Portfolio questions?

[JDocPony]

Hey those of you who have them and are pros/semi pros... what should a portfolio consist of?... I have many shots but I would love to know what people are looking for. Should I have diferent ones for what I am looking at shooting... example (horse shots for horse show photographers and clients, Auto pics for classic car clients) Or should I just have the cream of the crop and let people flip through it?... Also what is the best size for shots? 8x10?... I love how shots look on metallic paper, well my horse shots. Is this "Cheating"? I am just curious to here what peopl think... I am going to be working on mine... I am considering stepping off the bridge to do more PRO work... "scary" I do a lot of "Freelance" for other people now, but in this economy my own customers might be nice... plus I am a stay at home Mom and the little extra income would be nice... and I have no other excuse to save up for the Camera I really LOVE...
Any tips you can give me would be exceptional...
oh and where is the BEST place/way to learn Photoshop?.... I need more than the fundimentals? But I am scared to go to a "community college".... I hate Dumbed down curricullum... how can I figure it out?... I know it is a lot of questions but after reading through some of the "stuff on here I am learning that I really like you Guys/Gals and respect your opinions!
Thanks

[JTcooper]

Hi there, after reading through your post I got chill bump all over my skins. I get scary myself too, lol. If you so so so scare don't jump in the water, come back when you know how deep it is.

[SmartWombat]

I love how shots look on metallic paper, well my horse shots. Is this "Cheating"?

I don't think so, you want to present your work in the best possible way.
Just make sure you know the price for it !

Should I have diferent ones ... example (horse shots for horse show photographers and clients, Auto pics for classic car clients)

I think that's a good idea if you're looking at a particular client group.

But you never know what someone might want, that's the challenge.
Someone who comes to you for car photos might also like landscapes, or bird/animal shots, it's so hard to tell.

Or should I just have the cream of the crop

So yes, I would do both.

I would be very, very hard on myself.
You owe it to yourself to be sure you pick absolutely the best.

But having said that...
I just saw a couple of photos from a friend of my wife's who thinks he's a photographer.
I would have rejected both, but he's selling them for £3 ($6) a time to race fans.
Judging by the quality of his shots, maybe I could make money from selling my photos, too !

Also what is the best size for shots? 8x10?

Yes, I would say 8x10 minimum and larger if you can afford it.
You get a better impact from a larger photo, even 8x12 is worth it with car photos as the aspect ratio of the car fits the wider image better.

Good luck !
And if you want help in picking the portfolio images, there's plenty of different viewpoints here in the forums, don't be afraid to ask - we won't bite

Oh you may find this useful: http://www.rps.org/portfolios

[mattbikeboy]

I've been in the design field as a designer and art/creative director and this is my preference:

1. Start with the stuff you like and are passionate about and/or the stuff people have paid you to shoot. Show it to your photographer friends or people who'll give you a good and honest evaluation.
2. Organize it in similar groups -- sports photo customers may not want to sort through photos of horses or cars for example.
3. I like letter size or a size that you commonly sell -- For graphics I do letter size, for photos I actually show a lot of 5x7s (since that is what I sell the most). I used to carry a huge 24"x30" Portfolio -- now I carry nice 8.5x11 three-ring binders with the art, design and/or photos in protective sleeves. This is a nice size since they are easy to carry and show when you're out and about.
4. Keep it updated with your best and newest . I have a dozen portfolios -- it's easier to start a new one than to resort my old ones and I have different ones for different types of work.
5. Keep business cards, order forms, photo releases, fliers and other handy things in the back.
6. Keep your eyes open for prospective clients and have your book nearby to show.

mbb

[fx101]

Your portfolio should usually be a collection of your best work, diverse if possible, but specific to a certain area if you are showing it to a client interested in a specific type of photography. Generally, I would advise you to pick the best presentation for your photos. That being said, some level of consistency is nice. I would say organize your portfolio so your portraits (almost always on matte paper) and your landscapes (exposed to supergloss or other glossy mediums) and your horse/vivid photos (on a metallic paper) don't clash sporadically. I would generally suggest inkjets for your matte or black and white prints (even metallic), and sending your photos out to somebody with a lightjet or chromira for your glossy shots (because inkjet prints on glossy paper exhibit ink bronzing which looks unprofessional). 8x10 is a good size; however, 16x20 is what I and other photographers use for landscape and more expensive wedding work. Some choose larger portfolios (30x20 or larger) on rings but then you have the issue that they aren't portable. Remember to not make it too short or too long. I would suggest around 14-20 images. Portraits should generally not be too large, I would actually suggest fitting two portraits on a 16x20 sheet (7x9 size so as to leave 1" of white space). White space is good. Design your portfolio with a minimalist feel so buy "Helvetica" for the titles. For your first portfolio thus you should have around 10 pages, with 2 portraits per page (I'd say stick with 3 pages of portraits) and the rest I'd have a mixture of horse shots and whatever else you shoot, grouped by the type of paper. I spent around $230 on my portfolio due to the fact that I printed 20 16x20 images. You should be able to squeeze a gallery grade portfolio for less than half of that.

As for photoshop, I would suggest starting from a book. Scot tKelby's books are generally really good. Or, you can do as I did and just experiment a lot and figure stuff out on your own and THEN consult a book for tricky stuff such as learning how to use mult-channel curves and the like.

[JTcooper]

Yes, I agree with all the above comment. But I like to add my shortest list and here it is:

LESS IS MORE... only the best.

[JDocPony]

Thanks all... I will be putting up "samples... after I deside.. I am just so horrified by this process.. right now I am sending "Requests" to some of my Freelance clients for some of my files to use.... then I will bug you all for opinions... thanks a lot!

[another view]

I am just so horrified by this process..

It shouldn't be easy - it's the first impression people get of you as a photographer. Obviously the first impression being good involves being on time, etc - but a portfolio shows them what you do. You might decide you want a dozen shots but rather than sticking to an arbitrary number, only include the strongest shots. First and last should be show stoppers.

I like the look of metallic paper too, but maybe not everyone else does. I don't think it's cheating but someone might not care for the look and - well, it's hard to know what people think. Not that I'd really be the one to ask, but I think it might be "risky" depending on who will see it. It's not a classic look, I guess.

Don't think of a portfolio as "done". Plan on changing it as you get more shots to choose from, and I also like the idea of different portfolios based on different clients. If they seem interested in one, maybe offer to show them another of unrelated work.

[PhotoGirl]

This is a really great thread, as I am also learning how to put together a portfolio.
Thanks to everyone for their advice.

[Kajuah]

Something easy that everybody loves is a digital portfolio; it's very inexpensive and the accepted medium of lots of people and businesses (depending on the type of course; use common sense). It's not only cheap, but easy for both you and your client to see exactly what you can do. Some people have web pages of their portfolios, some people have personalized galleries. Some people use hosting sites to host their galleries. Some people just do flickr. A lot of pros I know up in the city use flickr, along with their own personal site.

Here's an example of a wedding photographer with a portfolio on his website where you can book and contact him:

http://www.johnsharpimages.com/

He's one of the highest paid photographers in western canada, believe it or not.. I sure don't. I've seen and met some of his clients though, I'm talking thousands per day that guy is serious.

But back on topic. Never use full size images when transmitting or sending out your CD of your digital portfolio and never the originals. It's also a good idea to include watermarks that span the full size of your photos, in the digital CD. If you're familiar with photoshop or even Picasa you can easily make watermarks that aren't so obstructive to the image. Depending on your client, even e-mailing some samples works too. I don't know many photographers or freelancers that use hardcopy portfolios anymore unless they're shooting studio photos.

It all depends on what your target audience, though

I wouldn't advise anything by scott kelby, he is one of those amateur photographers who read the basics then decided they would print a book because they're photographs couldn't sell.