Curating Your Photography Portfolio
Creating a compelling portfolio is one of the most important tasks for new photographers. It's not something that happens overnight; let's say that. While you may be so excited to get your work out there, it isn't just as simple as picking a few favorite photos and uploading them to your website. A well-rounded portfolio takes time to put together, with a lot of thought and intentionality behind it. Even if you don't have a large body of work or roster of client work to share, there are subtle ways you can begin to carve out your portfolio.
First things first, what do you primarily shoot? Food? Portraits? Landscapes? Animals? Interiors? Product photography? There is no right or wrong answer here, but can you distill down the core themes of your work? Let's say you shoot food, lifestyle, and portraits. These three broad categories may vary in their content, but let's stick with these for now. So, from these three categories, can you narrow them down further? Take food, for example; does that include restaurant photography or recipe development? See if you can narrow the broader categories into narrower niches or scopes of work. The broader categories will be your main focus of photography, and then, you can divide them down further into sub-categories of specific shoots or clients, which then will be a sub-gallery on your website.
Some photographers prefer to show the broader categories rather than divide them into smaller galleries of locations, specific shots, or client shots; it's up to you. Personally, I like to keep it simple and stick to food, places, and lifestyle. Faces, spaces, food, events, and places are other examples of categorizing your portfolio. However you organize it, keep it reflective of what you primarily shoot. So, if you don't typically offer standard studio white product photography and had that one-off client shoot, you don't need to include it unless you want to attract more clients like it. In essence, show what you love shooting, what you primarily shoot, what you’re capable of, and what your strongest work is. (Not your favorite, your strongest!) I'm attached to specific images for no reason other than the memory of taking them, but that fact alone doesn't mean they will make the cut for my website. Try to detach as much as possible and look at your work as an outsider or prospective client. It's challenging because we are so invested in our work and the memories and stories from that time, but it can muddy our perspective of it being an accurate representation of your skills and style. If you're on the fence about an image or a specific client shoot, ask yourself, will it enhance or take away from my portfolio as a whole? It boils down to sharing what you want to attract.
Now, narrowing down our best work can be tricky. Sometimes, I look back at just a year-old client shoot and think, "Gosh, what was I thinking there? That doesn't look like my work at all." Yes, that is frustrating, but that's just how it is as an evolving and constantly learning photographer. Your style changes. Your taste changes. How you shoot changes. When you're culling out images for your portfolio from past years, and you don't particularly love the edit, bring it back into Lightroom and make a few tweaks to be congruent with your current style. If the photo itself is "no good", i.e., poor composition or flat lighting, and you know it doesn't reflect your best work and your photographic eye now, best leave it out. Also depending on the shoot, you may have multiple versions of essentially of the same photo only taken at different angles. Try to narrow it down to just a few rather than 20 images of the same coffee cup but taken at different angles. It can look and feel a bit redundant if someone is scrolling through the gallery and they all are relatively the same. Your portfolio should reflect your best work, and I highly subscribe to the idea that less is more and quality matters more than quantity. Even if you have just a few stellar images, it's better just to show those on your website rather than a whole collection of mediocre ones. Like the adage "be what you want to attract," the same goes for photographers. Show the work you want to book more of. Let your portfolio tell the story of you as a photographer. Be consistent in the type of work and style you share. If you typically shoot moody food images but choose to show airy, brighter photos because they are "stronger" in composition, etc., it misrepresents your style. Without getting too much into the weeds, think about how your work paints a portrait of you as a photographer — the type of light you shoot in, your colors, your compositions, and how your work feels overall. Are there any themes woven throughout your portfolio?
Also, another thing to consider is the broader picture of the clients you eventually do take on. What values do you want to instill in your portfolio? Is their a larger impact of the jobs you take on? For example, nature conservation and the preservation of the natural world are incredibly important to me, so why would I show, let alone take on a client that doesn’t resonate with those values? That could look like a highly packaged plastic product shoot showcased on my website. A bit hypocritical, don’t you think?
Lastly, make it a point to update your portfolio at least once a year, if not every six months. It seems like a lot of work to edit and load to your website, but keeping your work fresh and new helps you stay current with any prospective clients looking to work with you.
Key Takeaways For Curating Your Photography Portfolio:
Show Your Best Work
Be Consistent
Share What You Want To Attract
Refresh With New Content Regularly
Think About Your Impact
Own Your Perspective
Intentionally Curate
Don't hesitate to reach out if you need another eye to help you curate your portfolio. I'd love to chat and help you create a portfolio that best represents you, your style, and your skills. Feel free to send me an email, and I'll get back to you! Or, if you prefer to work directly with me, book a one-hour clarity call with me, and we can delve deeper together.