We invite you to join us for "Building An Effective Online Portfolio Webinar" Presented by Photofocus, ASMP and Piqsure Present When: Wednesday, July 27th - 2:00pm ET | 11:00 am PT REGISTER HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WepIVCbT4r4 Marketing your portfolio can be one of the most challenging aspects of conducting business in the photography profession. Ensuring that you have an optimal online portfolio is critical to making client connections and ensuring business success JOIN US for this FREE Webinar as ASMP Member and … [Read more...] about Building An Effective Online Portfolio Webinar
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Adobe Portfolio – Easy, Beautiful, Fast, Online Portfolios For Photographers & Other Creatives
I constantly struggle with how I want to display my images online. I have used/tried just about every single service, editor, portfolio site available. All of them have some flaw and some merit. But for some reason I am unable to settle down with any one service for very long. I think online portfolios and camera bags are somehow related to mermaids. They sing a siren song and try to tempt you to come their way. But I digress If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud account you might want to check out a very powerful service thats included with … [Read more...] about Adobe Portfolio – Easy, Beautiful, Fast, Online Portfolios For Photographers & Other Creatives
Photographers: How To Get The Most Out Of Constructive Criticism
Today, everyone has an opinion and moreover, many think their opinion trumps all. Its part of the Internet culture and frankly, its brought about plenty of criticism but little of it constructive. There are good reasons to seek out constructive criticism. And there can be great value to it. When criticism is delivered by talented, educated, gifted photographers who have earned the respect of their peers, it can be VERY valuable. The first thing to do is open your mind and distinguish between a constructive critique and an opinion. Remember … [Read more...] about Photographers: How To Get The Most Out Of Constructive Criticism
Drawing Attention to Your Online Portfolio
There are millions of portfolio websites in the USA alone. Finding ways to get people to visit your site can be a challenge. But there are tools you can use and the good news is you probably are already familiar with them. Getting Registered Lets start with some really basic ideas. You should notify both Google and Bing that you have an online portfolio. Next, if you are a Premium Business customer at Zenfolio, you can also activate a free account on Photographer Central, an online directory of professional photographers available for hire. … [Read more...] about Drawing Attention to Your Online Portfolio
Creating a Digital Portfolio
Several years ago I started a special photography project photographing people that have very little or no modeling experience. I wanted to challenge myself on how to teach a person to model. Photographing non models is not a big deal. Isnt that what we do when a client comes to us for a senior portrait or a wedding? This project had to be different, I needed a theme that would tie the project together. It finally came to me. Being single and not a very good cook, I went out to eat almost 3 times a day. What better place to find subjects than a … [Read more...] about Creating a Digital Portfolio
Find a Trusted Voice to Critique your Photos
Since the age of 16 I've competed in Martial Arts competitions. My performance was under a microscope. It was simple, if my performance was great the judges would give high scores and the crowd roared with applause. If my performance was marginal, the judges would give low scores and, If the crowd disagreed, they would voice their disapproval. Their support was comforting but did very little to change the outcome. After the event, I would ask the judges for advice and request they give it to me straight. Sometimes I liked what they had to … [Read more...] about Find a Trusted Voice to Critique your Photos
Using Zenfolio To Control Access To Your Online Portfolio
Controlled Access One of my early favorite features of Zenfolio is the ability to control who can access photos on my site. This is useful if you want to have private galleries or photos for client review, but don't want those same photos to be live and accessible to anyone who visits your site. In my case I am creating private galleries that are for editorial use. As I work on books, magazine articles etc., I tend to collaborate with other photographers. I can share the images I want only those collaboration partners to see without … [Read more...] about Using Zenfolio To Control Access To Your Online Portfolio
Personal Projects Help Build Your Portfolio
If you want to go pro, you need a portfolio. Its often a chicken and egg situation. You need clients to build a portfolio and you need a portfolio to get clients. There are some workarounds. Hopefully this will help. Make Your Own Assignments First, youve got to practice, practice, practice and do it right! When you don't have a ton of real assignments youve got to create your own. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with hiring some models or talking friends and family into spending a day being your subjects. For wedding and portrait images hit a … [Read more...] about Personal Projects Help Build Your Portfolio
I’m Not a Pro, Do I Need a Portfolio?
This is a guest post by Stephan Bollinger - www.stephanbollinger.com Follow him on G+: plus.google.com/+StephanBollinger My previous article about the advantages of portfolio reviews has created a very interesting discussion. The question was raised Why would I need a portfolio, Im not a pro, and even more intriguing what exactly is a portfolio. To clarify a few things, first let me say that having a portfolio has nothing to do with "pro" or "amateur". I don't like these terms anyway, because it implies that a "pro" creates better pictures, … [Read more...] about I’m Not a Pro, Do I Need a Portfolio?
Is it Time to Build a Portfolio?
A good portfolio is a personal statement about a photographer. As such, there are no one-size fits all approach that will work for each individual. The best advice is to look at other peoples portfolios. There is a wealth of online portfolios you can find on the Internet. The key step here is to start looking well before you need a portfolio so you can create one you like. What is a Portfolio? A portfolio is a collection of your work samples that can be shown to prospective clients or employers. It should represent the diversity of the … [Read more...] about Is it Time to Build a Portfolio?
Improve Your Photography through Editing
This is a guest post by Stephan Bollinger - www.stephanbollinger.com Follow him on G+: plus.google.com/+StephanBollinger It's not easy to select the best (most impactful, appealing, selling, effective) images for your own portfolio, and it is an even tougher call to throw some of your most beloved images out. To clarify: With "editing" I talk about the selection of images, not any pixel-bending in photoshop. I personally find it relatively easy to select my let's say top 50 images, but getting them down to 10 or 15 is difficult, confusing, … [Read more...] about Improve Your Photography through Editing
How Do You Pick Photos For Your Portfolio?
Judging your own work - I think it's one of the hardest things to do. That's why I usually use a portfolio consultant (typically someone with a great deal of experience as a photo editor for a magazine or book publisher) to help me do my selects. But what if you don't have access to or money to pay a photo editor? The next best thing is get some advice from a few hundred of your friends. This is one of my favorite things about 500px. I started using 500px a few months ago to showcase my work. I have what they call an "awesome" account, meaning … [Read more...] about How Do You Pick Photos For Your Portfolio?
FINALLY! An iPad Photo Portfolio App I Like – Photo Manager Pro 3.2.4
Ive tried literally dozens of photo apps for the iPad intended to help me manage my photos. I use the iPad primarily as a photo portfolio. Ive mostly relied on the supplied photo app that comes with the iPad from Apple. But to say that app is lacking is an understatement. Youd think its very easy to come up with a simple portfolio app that is fast, powerful, convenient, easy to use and intuitive. Apparently that is not the case. All the apps Ive tried work on some level but almost none of them are convenient or easy. Id just about given up but … [Read more...] about FINALLY! An iPad Photo Portfolio App I Like – Photo Manager Pro 3.2.4
12 Ways to Make Photographs That Are Guaranteed to Improve Your Portfolio
This post was inspired by something I wrote in 2009. Photographers are always trying to improve their portfolio. Here are a dozen ways to make pictures that are guaranteed to improve your portfolio. 1. Photograph the same object over all four seasons or a certain period of time and document it's change and the changes to its surroundings. 2. Photograph something unique; something youve never photographed before. 3. Take a road trip where photography is the only goal. 4. Photograph something inspirational; something that makes you want to do … [Read more...] about 12 Ways to Make Photographs That Are Guaranteed to Improve Your Portfolio
Constructing my Print Portfolio
Make sure you don't miss a single Photofocus post - point your feed reader to the free Photofocus RSS Feed here and subscribe. Post & Photo by Joe Farace Follow Joe on Twitter Once upon a time, the laminated print portfolio was de rigeur for photographers. These slick presentations cost a lot of money to make and bind but they said I have arrived. They were considered to be better than any other single promotional tool by most photographers and buyers. As photo quality ink-jet printers became not only affordable, but also actually … [Read more...] about Constructing my Print Portfolio
A Secret Way To Judge/Build A Photo Portfolio
When you look at a photographer's portfolio, it's pretty easy to expect that the first image you will see will be great. Astute photographers know that they should lead with their best shot. But here's a secret. Anyone can come up with one lucky shot. How about that seventh shot? Is that as good as the first? Back in the day when I had to show a physical portfolio in order to make a sale, I noticed that many buyers would turn to the middle of the book. I soon figured out that my images needed to be strong throughout the entire portfolio. When … [Read more...] about A Secret Way To Judge/Build A Photo Portfolio
Building a Photo Portfolio in a Digital Age
Guest Post & Photo by You know how it goes: The Art Director says, I know you can photograph right-handed baseball players but can you photograph left-handed ones? An unfortunate reality of the photography business is that you have to constantly prove to potential buyers that you can produceor have already madeimages just like the ones they need right now. Your key marketing tool during this aspect of the sales process is the portfolio. In this postmodern iPod world, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to producing portfolios that … [Read more...] about Building a Photo Portfolio in a Digital Age
How to Sort Your Images Using the iPad
NOTE: This is a guest post by Ray Carcases - UPDATE: According to this link http://brettmaxwellphoto.com/ipadsortorder/ you can indeed sort iPad images if you use Windows. Warning: This post is really for other photographers who want to use the iPad but want to have some type of method to sort their images so that they when they show images to a client using an iPad, they can sync up the photo viewer to the file. If this doesn't sound like you, you can read this but you may get bored. Just sayin. Of Mice and Men Many photographers I … [Read more...] about How to Sort Your Images Using the iPad
Seven Tips for Building A Portfolio
It's right up there with "What camera should I buy?" People constantly ask me questions about their portfolio. How many images? What sort of pictures? What type of presentation? Unfortunately, there's no EASY button to press that will yield you the perfect portfolio. You may actually have to put some thought into it :) Here are some ideas to get you started. 1. Specialize. Have a theme. Don't put 30 photos into your portfolio representing 10 different kinds of photography. Best case, pick one type of photography to showcase. Next case, pick … [Read more...] about Seven Tips for Building A Portfolio
Show Your Best Work
Every photographer takes bad photos. Even the big-time pros don't get every shot perfectly composed, lit, and in-focus; it usually takes a few bad shots to get one good photo. The thing to understand is that part of becoming a great photographer means learning how to pick out your best images and knowing what to show and display for others to see. When I choose which images of mine I want to share online I am very selective, and only show photos I am proud of and truly love. I want to focus my viewers' attention on the photographs that I think … [Read more...] about Show Your Best Work
Seven Quick Tips On Making Photographs That Are Guaranteed to Improve Your Portfolio
1. Photograph something unique; something you've never photographed before. 2. Photograph something inspirational; something that makes you want to do better, be better or hope for better. 3. Photograph something that makes you smile; it will probably make someone else smile too. 4. Photograph something controversial; if it's controversial, it will cause people to react. 5. Photograph something that gives a sense of belonging; people gravitate toward tribes. 6. Photograph something that tells a story; you've heard the phrase "A picture is worth … [Read more...] about Seven Quick Tips On Making Photographs That Are Guaranteed to Improve Your Portfolio
Which Images Should I Put on my Wall?
A future senior :) I got an email from an old student - well she is not old - but she studied with me a while ago. She now runs a successful portrait business and is getting ready to create a display of her work with high school seniors in her new studio. She wanted me to help her pick the best three pictures for the wall. I think that would have been too easy. I think the answer should be something like this... Given that all of her work is fantastic, which of the finalists for consideration represents the kind of work you WANT to be doing? … [Read more...] about Which Images Should I Put on my Wall?
The iPod/iPhone as Portfolio
Since purchasing my iPhone the day it launched, I've shown my portfolio to more people than I did the ten years before that date. It's amazing to me how much this has changed the way I show my work. In the old days, I'd spend literally hundreds of dollars (those are old days dollars mind you) on portfolios. Then I'd spend more money shipping the portfolio around. And more still keeping it up to date. Now, most people see my portfolio on my iPhone. Of course, fewer big shot buyers see my portfolio this way, but the everyday exposure I get from … [Read more...] about The iPod/iPhone as Portfolio
