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Developing Photographer Portfolios
I got into people photography by mistake…I was a nature photographer that
occasionally made a snapshot of a family member and friends. One day at the lab
I frequented, I was stopped by the lab owner (who also ran the professional
photography studio next door to the lab) and asked if I would be interested in
shooting events and weddings for the studio. Being eager to learn (and in love
with photography), I jumped at the chance. While I wasn’t overly thrilled at
the prospect of photographing someone’s wedding (there can be a lot of stress
associated with shooting a once in a lifetime event), I discovered that I had a
knack of coaxing natural expressions from my subjects.
Taking the next step was kind of natural, why shoot for someone else when I
could shoot for me and eliminate the middleman? One of the first things I
discovered was that I needed sample images to display and keep around to show
prospective clients. Portrait work is no different than any other type of
photography; clients need to see sample images to make an informed decision.
My first “book” was a disaster. A collection of “nice” photographs all pretty
much unrelated to each other. While that represented diversity in my
photographic skills, it didn’t do much to convince the Bride and Groom (and the
brides’ parents) to spend their hard earned dollars with our studio.
Lesson One – your book needs to reflect the work you are trying to get!
While I had photographed 30 plus weddings for the local studio, I was not able
to get any sample images for my book. Fortunately for me, my cousin was getting
married on a shoestring budget and really wanted a professional photographer
(but she settled for me). I then proceeded to shoot her wedding for cost. This
provided me with the “seed” images I needed to put together a couple of sample
books. I double printed the proofs and made two proof books, one for my cousin
and one for me. This allowed me to show a prospective client an entire wedding
and not just one or two best prints. I also selected a half dozen or so of my
favorite shots for enlargements, placing them in my first wedding book.
Each wedding I shot, I then culled the best one or two shots and added them to
my wedding book. When I shot a real good wedding (great location and good
looking subjects), I would double print the proofs and build another sample
wedding proof book. Having four or five proof books lying about is a great way
to showcase what the clients can expect for their wedding.
This was working great for me. I was booking lots of weddings soon working my
way up to 35 weddings per year shooting part-time.
One day, I got a call from a soon to be senior wanting to know about senior
portraits. I said sure, come on over and we’ll plan your session. I proudly
broke out my sample books and to my surprise, the young lady proceeded to tell
me that these are nice but…I can’t tell what your senior portraits look like.
She thanked me for my time and left.
I was crestfallen. Wow, someone saw my best work and left because they couldn’t
tell what my senior work looked like. At first, I thought to my self, “ha, her
loss! It is obvious how my bridal portraits would translate to Senior
portraits.” I was in denial. What that senior told me was really you do nice
work but, I can’t visualize myself in a senior portrait with what I saw in your
sample images so I’ll take my business elsewhere.
Lesson Two – see Lesson One!
After a week or so of wondering what next and trying to figure out how in the
heck I was going to find a senior to shoot when a senior needed to see some
sample images in order to book a wedding. That’s when I visited my first
modeling site and started shooting Time for Prints (TFP) and collaborating with
models for portfolio images and studio sample prints. Six shoots provided me
with a wide enough of a sample base to put together some senior samples.
I now have five different portfolios. Fashion and beauty (still have delusions
of bringing the fashion industry our here in the sticks), glamour, weddings,
family portraits and seniors. Each portfolio is updated frequently with a wide
variety of settings and lighting styles. Each portfolio is tailored to the
audience and representative of the quality and quantity of the work we perform.
Additionally, we use a very minimal amount of Photoshop post-processing. I want
the work to represent what we captured originally allowing he client to see the
captured image and not a post-processed representation of what we provide.
Each book does contain what I would call an example of something that is
heavily post-processed to show the possibilities.
Book / print size is dependant on who you are trying to sell your work to. My
Fashion/Glamour books are 13x19. My wedding books are 12x12. My family
portrait “book” is a collection of 8x10’s and larger – most of which are
displayed gallery style in my home studio office. Senior samples are very
eclectic – some are 16x20, some in sample folios of 4x5 images, some 8x10. For
weddings, seniors and family portrait work you sell what you show. Once I
started displaying canvas prints 16x20 and larger, I started selling them.
Remember my two simple rules and go out and build your portfolios.
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| Article By: |
Andy Seynaeve - photosbyandy@mchsi.com |
| Website: |
http://www.photosbyandy.com/ |
| Editor Since: |
11/01/2007 |
| Biography: |
Andy Seynaeve
Photos by Andy
Hampton, IL
http://www.photosbyandy.com/
Member, Professional Photographers of America
http://www.onetalentsource.com/portfolio/7334
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