A portfolio is usually made up of pictures that show off your artistic flair, showcase your skills as a photographer, or demonstrate how you are improving as a professional. Creating a strong online presence for yourself as a creative person is mostly just having an impressive collection of art that people can enjoy!
Running a website with a link to your portfolio is a great way to promote your creativity, and it’s free. In this article, I will go over some ways to make your photography portfolio stand out from the rest.
You do not have to use them in your own portfolio, but if you are looking to take your creative career seriously then these may help you. We could not leave this important topic without mentioning it!
Take time to nurture your creative side
As we mentioned before, running a web site is a wonderful way to highlight your talents as a artist. But aside from creating the content for the site, there is another crucial part: curating the content of the site.
Making sure to include only quality material in the sites photos, videos, and/or written pieces takes time. It is easy to start producing low-quality work, so be careful about what you add onto the site.
Organize your photos into groups
After you have gathered all of your photoshoot materials, it is time to organize them! While most people start with taking pictures of still life or landscape settings, we will go about organizing our photo portfolio differently.
Instead, we will begin by creating organized groupings of photographs. Starting with an empty canvas can be the hardest part, so why not do that first? By having a blank page, you are giving yourself a chance to explore different styles, concepts, and mediums.
By starting with a grouping of around five images, you will give yourself some time to get familiar with your camera and photographic style before moving onto another section.
Your first group should contain at least three photos. These can be either landscapes, seascapes, street photography, self-portraits, or whatever genre strikes your fancy. It does not matter which types of photographs you include in these initial groups as long as they all relate to each other.
After you have completed this step, move on to your second group. For your second group, choose one main photograph and two supporting photographs.
The main photograph should be focused more towards telling a story, while the supporting ones help bring emphasis to the main picture. They can be separate shots, but they must connect to show the same concept or theme.
Create a theme for your portfolio
As with any type of creative work, having a strong thematic foundation is important in creating an engaging photography portfolio. What kind of photographer you want to be will determine what types of photos you take, but how you present those pictures is still very important.
Your theme should include style, genre, medium, and context. For example, if you’re trying to build up your portrait skills, then portraying intimate moments is appropriate. If you are more skilled at capturing landscapes, then including some variety would be better than sticking to one style.
If you are simply not sure where to start, begin by taking close-up portraits and establishing a relationship with someone before moving onto wider shots. Or maybe you can experiment with different genres to find your strongest styles.
Use your creativity
As we have seen, being creative is an integral part of making a successful career in photography. If you are struggling to come up with new ideas for your portfolio, no need to fear!
There are plenty of ways to get inspiration from around you and your surroundings every day. Take some time each week to do something creative that has nothing to do with taking pictures; painting, drawing, writing, etc.
By incorporating other art forms into yours, you will be mixing different skills which can boost your self-confidence and inspire you to take more artistic risks.
Above all, keep experimenting! There’s never really too much material when it comes to developing as a photographer.
I hope this article inspired you to pick up the camera and start exploring beyond taking already established photographs.
Update your website
After you have taken all of your photography files and put them into various galleries, it is time to update your web presence!
You should now make sure that every one of these galleries are linked together as well as possible.
This means linking each gallery to the other photos in it, external links for sites like Shutterstock or Iminpro, and creating an about us page for yours so people can learn more about you.
Your about me page should include what city and area you live in, some basic bio information, and a link to your main site where people can see some of your work.
Lastly, our favorite, create a simple portfolio style webpage using either WordPress, Squarespace, or any other platform that allows you to easily add new pictures, videos, and text.
Connect with an agency
After you have done your research, it is time to start looking for your next job! While some people use their own skills to create their portfolio, this isn’t possible for every artist. Most artists are not in full-time employment so they can’t dedicate all of their time to creating their art.
This is where having a business partner comes into play. A business partnership allows both partners to focus more on their separate careers while the other handles the less glamorous parts of running the company.
By having someone else take care of the administrative work, you can concentrate on what you love doing. This way, you don’t need to worry about spending hours proofreading an email or making sure everything is organized at home.
A business partner will also help coordinate photoshoots, editing services, etc., which removes another source of stress from your life. Business partners usually do these things for pay, but if you’re extra friendly and dependable, most people won’t mind donating their time to promote your career.
There are many ways to find a business partner. Some sources include talking to friends, going to local artistic events, and reading blogs related to your line of work. By being aware of the community surrounding your field, you’ll know who has worked with similar companies and whether they are open to meeting others in the industry.
Ask your friends for feedback
As mentioned before, having a portfolio is very important if you want to grow as a photographer. But making a good looking one can be tricky!
Running into problems with browsers not supporting certain features or elements being illegible due to poor quality fonts or images are just some of the things that photographers face when trying to design their own look.
But instead of picking up another brand’s style, they try to make it fit their style, which sometimes may not work because people perceive their personal style differently.
So how do you fix this? Simply ask others about what they like and don’t like about your photography and whether there anything you could improve on!
By asking around, you will get lots of great tips from different people who have done photoshoots and/or seen yours, so add those to your pool of ideas.
The best way to gain more insights though is by actually having someone you trust take a few minutes out of their time to review your work and give you advice on ways to improve it.
Use the internet to critique your work
It’s always great to have someone else evaluate your work, but you should be careful of what critiques you trust. Some sources may not like what you are trying to achieve with your photographs, so make sure you are looking at them from a good place!
There are many ways to use the internet to gain insights into your photography. You can check out other people’s portfolios, look up tutorials or reading material on different photographic concepts, and watch YouTube videos related to still life, landscape, and portrait photography.
By doing these things, you will find that some sites offer reward points which allow you to buy new equipment or improve your existing gear. These rewards usually go towards products that you would normally pay full price for!
This is very helpful as it gives you an incentive to keep improving your craft. By investing in yourself, you give yourself a leg up on those who don’t invest in their artistic skills.
Learn to use Photoshop or other editing software
Having a portfolio that features only one style or tone is very boring to watch! If you are looking to launch your career as a photographer, then it is important to mix up your styles.
You should strive to add at least two different looks into your repertoire every month. A good way to do this is by learning new editing tools in photoshop. Or, taking classes about photography (lighting, posing, etc.).
Editing software such as photoshop allows you to take pictures and make them look more professional. By mastering these tools, you will be able to give your photos that extra ‘gloss’ that makes your images stand out.
There are many free resources available online for all levels of photoshop users.
