How to create a portfolio

[lamergod]

Hi.I am still u student in a seecondary school.But I am thinking of working as a freelance for events and birthdays.But since I am finding a job,i would need a decent portfolio.Now how do I create a portfolio.A slideshow or photo album and how to choose a picture.If possible can you please show a example portfolio
Thanks in advance

 

[chuaboonkiat]

same as lamergod. i want to see a example of a portfolio

 

[catchlights]

just create online portfolio will do.
no money, use multiply
got money, set up own domain site


hardcopy portfolio cost a lot of money. a few hundreds buck to produce a decent portfolio and only last you for a year.

 

[photoart]

long time ago.. it was investing in a photo-quality printer and print out your best shots to shot potential clients

now... just bring along your laptop to show your past works to your potential clients.or put them on on a image hosting website and email them the URL.

if you have your own shooting style, compile them into one folder.

if you have various shooting styles, compile the same type of styles and put them in various folders. Show the client the style that you will like to do for his event. You might also want to show him the other styles that you are capable of achieving.

if you don't have a paticular shooting style, i personally think it's good to develope one of your own.

 

[afipuffy]

The best way to make portfolio is by using Adobe Lightroom 2. Then upload it to any free websites or buy a domain. If you have a friend who is good in IT and HTML, you can ask him to help you out. But i dont think secondary school got teach student about visual studio and HTML stuffs or much about websites other than blogger.

 

[chuaboonkiat]

hmm... ok... noe wat to do... thx!

 

[lamergod]

Pardon me for my shallowness,what is the definition of a style?

 

[Zohan]

Hello Lamergod,

Pardon me for my shallowness,what is the definition of a style?

Nothing personal, but if you are asking this question, you are probably not ready for part time nor freelance work. I strongly suggest you browse through the Clubsnap forums and take a look at the work from good photographers (especially events) and work from there. This section is about Photo Business, not Photography 101.

Z

 

[lamergod]

Actually part time is probably 1 yeAr later . Right now I Am trying to build a portfolio

 

[JT-Fied]

Hi.I am still u student in a seecondary school.But I am thinking of working as a freelance for events and birthdays.But since I am finding a job,i would need a decent portfolio.Now how do I create a portfolio.A slideshow or photo album and how to choose a picture.If possible can you please show a example portfolio
Thanks in advance

Just to ask... do u know the diff between a freelance photog and a part time photog? But to answer yr question, the best n easiest way would be to do it online. Alot of photogs here use flickr or multiply.

 

[photoart]

Hello Lamergod,



Nothing personal, but if you are asking this question, you are probably not ready for part time nor freelance work. I strongly suggest you browse through the Clubsnap forums and take a look at the work from good photographers (especially events) and work from there. This section is about Photo Business, not Photography 101.

Z

Zohan is right...

1)you have find out what is style
2)you have to find out what are the different styles as adopted by different photographers
3)decide the kind of shooting style that you can achieve or will like to achieve
4)start shooting in the style that you like
5)keep shooting
6)more shooting
7)continue shooting until you have developed your own style or a combination of styles
8)compile the better photographs into hard copies or soft copies
9)start looking for potential clients or wait for them to approach you
10)shoot for your clients and build up a bigger portfolio

 

[Stefen]

It is always hard right at the start to build a portfolio. What do you want to shoot? Who do you want to shoot for? Think hard on the next question - what is the assignment that you want to be doing, and later look back and tell yourself it was all worth it?

style is pretty hard to define, but a strong style is one which is your own and few can take it away from you.

I have seen part time photographers who spend more time composing and thinking through their shots than full time photographers, and the effort shows.

You can take a look at my site. www.stefenchow.com

The simple story was I started with the Everest portfolio, and that was my first body of work. I had to figure what I wanted to shoot down the line (being in Singapore, it was hard to imagine anyone funding you to shoot mountains in the Himalayas) . It wasn't easy, and I took a lot of hard knocks, ego bruising, and somehow managed to come out alive.

I hope I have developed a certain style over the years, but it is something you do after being inspired by others and continue in your persistence to shoot and learn.

Good luck! It will be a pretty exciting journey.

 

[Little Scarecrow]

It is always hard right at the start to build a portfolio. What do you want to shoot? Who do you want to shoot for? Think hard on the next question - what is the assignment that you want to be doing, and later look back and tell yourself it was all worth it?

style is pretty hard to define, but a strong style is one which is your own and few can take it away from you.

I have seen part time photographers who spend more time composing and thinking through their shots than full time photographers, and the effort shows.

You can take a look at my site. www.stefenchow.com

The simple story was I started with the Everest portfolio, and that was my first body of work. I had to figure what I wanted to shoot down the line (being in Singapore, it was hard to imagine anyone funding you to shoot mountains in the Himalayas) . It wasn't easy, and I took a lot of hard knocks, ego bruising, and somehow managed to come out alive.

I hope I have developed a certain style over the years, but it is something you do after being inspired by others and continue in your persistence to shoot and learn.

Good luck! It will be a pretty exciting journey.

Hi Stephen,

This is very encouraging for newbies who are enthusiatic about stepping into the photography world.

 

[Stefen]

Hi,

I don't know how many people are still following this thread, but I decided to restart it for anyone's attention. I realised that I didn't really answer the question "what is a portfolio".

It is really that book of tight edits, of pictures taken with different styles to get you the assignment that you want to have. It should come with variation of technique, lighting and emotive expression so that at the end of viewing the book the viewer has a sense of the range and topics the photographer is capable of. It is hard to touch bases at everything - it is better that you are good at something rather than being mediocre at everything.

I have compiled 2 books for your reference, something I usually show my clients.

Book 1 shows my expertise in industrial photography, with a body of 21 images

Book 2 shows my familiarity of dealing with photo essays of varied genres.

I usually try not to show more of that, but I keep my photos on file (in the rest of my links) in case the client asks for more photos on the spot.

I hope this helps.

I encourage other photographers to share their portfolios and insights here to widen the sharing.

Best,

Stefen

 

[jkaiser]

my comments:

I think when u start to shoot, u need to figure out what you wanna do, as in are you going to specialise in something, say product shoots? Or would you be the kind who will do anything and everything? Once u got that established, along with some completed shoots, you need to select the photos that best portrays your style n genre to potential clients. When we started out shooting for fun, probably everything gets uploaded to facebook..a single event probably would have 100 over photos.. But its impt to note that clients do not want to see so much, hence u need to be your own photography's fiercest critics and trim down the number of uploads... for me.. i shoot a bit of dance here n there for some friends... i tend to upload more photos on facebook for them to see... but my portfolio is on flickr.

That being said, i need to trim down my flickr files... haha

 

[alvintang]

Hi,

I don't know how many people are still following this thread, but I decided to restart it for anyone's attention. I realised that I didn't really answer the question "what is a portfolio".

It is really that book of tight edits, of pictures taken with different styles to get you the assignment that you want to have. It should come with variation of technique, lighting and emotive expression so that at the end of viewing the book the viewer has a sense of the range and topics the photographer is capable of. It is hard to touch bases at everything - it is better that you are good at something rather than being mediocre at everything.

I have compiled 2 books for your reference, something I usually show my clients.

Book 1 shows my expertise in industrial photography, with a body of 21 images

Book 2 shows my familiarity of dealing with photo essays of varied genres.

I usually try not to show more of that, but I keep my photos on file (in the rest of my links) in case the client asks for more photos on the spot.

I hope this helps.

I encourage other photographers to share their portfolios and insights here to widen the sharing.

Best,

Stefen

I think Stefan's posts practically sums it all up
Constantly checking and looking at other photographers' works (magazines, websites etc) would also help budding photographers have a better grip about different styles and technique.

See more.
Shoot even more.

 

[berryfiasco]

useful thread..

 

[spidercrown]

Hi,

I don't know how many people are still following this thread, but I decided to restart it for anyone's attention. I realised that I didn't really answer the question "what is a portfolio".

It is really that book of tight edits, of pictures taken with different styles to get you the assignment that you want to have. It should come with variation of technique, lighting and emotive expression so that at the end of viewing the book the viewer has a sense of the range and topics the photographer is capable of. It is hard to touch bases at everything - it is better that you are good at something rather than being mediocre at everything.

I have compiled 2 books for your reference, something I usually show my clients.

Book 1 shows my expertise in industrial photography, with a body of 21 images

Book 2 shows my familiarity of dealing with photo essays of varied genres.

I usually try not to show more of that, but I keep my photos on file (in the rest of my links) in case the client asks for more photos on the spot.

I hope this helps.

I encourage other photographers to share their portfolios and insights here to widen the sharing.

Best,

Stefen

Thanks for your sharing and encouragement!! . :thumbsup: for you

 

[ArcticFox]

Try http://www.carbonmade.com/

 

[ktay07]

Is carbon-made good? I'm currently using my blogsite as a static page for my portfolio... and using "slide" to embed my works in there.
U can view mine at www.kara-tay.blogspot.com (Kindly help to comment!)