To distinguish yourself amongst thousands of other photographers, and land that new client, new project, or get accepted into a challenging art or design school, you need an online portfolio that really stands out. It must look professional while still retaining your unique character and artistic vision. To present a professional or artistic compilation of your photographs to the world is easier than ever with today's technology, Here is how you do it. Follow these 8 easy steps and you will be on your way.
Step1: First, you need to organize and review your digital photos if you haven't done so already. You may find that by reviewing some of your old or forgotten photos, you find some hidden gems that belong in that new portfolio you are creating.
Step2: Next, you should think about the audience of your portfolio. Who is the portfolio meant to target? Are you trying to land a new client for a certain project, talk to a couple about wedding photography, get into Art or Photography School, land a job, or just show off your best work to nobody in particular? Its important you understand your audience before you begin creating your portfolio.
Step3: Now that you understand the intended audience, you can begin assembling your photographs. If the intended audience is job specific (such as a modeling shoot or wedding photography), it will be very clear what photos you should include. On the other hand, if its for a school application or gallery showing, you may want to assemble pictures that show your artistic range. Be sure to assemble at least twice as many pictures as you think you need, as you will want to eliminate some.
Step4: Since this is an online portfolio, feel free to assemble several. You can create one "general" portfolio that has your best shots from all types of work, then create several sub portfolios that focus on your specialties.
Step5: Now that you have identified potential images for your portfolio, you want to choose the best ones. More often than not, a shorter portfolio with 10 great images is better than a portfolio that goes on forever with 50 images. Again, the number of pictures to include is really based on the type of work, but from my experience, most clients will make a decision within the first 5 images, then just thumb through the rest looking for support for their decision. That's just human nature.
Step6: Now, its time to go online. There are many online photo sharing services out there (seems like more every day), see the resources section for some of my recommendations. In my opinion, SmugMug is by far the best, especially if you want to look professional. You can replace the SmugMug header with your own, and even use your own domain name, plus upload unlimited pictures and sell prints for a profit if you choose. Zenfolio and Shutterfly Pro are also worth checking out too, but they don't let you customize as much as SmugMug. Use a compairson site to see all the features if you aren't sure which one to choose.
Step7: After you have uploaded your images to SmugMug, or a similar service, you need to decide on the layout. I wold highly recommend keeping the layout as simple as possible, so as not to distract from the quality of your pictures. Basic black, white, or gray backgrounds usually work best. The best part about using SmugMug is that you can go beyond the basic layouts choose from many elegant pre-defined themes, or you can even create your own layout and theme by using custom CSS code, its totally up to you.
Step8: Now that your portfolio is done, its time to Promote, Promote, Promote! Create some business cards or glossy postcards to hand out to potential customers (I like VistaPrint since they almost always have something on sale). The last time I had photos up at a local Starbucks, I left a stack of glossy post cards and received 3 print orders and got 1 new client in just 2 weeks. The integrated theme from my custom SmugMug site and the post cards created a real professional feel that was very cost effective.
Tips & Warnings
Consider "Watermarking" your photos with your website address or name, but don't go overboard as these can be very distracting.
Make sure the settings on your new online portfolio only allow visitors to download a thumbnail sized image, as some sites will let visitors download a full sized original.
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