects •Social Media •Visit •New Work •Direct mail •Blog •Tear Sheets (web) •Cold Calls •Tweet •Leave behinds •Facebook •SEO •Network UPDATE SHOOT •Book •Personal Projects •Website •New Work •iPad (newest work •Tear Sheets (web)
- 58. SHOOT PROMOTE ENGAGE •Personal Projects •Social Media •Visit •New Work •Direct mail •Blog •Tear Sheets (web) •Cold Calls •Tweet •Leave behinds •Facebook •SEO •Network UPDATE SHOOT PROMOTE •Book •Personal Projects ENGAGE •Website •New Work UPDATE •iPad (newest work •Tear Sheets (web) SHOOT PROMOTE ENGAGE UPDATE
- 59. Portfolio Makers Printed Books http://www.plasticsandwich.co.uk/index.html http://www.lost-luggage.com/store/home.php www.mullenburgdesigns.com Websites/iPads http://aphotofolio.com/ http://foliolink.com/ http://www.sitewelder.com/ http://www.livebooks.com/ http://www.photoshelter.com http://bigfolio.com/ http://wordpress.org/ http://itunes.apple.com/app/padport/id395515492?mt=8#
- 60. Consultants/Designers “Wediscover recurring patterns, themes, colors and nuances in your imagery that mirror your authentic self-Rhoni Epstein Leslie Burns http://www.burnsautoparts.com Rhoni Epstein http://www.phototherapists.com/what.php Selina Maitreya http://selinamaitreya.com/ Maria Piscopo http://www.mpiscopo.com/ Carolyn Potts http://www.cpotts.com/ Susanne Sease http://www.suzannesease.com/index.html Amanda Sosa-Stone http://www.sosastone.com/ Nadine Stellavato http://www.brand-envy.com/info_contact.php Allegra WIlde [email protected] You can find a fuller list from Ron Haggart on his blog http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2008/02/04/list-of-photography-consultants/
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Editor's Notes
- #2 \n
- #3 My history. Reviewed thousands of portfolios. \n
- #4 Make it professional AND personal. Give clues to who you are and what you want to do. The more clues the better! ) Must have impact and personality. That personality is you not contrived.\n
- #5 Web? Printed book? Ipad? Some? Which ones? \nConsider: budget/market/ position in career I don’t consider Facebook a portfolio destination. Flickr maybe. Why is web\nsite more important than the printed book in some cases? What cases?\n
- #6 Web? Printed book? Ipad? Some? Which ones? \nConsider: budget/market/ position in career I don’t consider Facebook a portfolio destination. Flickr maybe. Why is web\nsite more important than the printed book in some cases? What cases?\n
- #7 Web? Printed book? Ipad? Some? Which ones? \nConsider: budget/market/ position in career I don’t consider Facebook a portfolio destination. Flickr maybe. Why is web\nsite more important than the printed book in some cases? What cases?\n
- #8 Web? Printed book? Ipad? Some? Which ones? \nConsider: budget/market/ position in career I don’t consider Facebook a portfolio destination. Flickr maybe. Why is web\nsite more important than the printed book in some cases? What cases?\n
- #9 “Don’t send in something just because you shot it,” jury chair David Burnett advises. “Look at your work with a sharp eye. Don’t get tempted by fond or fuzzy memories, because the jurors will not have those. Be your own toughest editor. If you’re not tough on yourself, we will be. One bad picture in a story takes away the merit of two good ones.” Juror World Press Photo Awards and * co-founder of Contact Press Images,the New York based photojournalism agency, now entering its 34th year. In a recent issue of American Photo magazine Burnett was named one of the "100 Most Important People in Photography." \n
- #10 1.Edit down to 25-30 images per portfolio. Limit portfolios Hire an editor if you are uncertain. They might discover work that you have overlooked...isolate a new client type\n2. Both book & website need to hold together thematically. The book needs a narrative. End with an image that will continue the conversation. Not the red ball series\n3,.The palette is your brand and must continue over all your materials\n4, Only include personal work if it relates to the kind of work that you want.\n
- #11 review the edit. Possible to improve any of the categories? Need to supplement any subject with a broader or narrower group of images? Not enough images to satisfy a goal? any questions so far?\n
- #12 “I won’t consider calling in a book without\nfirst seeing a website and liking what I see there.”-Common response from ADs and PhotoEditors\n“People are not calling in books like they used to. In some cases the job goes to the best website”-Rob Haggart\n\n\n
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- #19 No accounting for taste in music\nDon’t fill out with less than your best\nMust have bio\nDesign easy navigation and easy to update\nMake it consistent\nWait a few days before putting up your new favorite work\n
- #20 From PhotoShelter \n
- #21 Need to get the book in front of clients. Calls, Calls, eblasts, network A printed book won’t do you any good if you don’t take it with you every time you go out the door. You can’t wait for it to be called in.\nBut if you have to go cheap...rely on the website until you can do it right.\nDo you want to arrive at an appointment in a used mini-van or on a cool ride?\nAvoid the big red ball series\n
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- #40 Have three great shots. Place them first last and in the middle. Create a conversation starter with the last image\nCreative a narrative\nMake a few prints firstMost use Moab.\nMake the book a continuation of your brand...subject/palette\n-clean design/and actually clean. No dog hairs!\nUpdate annually\n\n\n\n\n
- #41 can serve as a portable port...take it with you everywhere\n Best book format for limited budget or photographers operating in local markets\n Save it to show depth on a subject in a meeting\n a bridge between the book and the online portfolio\n a must for video\n
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- #48 Minimum of $500 for emerging photographer. A entirely different story for top of game photographers.\n
- #49 1. Nothing is more a waste of money than tiny images on a sea of paper…ok so the paper is lovely but we don’t care. We want to SEE each image. Don’t clutter the pages either. No more than 20=25 pages. A group of images on a page increases the number of images in the book but don’t clutter.\n2.They don’t hold up through repeated opening and closing. They have their place but as a full-blown commercial portfolio, they don’t cut it.\n3. No matter your portfolio style de jour…I’ve seen very expensive printed portfolios that are just plain dirty: fingerprints, torn prints, scratched sheets. All matter of stuff: even dog hairs. And these from working photographers. Respect your portfolio and others will too.\n4, Some printed books need to be carried around on a luggage dolly because they are bound in steel and weigh tons. Your clients want to see the work not have to wrestle the thing to ground in order to peek inside.\n5. Office Depot is NOT the place to buy supplies to build a printed book…leave the shiny sheets behind unless they are part of a design and of very high quality. They reflect overhead lighting and look like a high school report.\n\n\n\n
- #50 1. Nothing worst than wide-open spaces with a tiny image floating like an island in the middle of a webpage. Oh, and for the love of the great art director in the sky, NO MUSIC.\n2.Sure you want to show your most stunning images but be darn certain that you can deliver the same quality, when you get a job. If you create false expectations and blow a job from a new client, you are dead meat forever as far as that art director goes. I will never forget the guy with the great site who blew an assignment because he couldn’t handle the job as promised on his website. I even remember details of the cab ride to his studio and every thing about him. My brain was making certain I never forgot a detail so that I would never recommend him to anyone. Notice a word I used a lot above? I said NEVER three times.\n3.OK, everyone tells you this but then why do I sit befuddled at my computer so often trying to figure out how to get back to where I started after leaving the landing page or how to see more than one image or, worst, how to stop the darn thing from tossing a hundred images at me within the first 10 seconds? (And I’m even a rather geeky person.) Try your website out on your next-door neighbor. Is she lost? Do your own little usability study. \n4 You rile against amateurs in your business so why hire the same level of talent to build your site? Get both a graphic designer and a web designer to work together. Rarely does someone do both well. Or use one of the templates available that you can customize. Also make certain that you can make adjustments like adding new work yourself. DIY only if you can do a stellar job.\n5. or whatever the latest Google search is going to require. Set your site up on Google Analytics so that you can monitor the success of your marketing in driving traffic to your site. \n\n\n\n
- #51 emerging photographer’s newest work will probably be the best work\n\n
- #52 emerging photographer’s newest work will probably be the best work\n\n
- #53 emerging photographer’s newest work will probably be the best work\n\n
- #54 emerging photographer’s newest work will probably be the best work\n\n
- #55 emerging photographer’s newest work will probably be the best work\n\n
- #56 emerging photographer’s newest work will probably be the best work\n\n
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