How to Build a Photography Portfolio
Are you ready to get out in the world and start showing off your skills as a photographer? If so, a photography portfolio is going to be one of those essential pieces of your toolkit to have ready. Here are beginner-ready tips for how to make a professional photography portfolio for all of your potential clients!
What is a photography portfolio?
First thing’s first. A lot of people get a different idea of what a portfolio should or should not be. In its most basic form, this is a collection of your self-determined best images that you love and can put together to show a potential client to help convince them to hire you. The prints that you choose should help show your personality, your qualifications, and your experience.
A portfolio is standard in the professional world, and among many different art forms, so having one ready -- either a print or a digital one, or both -- is not only standard with those who are serious about photography, but expected by professional clients who are seriously shopping. If you have or want to start a photography business a portfolio is standard to showcase your work to a potential client.
How to build a photography portfolio
The main steps to help you build a client-focused portfolio are pretty much the same, regardless of who you are talking to -- which is precisely the point! Take a look.
Curate it for your client: If someone’s looking to hire you for bridal photography, for instance, you aren't going to want to show them photos of kids or pets. Create a portfolio that is focused on prints that will show them why you’re the right hire. If you shoot multiple photography niches feel free to make multiple portfolios so you can best suit your audience.
Choose only from your best photos: This should go without saying, but it’s especially important. When choosing the pieces for your portfolio, you want to only choose from the top of the top, the best of the best. Just “nice” or “okay” shouldn't make the cut! Need a second opinion? Ask someone to look at it and give you feedback, but make sure it’s someone you trust to tell you the truth! Choose photos where each image stands on its own.
Focus on variety: Using our bridal photography example above, it’s still important to show the client that you can do a variety of jobs. Don’t include shots just from one specific photoshoot and none other, or all headshots with no landscapes. Clients want to see that you’ve done this successfully several times before. They'll be looking for that variety in your prints on both your subjects as well as the kinds of photos that you take.
Order your portfolio carefully: The order that you use for your photos is going to determine how they’re received by the client, so spend some time and effort specifically on this part! The order should tell a story and each print should be more magnificent than the last, essentially creating a narrative through photos. It will take last-minute switches and juggling around, but it’s certainly worth it!
Take a calculated risk: Risks are important in the world of art, and this extends to your portfolio. Don’t just put prim and proper shots in there, don’t be afraid to take a risk that you think is going to show examples of your creativity and innovation, even if it’s a little bit outside the box.
Stay current and modern: Trends changes and expectations change. Make sure that our portfolio is going to be shuffled and replaced with new “best” prints as you get them. Someone who hires you for jobs 2 years apart should not be seeing the exact same portfolio! Practice grabbing one image from every shoot just for yourself to try something new and amazing. Over time you will have many options to pick from that will help you in updating and building your portfolio.
What should a photography portfolio include?
This is an excellent question, but one that many people skip over. A portfolio for photography is more than just a collection of images that are professional and appealing for technique. You should also be working at telling a story and showing off both your talent, your style, and the vision that you have for the images that you’re creating. That’s what is going to sway your customer.
How do I make a photography portfolio without clients?
No clients? No problem! Ask for volunteers in your personal life and start creating shots that are going to make their way into your portfolio. Again, make sure it’s got variety, scope, etc. As you get clients, you can start adding those in to replace or accompany the volunteer photos.
How many pictures should you have in your portfolio?
There seems to be a few opinions on this. Some feel as though you should stuff 60+ photos in a portfolio to show how talented you are. However, professionalism is in a curated and trimmed portfolio as much as it is in the content itself! For the best professional look and feel, you’re going to want to look for 10-15, or fewer. These prints should all make an impact and show that you are the real deal. If you think you can cut one or two without interrupting the flow, do it!
How can I make my portfolio stand out?
There’s no magic bullet to making sure that clients remember your portfolio as being totally unique. However, you can certainly make sure that it’s the best and strongest it can be by keeping it fresh and creative wherever possible. While highlighting that you are experienced with many technical aspects design is an important element to keep top of mind that will help your portfolio stand out. Keep learning and trying and experimenting, and make sure that continual education shows up in your portfolio. It will help clients see that you have many ideas to offer and that this is your passion and you take it seriously. That, if anything, will help it stand out amongst the competition!
Online vs printed portfolios
There are some who feel that printed portfolios are the only true option when it comes to the idea of showing your photography off. Throughout the years, that’s certainly been the case. However, online portfolios also give you a certain authenticity, too.
The best advice for this is that you should start with an online photography portfolio even if it’s just on Instagram. Simple to set-up and effective when you need to show your prints off quickly, they’re user-friendly and designed for the modern photographer. Once you’ve got your portfolio solid and steady enough that you always go with the same prints to show clients, you can also look at creating a print portfolio with those prints.
Realistically speaking, there’s no rule saying that you can’t have both! Having both even helps make sure that you don’t lose a client because they prefer one over the other! Just make sure that you stay consistent between print and digital (as part of the images that you use).
Where can I create an online photography portfolio for free?
If you’re interested in creating a photography portfolio online, then check out CloudSpot! This is a website that is popular with photographers of all kinds and at all images. You can upload your images into a gallery and then when you’ve got it just right, you can email your gallery link or share it with the world on social media. With CloudSpot’s paid plans you can turn that gallery into a mobile app that you can have on hand to share when you need to show someone what you can do. It’s an ideal, thoroughly modern option perfect to grab a client’s attention!
Build Your Free Online Portfolio with CloudSpot
While it does take time and effort to get a photography portfolio ready to show clients, its professionalism is certainly going to make it worth your while. It also will separate you out from those who haven’t taken the time to do it properly and are showing half-finished or incomplete images. When it comes to winning the client’s respect and their loyalty, this will work firmly in your favor!