Webinar
Get Organized & Build a Better Portfolio with
Photo Consultant Jasmine DeFoore
During the Webinar Photo Consultant Jasmine DeFoore talks about her four steps on making a better portfolio along with two case studies of photography portfolios.
STEP ONE:
Right off the back DeFoore says to “define your nitch”. This is who you are as a photographer and who do you want to shoot for. This can be translated into many things like in production it would be the pre-production phase and in writing it would be the voice of your paper.
This is very important regardless of what you translate this step into. DeFoore talks about “photo therapy” and creating brand identities for different specialties of work.
The idea of who you want to shoot for should not effect the way you shoot though and don’t shoot what the client wants, you should shoot what you want.
STEP TWO:
Step two is about the edits and how to put together a cohesive edit. For many photographers shooting is not the problem they come up with thousands of photos but what do you do with the photos is the difficult task. She notes that it is important to gather all the photos on an editing program that the photographer is familiar with, she recommends photo Mechanic.
Once this is complete began starting to group together mini stories within your photos and categorizing them. Eliminate images that don’t add to the story.
She suggested two tips to help with this.
The last part of this step is figure out your passion and work with that. If you are passionate about something it will turn out better than if you were forced into it.
–TIP—Put it all in one folder
This way you can see the overall of what you have and not having to open several folders trying to decide.
–TIP– It is always good to have a little story to talk about.
When presenting your portfolio to a client it helps to talk about your photos. (Remember photos are past memories and will always have a story to it.)
When making your portfolio it is necessary to create it digitally and not necessary printed (though it helps to have a print source) People like holding and touching prints. So create a PDF of your layout.
CASE STUDY 1: Dennis Burnett
Reviewed all of the images and determined that it would be best to make a commercial/editorial book and a separate project book.
CASE STUDY 2: Kimberly Davis
Davis’s nitch is interiors, people and food. She has a consistent look to her portfolio (though the images are different). It is important to see a photograph and know who took it.
On average a decent portfolio will cost around 300 to 400 dollars. It is important to know that less expensive promos for a portfolio can be sent to more people and vice versa. So prioritize.
STEP THREE:
Build a better portfolio.
Like mentioned above it is all about creating a narrative. Look for images that play off another. Also this can be done through color, pattern and shapes within the photos that can be paired next to each other. You don’t want to have jumps in the portfolio, make it read like a story.
DeFoore notes that the portfolio should be updated twice a year and if the budget allows for it do portfolio reviews (suggested review site at Photonola.)
STEP FOUR:
This final step is about creating your market checklist. The first thing to do in this step is establish a budget that you can afford and work with. Also update your blog, website and social media sites about your portfolio release. Send email newsletters out to your dream clients too.
A portfolio is like an interview it should be presentable and engaging. Remember you are selling yourself, so make yourself look as you would want to buy it.
