What makes a good portfolio?

tevo · Dec 26, 2012

I have seen a variety of different styles of online portfolios for photographers, some as galleries to display their work, some as venues to market themselves. What makes good portfolios good? What is the best way to direct user traffic and lay out your work? Discuss.

gw2424 · Dec 26, 2012

Awesome question, I wanna see the answers.

Cheers

Tee · Dec 26, 2012

In the simplest way, what makes a portfolio good is the images themselves. What I think you're asking is more about marketing and seo.

Mully · Dec 26, 2012

^^^^^^ yes, not just what everyone else can do....look to stand out

KmH · Dec 26, 2012

+1 on marketing, promotion, SEO, and only your best images that speak to your target audience.

The market is saturated with photographers and their online portfolios.

As you've noted, you likely need 2 or 3 different styles.

Frankly, one way to stand out today is to have several copies of a good old fashioned, hardcopy portfolio .

thetrue · Dec 26, 2012

Can I be an ass and say "your best pictures?"

keith foster · Dec 26, 2012

You of course want to put your best work out there if you want to have a lot of hits on your website and portfolio you need to have variety. So not only good shots but of lots of different things.
To drive traffic to your site you have to make sure you update your portfolio often. You have to be active in forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc to get your work in front of as many people as possible. Ask your friends to link to your portfolio and send it to their friends.

Keep it fresh so people will come back and not get bored.

tevo · Dec 27, 2012

Well, in the interest of having a place to post my work so I have something to show for my photography, I have gotten a simple portfolio up and running. I do not plan to leave it linked to my flickr, it was just the easiest way at this point. I have a lot to learn with web design, so that will be the next thing to come. Feedback is very much appreciated.

[url]www.tevotography.com[/url]

runnah · Dec 28, 2012

right away I would say you need to show more variety. You have several photos from the same sequence.

xyphoto · Dec 28, 2012

It's about the quality of the photos and how these photos are presented to the viewers. I believe you should also have a purpose for displaying your photos. It could be for marketing or sales, or a simply way to share your work with friends and family.

skieur · Jan 15, 2013

Variety in subjects, shots, and locations.

skieur

Ray12 · Jan 17, 2013

Why do you produce a gallery?

1. To show off your best work
2. To impress potential clients
3. To prove to potential clients that you can already produce what they want
4. To solicit contacts and relationships and dollars from people who are impressed enough to want to pay for your expertise.

So, You had better find out early what your viewers expect to see...and what they think is impressive enough to e-mail you or buy your product. You have to give them images that they want, that exceed their expectations or meet their needs, and you have to make such a visual impression that they will contact you.

You would most likely have several galleries...each designed to attract and motivate a certain segment of your potential customers or admirers. One gallery for landscape, one for beauty shots, one for fashion, one for commercial products for example.

What are you good enough to impress me with or sell to me? Show me that! And it better be good!! Show me only a few images...thats OK! If your viewers see average or boring or several poor images...you are done! They make an impression of you from what your weakest shot looks like!!! So, dont ever put weak shots in!! Give me 4 great strong images...not 12 ho-hum images. Impress me. Knock off my socks. But dont show me your average stuff. LESS IS MORE sometimes. I respect a person who gives me 4 great images...and I click away from someone who cant edit their images... and leaves in some terrible ones...because he thinks Quantity makes a better impression than Quality.

What are the visual characteristics of some of the best galleries you have seen? If you cant tell me...then you havent done your own research. If you havent collected 12 sites that absolutely amaze you...then you wont know what good quality looks like in your own site. Unless you have studied and torn apart the good sites...you wont know how to make your own killer site!

Every site has to meet the specific needs of the people coming to it. If it meets their expectations and more...then you have a good, effective and relevant site that has a chance. There has to be a good match up...and sometimes several venues will look totally different because they are designed for different kinds of end customers... with different expectations and visual needs.

There are 10+ great ways to drive people into your site...that is another discussion.

Cheers,

2WheelPhoto · Jan 17, 2013

Big professional watermarks plastered across the pics

tevo · Jan 18, 2013

Ray12 said:
Why do you produce a gallery?

1. To show off your best work
2. To impress potential clients
3. To prove to potential clients that you can already produce what they want
4. To solicit contacts and relationships and dollars from people who are impressed enough to want to pay for your expertise.

So, You had better find out early what your viewers expect to see...and what they think is impressive enough to e-mail you or buy your product. You have to give them images that they want, that exceed their expectations or meet their needs, and you have to make such a visual impression that they will contact you.

You would most likely have several galleries...each designed to attract and motivate a certain segment of your potential customers or admirers. One gallery for landscape, one for beauty shots, one for fashion, one for commercial products for example.

What are you good enough to impress me with or sell to me? Show me that! And it better be good!! Show me only a few images...thats OK! If your viewers see average or boring or several poor images...you are done! They make an impression of you from what your weakest shot looks like!!! So, dont ever put weak shots in!! Give me 4 great strong images...not 12 ho-hum images. Impress me. Knock off my socks. But dont show me your average stuff. LESS IS MORE sometimes. I respect a person who gives me 4 great images...and I click away from someone who cant edit their images... and leaves in some terrible ones...because he thinks Quantity makes a better impression than Quality.

What are the visual characteristics of some of the best galleries you have seen? If you cant tell me...then you havent done your own research. If you havent collected 12 sites that absolutely amaze you...then you wont know what good quality looks like in your own site. Unless you have studied and torn apart the good sites...you wont know how to make your own killer site!

Every site has to meet the specific needs of the people coming to it. If it meets their expectations and more...then you have a good, effective and relevant site that has a chance. There has to be a good match up...and sometimes several venues will look totally different because they are designed for different kinds of end customers... with different expectations and visual needs.

There are 10+ great ways to drive people into your site...that is another discussion.

Cheers,

Thank you very much for your reply, it gives me something to work towards. I hadn't thought to go find the best galleries I could and break them down like that, yet it seems so obvious.