Test with purpose.
I have been working with a start-up fashion magazine, and the chief editor agreed for me to photograph her arranged fashion shoots for experience and portfolio work. However, the problem is that when I turn in my edited photos to her, she often retouches them over my finished edits. She then posts this and tags me in the photos. I hate this and don’t know how to get her to stop.
I’ve heard all types of photographers get upset about this topic where clients change the final retouched images. In my business, we cannot control clients from retouching images as they like. We may demand that we do the retouching in-house, but all of this must be agreed upon before the job estimate is approved. We can control whether we grant permission for the client to tag the photographer’s name or not.
In building my portfolio, I test often with many models as a trade deal. The problem with this is when I send the model the raw images, they ask for all of them. I don’t want my name associated with all the images, so how can I set this boundary to only share the best images?
All photographers – make every term on your test or job estimate form clearly agreed upon BEFORE the job begins.
Term topics to cover:
1. A certain amount of final images to be shared.
2. Retouched/finished images are to be used only and cannot be edited in use.
3. Usage rights permitted for the model and photographer need to be clearly stated and agreed upon in an official talent release form.
4. Payment to models must occur on the same shoot day.
4. Copyright is the photographer’s, and the photographer must agree upon any other usage by the model in perpetuity.
I plan to visit the Palm Springs Photo Festival for a portfolio review – please share some insights on what kind of portfolios are still going on – the good old print or digital portfolios. Or mini photo books as leave-behind prints for marketing materials?
Recently, I had the privilege of seeing a room of well-branded reps and how we all had different methods of showing off our talent’s work to potential clients. We each had a unique mix of screens, iPads, and printed portfolios on our own stylized table setup. We all had our own “take home” swag that resembled the feel of our rep agencies. What stands out to me most about this portfolio show was how we mostly had it all in our own memorable style – printed materials/books and motion screens, which sums up the state of our industry.
The key to getting more out of your MARKETING is to constantly add new work to your portfolio. Give your marketing plan what it needs to get you where you want to go!
What is expected of us these days at in-person portfolio showings? Is there a standard for us to bring, or can we show our website on our computer?
Think about it: this is your one opportunity to show the client you are a skilled pro ready to impress. To stick in their memory make sure you bring options to show it all in a concise professional manner to make it easy and memorable. Our industry is now multileveled, and we have to present ourselves as tech/style specialists with screens for motion and some type of portfolio for stills.
I want my portfolio to feel more like me, but it keeps looking like the companies who hire me. I know this is holding me back, but I don’t know how to change this constant process of jobs feeding my portfolio.
Photographers, step one leads to step two. Even those who begin with a clear personalized style path will someday have to balance it to keep the long-term goal in line. The more routine we become, the less artistically inspired it gets. If photographers aren’t testing, the shorter our careers can become. Sorry, cold, hard fact.
How many images should I be showing on my website portfolio?
My advice with portfolios is not to show too many images if they make you look like 2 or 3 different photographers. Have a strong and cohesive streamline, and fro that, you can show as many as you have on a scroll-down website because the viewers can stop scrolling if they’d like.
I’m a freelance photographer who recently took an in-house photo producer job because my area’s industry has been slow, and I need a steady income to get back on my feet. Did I just set my photo career back by taking a temporary in-house producer job? In the future, will clients hire me as a freelance photographer again after they may see me as a producer?
The plain and simple answer across the board is dependent on your branding, which is dependent on two sticking points:
Do you have advice on preparing for and making the most out of Zoom portfolio reviews? Do photographers create a slideshow that they present and click through? It feels very different and possibly harder to stand out/be memorable than an in-person review.
Make the most of the marketing wave of Zoom calls:
