Tips for Your Commercial Photography Portfolio

Photo Credit: celtics baby clothes

A great commercial photography portfolio is your calling card in the industry, and your ticket to winning clients and landing jobs as a professional photographer. Read on to learn 3 key tips that will help make your commercial photography portfolio shine, so prepare to start getting the gigs you need to advance your career. These commercial photography portfolio tips will take your clips to the next level, so that you can scale the ladder to your dream job.

1. Offer Your Commercial Photography Portfolio In A Variety Of Formats

When you hand out your commercial photography portfolio, one of the things it is crucial to communicate to a client is that when they hire you, you will do everything you can to make his or her life easy. You want to be seen as professional and responsive, and as someone who proactively anticipates your client's needs. One great way to make this impression fast is to have your commercial photography portfolio available in a number of formats, including in print, on CD, and online, as AllArtSchools suggests. When you follow this advice and have print, digital, and virtual clips available, your first question to a client can always be "What's easiest for you?", a sentence that will be music to any prospective employer's ears.

2. Pitch Your Commercial Photography Portfolio Directly To The Job At Hand.

Instead of having one commercial photography portfolio, have several, one targeted to each kind of work you're hoping to do in your career. Have you taken some gorgeous nature images? That's great, but a client who's hiring for a fashion shoot won't care! A prospective employer will hire the person who seems most likely to do a great job on the specific project at hand, so make sure everything in the commercial photography portfolio you hand to a possible client is directly relevant to the task they'll need you to do. Try doing as PhotoCritic suggests, and put together a portfolio of just your fashion work, another that highlights your nature shots, another for photos you've taken of products, and so on for each genre you've got clips for, and are seeking work in. That way, as you move forward in applying for a variety of jobs, you'll always have your most specifically relevant work at your fingertips, ready to impress your next boss.

3. Include The Right Written Information In Your Commercial Photography Portfolio.

As Marketing For Photographers and Photography points out, you don't need to include much written information in your commercial photography portfolio. However, what you do put in can make or break a client's interest in your work. By reducing the amount of text, you help keep your prospective employer engaged with the images you're presenting, which is the goal of your commercial photography portfolio. You don't need to put forward the technical information for each picture, like your equipment choices or shutter speed, because the client only cares about your end result, not about the road you took to get the shot. You should offer a brief description of what each picture is, to provide some context, and a clean, professional, and specific title for each shot, so that it's easy for clients to reference a particular image in your commercial photography portfolio when they're in discussion with you, or with any colleagues who may be involved in making the decision to hire you.

Photography Insights and Techniques

photo source

One might ask what photography is. What is the purpose of taking a photograph? For some, just a simple snap shot will do but, for others, there is more of a destiny to experience in the photograph. Photography captures a split second in time or, simply put, a moment captured in a blink of an eye. Photographers create illusions of realism which resembles the existent world with content and form that are inseparable. In effect, the photographer has generated a story all their own. 

Photography is made from anything perceived. Seeing is believing when the moment is captured on film regardless of the subject matter. No matter how many pictures are taken of the same subject by different individuals, the photographs will never be the same “style” because the subject is in the eye of the beholder. For example, you may like that shiny red 57’ Chevy in the front of the coffee shop, so you take a photograph. Your friend loves the seat in front of the coffee shop window with the reflection of the 57’ Chevy in the glass. There are two distinctly separate shots of the same subject but, emotionally, they are very different images. No two artists are identical and different viewers will never see the same photograph in the same manner. Photographs generate a mood that creates an emotion and they can be background or landscapes or nothing but a mere rust spot with texture. 

Photography not only captures that instantaneous moment in time but also captures a visual reality. Photography, when it was first invented, was used to represent the world accurately with little room or depiction of artistic ability. Thus, the photographer could have been anyone in the crowd, and that person brought forth the way things looked at the time—showing the world what is to be perceived. 

This is not the ways of photography in the 20th century. Photography is now a truly unique art form, and a photograph can hold two and three dimensional space, as well as a one point perspective. Photography gives us the opportunity for aestheticism our everyday world. Our attention is focused on what we would normally dismiss our attention focuses on seeing beyond the believable giving a visual sensation to our minds. A photograph can be captured in one-sixtieth of a second by the shutters of the camera. In effect, art happens in the “blink of an eye”. 

Since Kodak introduced the first hand held camera in 1888, giving photography a new mission and meaning, the world has never been the same. However, the technological advances have affected photography. It has strengthened the use of a camera and allowed the photographer far more precise subjective perceptions of the subject matter. According the book The World of Art, Life Magazine started publication in 1936, and American photography used photography as their tool of disclosure. “Pictures can be beautiful, but must tell facts too,” reveals the text. Photographers must include real life recognition with lines and rhythms of the surface because, without this, the photograph would be unresponsive. As an interesting insight, a horizontal photograph is peaceful; a photograph with less foreground brings dramatization and a photograph with more foreground shows nature connected with unity. 

Photography is different than other art medium, yet the classical compositions brought together by the artists of yesteryears are still used. Photography has many techniques and art forms that differ greatly. For instance, there is black and white photography that the photographer can develop easily in even a small amount of space. According to photographer and Professor of Art Mike Wonser, a dark room can be set up in a bathroom. The light must be blocked out, but the photographs can be developed in the bath tub! So, you do not need much space to work and it is magic to watch the photograph appear. Another simple technique was shared by George Jolokai. He stated “a photographer can carry a bottle of water to add shininess or reflections on the subject matter”. The magic of photography is endless. 

Another tool used in photography is the use of slow or fast shutter speeds. Slow shutter speeds can blur water, but the use of slow shutter speeds requires a tri-pod to prevent blurring the entire photograph. The water will blur because water is in constant motion but the background or other subject matter in the photograph remains still. 

Another form of photography is that of color photography. Color brings depth and musical rhythm and is a very powerful tool to the human senses. Color photography creates a complex interplay between form and content that can create dynamic color contrasts. The photograph process takes time because critical technical decisions must come from the photographer before the release of shutter that results in the capturing of an essence of time and mood on film. 

The basic elements of style, composition, and technique are the photographer’s tools for structure; it is the photographer’s imagination that leaves an impression embedded the minds of the viewer.

References 

Joloki, George (2004, Spring). Lecture Art 101, Central Oregon Community College, Bend< Oregon 

Sayre, Henry M. (2004) A World of Art (4th ed.) Pearson Prentice Hall. 

Wonser, M. (2004, Spring). Art History 203, Central Oregon Community College, Bend< Oregon

Blair Hill Photography in Salt Lake City, Utah

source,credit

Blair Hill Photography services the Wasatch Valley areas locating between Provo to Logan Utah.

Blair Hill Photography began in the year 2000 when Blair first decided she wanted to use her camera for something other than fun. Though Blair had been taking photographs for a long time, and was very familiar with the SLR camera she owned, she was always just snapping photographs of family & friend adventures, music events, or other various events around the town. She had been published several times in her local newspaper and other various sources, but still never quite thought of the idea to go 'professional.'

When Blair decided that it was time to put her passion to work, she started to attend classes right away on her new favorite subject, so that she could learn as much as she could aside from what she already knew. She attended classes at her local community college, a local arts program, and MICA - Maryland Institute College of Art. She began developing her progressing in the field of musical/industrial photography, and developed a clientel very quickly.

To the downside of all the progress Blair had made with her work, in 2003 she moved 2000 miles across the county, which means her clients were not locals anymore. Discouraged, and looking for a refreshing moment in life, Blair took a break from her passion of photography until 2005. In 2005, Blair realized how much she missed doing what she loved most, taking pictures. She realized how much her focus of photography had changed though, and began to pursue portrait photography.

Since 2005, Blair has been an active portrait photographer in the greater Wasatch Valley in Utah. She has been complemented again and again on her wonderful work, with a repeat clientel that simply keeps growing and growing.

With astonishing photography, incomparable to any of the other local photographers here in Utah, yet still with the most amazingly affordable prices, Blair Hill Photography is completely unique, and perfect. Every day Blair is coming up with new ideas on how to make her work different, better. She is constantly attending trainings and schooling to further her educational background in photography, and to learn anything new she could possibly learn.

Her current creditinals include the following:

Anne Arundel Community College - 2001, Photography Certificate

Maryland Institute College of Art - 2002-2003 Photography Classes

Salt Lake Community College - 2006-current A.A. Photography Classes

In addition to her passion of photography, Blair has a B.S. In sociology from the University of Utah, and is currently working towards her masters in Gerontology. She hopes to one day mix her love for people and culture with her love and passion for photography.

To see Blairs work, please visit Blair Hill Photography by Clicking Here.

DIY Wedding Photography: Shot List for the Traditional Couple

credit

How can you save money on photography for your wedding? Do it yourself! DIY wedding photos won't sacrifice your precious wedding memories. Just make sure you are doing the wedding justice by creating a shot list before the ceremony.

As a traditional couple, you will want "classic" wedding portraits. Make sure you get the following shots for your do it yourself wedding album.

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Pictures of the Bride and Groom

Have the bride and groom stand in front of the church. Stand back from the couple so you can get their entire bodies into frame. Make sure to get the entire wedding gown in the picture.

Take a few steps forward, use your zoom, and take a close-up portrait of the bride and groom facing forward.

Have the bride and groom turn their heads and look into one another's eyes. Take a close-up.

Snap a photo of the bride and groom standing in front of the church on their wedding day.

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Photos of the Wedding Party

Every wedding album needs a picture that includes the entire wedding party. Line up the bridesmaids and groomsmen with the bride and groom in the center. The flower girl and ring bearer can stand in front of the attendants, but do not place them directly in front of the bride and groom. Doing so would block the bride's wedding gown.

Take some wedding photos of the bride with her bridesmaids. Then take some pictures of the groom with his groomsmen.

Make sure you get a picture of just the flower girl and ring bearer. These cute wedding photos will turn out great!

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Pictures of Family Members

Family plays an important role in any wedding. Make sure to include them in the wedding photographs.

Shoot the bride with her family and the groom with his family. Marriage unites these two families, so get a shot of them all together as well.

Make sure to get a picture with the grandparents as well.

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Photographs of The Ceremony

The ceremony is the most sacred part of the wedding. Don't be too intrusive while getting your shots. Here are some wedding photos you must get:

Each bridesmaid and groomsmen as they walk toward the altar

The flower girl and ring bearer as they walk down the aisle

The bride walking down the aisle and being given away

Close-up of the groom when he sees his bride

The bride and groom standing at the altar (from behind and from in front if you can manage)

The entire wedding party during the ceremony

Bride and groom's first kiss as a married couple

The couple lighting the unity candle

Bride and groom exchanging rings

Bride, groom, and attendants as they walk back down the aisle

DIY Wedding Photo Shot List - Reception Photos

The reception offers many opportunities to capture the spirit of celebration. Take a lot of journalistic style photographs during the reception of guests dancing, eating, and laughing.

In addition to these spontaneous photos, remember to snap the following pictures:

The bride, groom, and attendants in the receiving line

Groom removing and tossing the bride's garter

Bride tossing her bouquet

The wedding cake being cut and fed to the bride and groom (protect your camera from flying cake!)

The couple's first dance and dancing with their parents

The Most Important Tip for DIY Wedding Photography - Be Creative

This wedding photography shot list will get you started. It is not intended to limit your creativity. These are only the basic poses and wedding pictures a traditional couple would like to have in their wedding photo album. Take these basics and add your own ideas to create a unique wedding gift -- the gift of memories.

Sources

DFM Photography, Wedding Shotlist Helper, http://www.dfmphotography.com/wedding_shotlist.shtml

Personal Experience