Having a photographic reference of work is essential for builders, designers, and landscapers. It’s even more important that this portfolio be polished, organized, and eye-catching. All of this can be easily obtained with a quality website, in-person samples, and our how-to guide.
How to Make a Professional Photography Portfolio
If you want to make a good first impression, you’ll need to follow a few steps to ensure your portfolio reflects your professional style. Here’s how to create a stunning portfolio with photos.
1. Determine Your Goals
Photographers typically create portfolios to find more work, but that might not necessarily be your goal. Ask yourself who your audience is and who you want to bring to your website. We recommend looking at a few photography website examples if you need some inspiration.
2. Choose a Quality Hosting Service
Finding a quality hosting service for your portfolio is just as important as choosing your images. Look for a reliable hosting service with plenty of storage for your images and a good user interface. Don’t be afraid to pay for a quality host or content builder; it’s worth the extra cost.
3. Find the Right Website Builder
After you find a great hosting service, you can start looking for the perfect website-building platform. Anyone showcasing a portfolio filled with photos should look for a website builder with great themes, flexible layouts, full customizability, video support, and a built-in blog.
4. Have an Offline Equivalent
If you plan on going to expos or in-person networking events, you should have a physical portfolio you can share or hand out. Websites like Mixbook allow you to design your photo book using templates. Once done, you can deliver your photo book directly to your home or clients.
5. Make it User-Friendly
If you want to create a positive and memorable experience for potential clients, you need to make your portfolio user-friendly. We recommend making your portfolio your home page and displaying your shots in a grid style. This makes all of your shots easy to find and scroll through.
6. Choose Your Best Shots
The most crucial element of a professional’s portfolio is the quality of its images. When choosing which photos to include, pick the ones that represent your style and vision the most. Don’t just include your work for the sake of having a lot of content. Quality should come first.
7. Organize Your Categories
Your portfolio should be organized into several different categories. Figure out your strongest areas, and group your images into portfolios that tell a larger story. These categories can come in handy if you have a lot of shots from different mediums and you want to showcase them all.
8. Showcase Your Adaptability
It’s great advice to focus on one niche, but you can’t be too specific, as that could mean you’re not flexible. Demonstrate a wide range of abilities and skills, ranging from nature to real estate or home photography. Then, challenge yourself to include unique techniques in your portfolio.
9. Set Up an Online Store
Even if you’re setting up a portfolio for fun, we still recommend monetizing your photos to specific industries. For example, real estate agents often need stock photos for their websites and content, and you could make a bit of money on the side selling these pre-made images.
10. Include Your Contact Information
Finally, make sure to include your contact information throughout the portfolio. All your potential clients need to know who you are and how to get in touch with you. Include a few contact forms, a contact page, a chat widget, and links to all of your other social media profiles and portfolios.
