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If you have hopes of becoming a professional photographer, or even just of trying to get your work published in a public forum, you will need to create a photography portfolio. So what’s so important about a photography portfolio anyway?

There are many reasons why having a portfolio of your work available for others to view. If you are seeking employment as a photographer, then the need for a portfolio is obvious. If you are not seeking a photography job, there are still good reasons to have a portfolio. For one, you love photography and you take a lot a pride in your work. They are important to you. Most likely, some of them are very good. Why not create a portfolio that showcases your best work so you can show it to others (even if it’s just friends or family that comes over for a visit)?

- Building a Photography Portfolio

Before we get into what goes into your portfolio, let’s discuss the portfolio itself. What should it be made of? How big should it be? You may have seen portfolios with covers made of all types of materials such as plastic, leather and even stainless steel. These fancy covers are usually much more expensive and may not be practical for a beginner. If you are competing for high-price jobs and want to stand out from the crowd, these expensive covers may be a nice touch. But for most people, a regular black plastic cover will work just fine. It’s what’s inside the portfolio that is most important, right?

So, you are probably best to stick with a plain black plastic cover and work hard on beefing up what’s inside. Don’t decorate your portfolio with cutesy stickers and such; this will look amateurish and unprofessional. It’s not a scrapbook; it’s supposed to represent your high-quality work.

Now, as for size, this is going to depend on the size of your largest pictures. An 8 X 10 is probably going to be your largest. If your pictures are not this big, you don’t need a portfolio this big. Your biggest will most likely be an 11 X 14 and it could be as small as a 4 X 7.

The most important thing for you to remember is convenience - both for you and for the person who will be looking at your portfolio. You want to keep it professional and easy to hold, carry and look over.

- Using a Photography Portfolio

So now that you know what a portfolio is and what type to get, how do you actually use it? Well, we mentioned you are going to fill it with your best work. This means you want a portfolio that can easily be changed. You may want to pull out old ones and add in new ones. You don’t want to go for a job carrying along every picture you’ve ever taken. You’re going to want to have 15-20 of your best work. You are also going to want to be sure your pictures are relevant to the job. If you are trying out for different types of assignments, you may want to create portfolios that work for each of the types of work you are doing.

Of course, you only want to show your best work but you want to give the impression that you can handle any type of assignment given to you ad not that you are “stuck” in only one type of photography.

You want to showcase your best work; this is best technically as well. You may have a photo that is really important to you because of the image it represents or the memory it brings but if it is not technically perfect, it doesn’t belong in a business portfolio. Save that one for your coffee table.

Looking for information about Photography?
Go to: http://www.asaphotography.com.

‘ASA Photography’ is published by Colin Hartness - An excellent resource for Photography! Check out more Photography articles at: http://www.asaphotography.com/archive.

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As photography itself has embraced technologies like digital, we ourselves as photographers must embrace advancing technologies like the Internet. The door has been opened to showcase your work to not only a national but also an international audience. Once online, your photographs can be viewed from countries as far apart and varied as America to Australia and Russia to Africa.

A website has become an essential tool for any serious creative person. Indeed so
much so, that it has got to the point that if you don’t have an online presence, you
simply don’t exist. A website is the perfect place to show your images, sell your
images and to build your reputation as a photographer. It is also the chance to
familiarise yourself with the marketing practice of ecommerce, i.e. doing business
on the Internet.

I have recently had a website designed to showcase my photography at
www.capturednature.com I have found this to be wholly useful in both attracting
business and as an interactive portfolio of my work. It is important to make your
website look professional, and to be built in the most effective way that
compliments your images.

Another positive side to using the Internet for imagery is that in the whole it is
universally viewable. Of course text may cause a problem and come up against
language barriers, but the images viewed can be understood globally.

On the cautious side, you need to look after your work and make sure your images
are copyright and protected. Don’t let this put you off though to the benefits that
can be harvested by taking your photography onto the online stage.

John Threlfall is a self-taught photographer with a deep passion for nature
photography. John has a Masters Degree in ‘Creative Imaging’. His work can be
viewed at http://www.capturednature.com The images capture the pure simplistic, yet
breathtaking beauty that is hidden away in rural Britain.

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