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EPISODE 9

Summary: 

In this episode I will talk about the ways I maintained a consistent and solid portfolio, over my time as a family photographer and how that lead me to create a flourishing business with returning clients.

What is a portfolio and where do you showcase it? 

Your portfolio would be a range of images that show your client, the type of services you offer. That’s the basic and boring explanation. It should not be every single photo, from every single shoot, rather it should be a curated selection of images that represent your best work. 

Just like an art gallery carefully curates and arranges it’s pieces, to better tell a story or to showcase the artists work, you too should be selective in what images you choose and how you show them. 

A solid portfolio can not only help you book clients, but it can give you the foundation to explore your creativity as an artist and help towards expressing who you are as a person and how you want to photograph the world.

Put it out to the world, not just on the gram 

Instagram, whilst this is a very important platform to use, it is not the only space in which you should display your work. You should display different work for different platforms. For example, instagram images on the grid, don’t display a full length portrait images very well. But the same image would look great on your instagram story, your website or indeed your google business page. Think about which image lends itself to each platform. On your website for example, you can not only display individual images, but you have a unique opportunity to tell stories using your blog. This lends itself really well to those who are documentary photographers. 

Creative consistency

Whilst your portfolio should be consistent, it should never be dull or too repetitive. It is important to have consistency throughout your portfolio, because this is what a client is using as a reference for their own images. Remember, a client can’t see what they will look like in your photos, until they’ve had the shoot. So they are using your past shoots as a reference for that. 

Remember, consistency does not mean using the same space, same dress, same lighting setup every time. Consistency is just about the overall feel of the images in your portfolio. During a shoot, just adding in 1 or 2 new elements, poses or locations can really add some depth and diversity to your portfolio.

Creating your dream portfolio

Some of you may be thinking ‘but what if I don’t have my dream portfolio yet’ what do I do? Well the answer is, if you don’t have it, go out and get it! Start by thinking about what is it you want your images to look like, draw inspiration from your life and things outside of photography. Make a list of ideas you are desperate to try and then start conceptualising your shoots. 

It’s important to not try and cram all your ideas into one shoot, that wouldn’t really be fair on the model and it puts a lot of pressure on you, instead commit to 2-4 different shoots, with different looking models in different settings to really maximise your creativity. Use models, and when I say models, they can be regular people or hired professionals, in your photographs and choose models that align with your dream portfolio. Once you have these images, follow the first 3 steps above and get to work curating your dream portfolio and remember to have fun, be creative and enjoy it.

Final thoughts: 

If you are lacking inspiration, do not (and I really strongly advise this) go online and look at your peers work. All that will happen is you will end up copying what they are already doing. This leads to an industry full of people doing the same thing and clients that are basing their decisions on price, vs creative ability. Instead, get outside. Get into nature, go to art galleries, travel, listen to music or audio books, meditate, create artwork or sew or knit etc. There is so much you can do to inspire yourselves. Step into the shoes of an artist and be a creator. 

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Check out our previous blogs here: 5 tips to grow your confidence