During many photographer’s careers, an opportunity comes when it’s time to turn pro. While it may seem intimidating from an outsider or hobbyist’s perspective, building photography from a pastime to a full-time career is easier than you may think. It doesn’t happen overnight and requires a bit of work, but almost anyone can find a way to make a healthy income with photography. One of the most common first steps to shooting professionally is to create a portfolio of your images. Here’s how to get it done.

Get Focused

Are you trying to shoot for magazines in the fashion industry? Want to do advertisements? Portrait studios? Before you begin creating a portfolio, make sure you know exactly the type of job or work you want so you can build your portfolio appropriately. Your photos are what show your ability to perform the job you’re chasing, so make sure that they’re in line with what that job demands.

You should also take time to think about the theme you want for your portfolio. While in some circumstances it is perfectly acceptable to bring a bunch of unrelated photographs, portfolios are usually much stronger if you can connect all of the images in your book to one main idea.

Start Shooting A Lot

If you’re just starting out or currently don’t have any professional gigs, then you’re likely going to have to shoot a lot for free. 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 lots of people who need photographs taken, and if you shoot for free you can get some invaluable experience. This way you’ll get images for your portfolio as well as great experience. Finding work like this is especially easy if you’re looking to do portraiture or head shots.

Don’t Forget the Prints

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. By having a physical portfolio, it will give you more of an opportunity to discuss your work and demonstrates that you know how to market your images.

More importantly, an “on paper” portfolio controls what your potential clients see. Your photos won’t look the same on every monitor in the world, so having hard copies of them allows you to skip over any possible display issues.

Your Presentation Matters

One of the trickiest things about building a portfolio is deciding how to present it. Unfortunately, there is no secret weapon to have you magically land every photo job, but there are a few tips that you can use to make the process easier.

First, remember your audience. If you’re going out for a local portrait studio, a nicely printed, leather-bound photo portfolio will probably be sufficient. 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.

It’s always good to be creative, but just make sure that you’re not sacrificing the quality of your images for the sake of looking different. No matter what you do with your photos, make sure that each one is easily viewed and makes its point without interference from what you’ve used to showcase it. 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. Therefore, you should only share your very best samples of your work. 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. If you create an outstanding collection of images and build a reputation for quality and professionalism, you’ll soon be landing jobs before you know it.

Author Bio: Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames. Shop online and see our selection of jeweled picture frames in a variety of styles and colors. Visit our website and see our dazzling jeweled picture frames and beautiful unique picture frames or call 800-780-0699.

Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: photography portfolio,photography portfolios,photographer portfolio,photographer portfolios