How to Create a Photography Portfolio

If you love taking pictures, then it's only a matter of time before an opportunity comes up to turn pro. Although it may seem overwhelming to put together a photography portfolio it actually may be easier than you think. Find out what you need to do to put together a great photography portfolio that will be sure to help you get your photography career started in a hurry.

What Are You Trying to Accomplish?

Are you trying to shoot for magazines in the fashion industry? Want to do advertisements? Portrait studios? Before you start creating your portfolio, decide upon your theme and know why you're building it. Your photos will represent the quality of your work, so make sure that you're portfolio represents the type of photo job that you want.

This is a great time to come up with a theme for your images. While it may be fine to bring some unrelated images, in most cases a portfolio should follow a specific theme or main idea.

Get Lots of Practice

If you don't have any professional work at the moment, or you're just getting started in the industry, be prepared to shoot for free - a lot. Get out and start taking photographs that are in the niche you are aiming for, and keep an eye out for opportunities to build your professional credits.

There are plenty of people out there that need photographs done for a variety of reasons, and shooting for free can often sneak you in under the pros. This will provide you with images for your portfolio as well as valuable "for hire" shooting time. If you're looking for a photo job, it's often a lot easier if you start taking portraits.

Get Real

There are advantages to a digital portfolio - portability, ease of display, and the ability to instantly show your photos to anyone in the world - but whenever possible you should present your photographs as hard copies. Having a printed portfolio demonstrates your ability to finish projects and gives you an opportunity to discuss your ideas with the person viewing it.

More importantly, an "on paper" portfolio controls what your potential clients see. Generally your pictures will never look the same on every monitor so it's always good to have prints.

Presentation Counts

One of the trickiest things about building a portfolio is deciding how to present it. Unfortunately, there is no big secret to give you everything you need to land every job you want but here are some tips that will definitely make the whole process easier.

The first thing you want to do is understand your audience. If you're looking for work in a local portrait studio, a classic leather bound portfolio will always look good. But if you're trying to land a job with a top advertising agency, then you will have to make sure that your portfolio stands out from the crowd.

Creativity is good, but it's never a good idea to sacrifice quality for trying to be different. Regardless of how you display your pictures, make sure that each one is easy to see and makes the point you want it to make. Your portfolio will be viewed as an extension of your aesthetic sensibilities so it must be complementary to your photos and theme.

Finally, edit down. That's why you should only share your very best images. Art Directors and people who hire are busy so you'll often have less than a minute to have your images make their point so always present your best images first. Choose ten of your very best photographs and if you don't have 10 exceptional images then start shooting until you have them.

Overall, building a portfolio isn't difficult because most of the time your work will speak for itself. Work on building a great body of amazing images and a reputation as someone who works with professionalism and a commitment to quality and you'll be landing jobs in no time.