A portfolio is a collection of a photographer’s work intended to be shown to potential clients. It should reflect the photographer’s skill level, styles, and genres in which they work.
A portfolio can be called a “business card” because the vast majority of people choose a photographer based on their work. Therefore, it is important to know how to create a photographer’s portfolio.
Advantages and objectives of a portfolio
A portfolio speaks more eloquently about a photographer than any words. You can talk at length to clients about your photography skills and who you have worked with. But it is more effective to show them. Clients come to you for photographs, so it is important for them to know what results they will get from working with you.
A portfolio helps you find clients, position yourself correctly on social media, and demonstrate your skills and approach to photography.
How to create a photographer’s portfolio?
You can’t create a photographer’s portfolio by simply collecting all your best photos in one folder. It’s also not worth adding all your work to your portfolio — this is a common mistake made by novice photographers. So how do you create a portfolio that will attract clients?
Study your target audience
Analyze your target audience. Who most often comes to you for photo shoots, and in what genres? Consider gender, age, social status, and profession. This is general information, which in most cases is sufficient to create a customer profile.
But if you shoot in a more niche industry, you may need other information: national traditions, emotional state, diet, attitude towards certain products, and much more.
Tip: if you are just starting out as a photographer and don’t yet understand who your target audience is, try to create a portrait of the client you would like to work with. Use this as your target audience.
Why is this necessary? To work for your clients, not your viewers. If you have decided to earn a living from photography, it is important to distinguish between the concepts of “potential client” and “viewer.”
A potential client is interested in you as a professional. They look at your work and your competitors not out of idle curiosity, but in order to choose who to hire for a shoot.
Perhaps they are not planning to have their picture taken right now and will not immediately contact you for a photo session. But when they need one, they will come to you.
It’s easy to imagine viewers as people in the audience of any talk show. Some come just to watch, others want to discuss or criticize, and still others like your work but won’t buy it anyway.
Therefore, focusing on viewers when compiling a portfolio is not a profitable endeavor.
Show your target audience what they would be willing to buy in your portfolio. For example, you specialize in shooting love stories. Add your best work from such photo shoots to your portfolio, reflecting your style, your ability to relax people during the shoot, and capture a great moment. A client looking for a love story photographer will appreciate these moments in the photos.
Focus on your target audience, not the viewers
Your portfolio should reflect what you know how to shoot and want to shoot. If you don’t plan on shooting nudes, then don’t add shots of that genre to your portfolio. If you have great photos of your nephew, but you don’t want to shoot children, then keep those works for your personal archive and don’t show them as examples of your work.
Focus on the idea. Make sure your portfolio has a consistent style so that clients can immediately understand what they will get from working with you.