The 6 Components of a Quality Portfolio
Your portfolio is your most important marketing tool. Potential clients and models use to it judge how good a photographer you are. Viewers assume this is your best work to date and is a record of your accomplishments. In all things photography, you want to stand out above the rest. Here are some tips on how.
Avoid Technical Mistakes.
Maybe you are new and you’re going to occasionally – or often – underexpose an image. Your white balance might be off now and then. People understand you make mistakes, but those mistakes don’t belong in your portfolio. Technical includes more than just knowing how to use your camera. You need to avoid newbie mistakes like things coming out of the model’s head, or arms and legs getting chopped off.
Use Creative Lighting.
Learning to control light in interesting ways does two things for you. It helps you overcome problem subjects. I like to tell average women I meet, I can take the best picture they’ve ever had in 10 minutes. Generally I say this when I know there is some open shade around and they haven’t worked with professional photographers before. Controlling light also shows you are a cut above the rest. If you master low-key lighting in a studio, you can get cool images. These images say you know your stuff even when the subject might not be perfect. Cool is an ephemeral quality that makes portfolios stand out.
Have High Quality Subjects.
I remember when I’d been shooting about a year, I went to a workshop and got a more experienced photographer to review my portfolio. He said something like, “You’ve gotten pretty good. Now it’s time to get some better models.” Your images are judged on the quality of the models as well as the quality of the image. This works for you when you have models that are better than you, and against you when you don’t.
Show Your Style.
Ahh the holy grail of style. I don’t want to get into what makes a style, but your portfolio will reflect yours, even if you don’t know what it is. At a recent workshop I was teaching a photographer would shoot a bunch of images and bring them over for critique. He said “I don’t know what my style is.” Then we’d look through his images and the images that made you go “Wow” used a particular lens, a particular angle and a particular composition. I finally told him, “That’s your style.” Models will look at your portfolio and see the consistencies to your shots. Maybe unconsciously they will realize you shoot some variation of something for each model. If that something is something what they want, you will be someone they want.
Reflect What You Want to Shoot.
When a model looks at your portfolio, she’s going to assume you want to shoot the same thing with her. Even if you say you want to do something else. So don’t send a model a request for a non-nude shoot and a portfolio full of nudes. If you do, you’d better explain why the change. (A model recently told me this was a reason she rejected photographers.) Commercial photography, and commercial art in general, is hard to buy. Since every shoot is a new creation, how does a buyer know what they are going to get? They judge it by what the artist has done in the past and what is currently in there portfolio. Which leads us to…
Have Fresh Content
If you have images in your portfolio over a year old, there needs to be a dang good reason for it. Maybe you were good once, but are you still? Did something happen that made no one willing to shoot with you? These questions come to a model’s mind and you need to avoid them. Put up new stuff as often as you can. If you follow these guidelines you’ll have a portfolio that stands out above the rest.
Quickest Way To A Quality Portfolio
You want to build a quality portfolio and you want to do it fast. Problem is the models you can get to shoot with you right now don't give you the quality you want. They are mostly new and need help with everything from makeup to posing. You're just learning that stuff yourself and need to focus on the photography, not the modeling. So how do you get quality fast? Well I'm going to tell you two different ways, one in this lesson and one in the next. The first is to hire a professional model. One with great looks and lots of experience. Here are some reasons doing this will build your portfolio fast and easy.
Posing
The biggest problem new models have is posing. The first thing they will tell you is, "I don't know anything about posing, so you need to tell me what to do." The challenge here is you don't know how to pose a model either. And you need more than one good pose. A professional model will have dozens of interesting poses and she'll naturally move through them as you click the shutter. Matter of fact, they may go too fast for you. A pro is going to go to the next pose as soon as she hears the shutter or sees the lights go off. You may have to tell her to hold a pose you like.
Expression
I've mentioned dead eyes before, that dreaded emptiness that new models have in every picture. Add to that the fact they often only have one expression. That is a problem you won't have with a professional model. A pro knows how to use her eyes and face to convey emotion and meaning. Professional model Valerie Whitaker told me a story about when she was just starting out. She'd been shooting with a mentor photographer for about an hour and he said to her, "Okay, Valerie, now I want you to give me a sexy expression." She looks at him and says, "But I thought I was giving you a sexy expression." After years of practice she now understands the difference, but it is common among new models to not really understand expression.
Preparation
A pro model comes prepared. She has suitcases full of clothes she can use for a shoot. Valerie had 4 big suitcases she brought with her to Houston. Pro models can generally do their own makeup and do it well. They've got lots of experience with it and have worked with many professional makeup artists, learning what makes them look best. They also prepare themselves physically for a shoot, knowing what not to eat the morning of a shoot, and getting a good night's sleep before a shoot. Which leads to the next point.
Looks
It seems really obvious to say professional models are better looking than amateurs, but it is true. First, there is the weeding out process that goes into becoming a working model. People are not going to pay for a model that is overweight, or has bad skin, or bad hygiene. So she isn't going to be out there looking for work. Second, a model's body is her artistic tool. Good ones will care for it and work to improve it. They will be fit. Their skin will be smooth and taken care of. Their hair will be professionally cut and colored. This is where models spend money on their art.
Comfort
Lastly, professional models are comfortable in front of the camera. They aren't afraid; they aren't worried they won't do well. They have the experience and knowledge to be confident in their ability to deliver. Nude models are also totally comfortable with their nudity, so you aren't having to worry about upsetting them. Now you know all the reasons you should work with a professional model. Let me give you a few tips on finding a real pro. There are lots of models on the modeling sites who say they are pro and that you have to pay them, but get them in front of the camera and they have all the problems of beginners. Look for a Quality Portfolio If a model has spectacular work in her portfolio, she's experienced. She's convinced really good, experienced photographers to work with her. She's got a diversity of images from a diversity of photographers. She can do many kinds of photography. Just because a model has spectacular images in her portfolio doesn't mean she'll give you the same quality images. Image quality does have quite a bit to do with the photographer as well, but you know she can do it if you can.
