WORKSHOP: Online and Physical Portfolios

Moira held the session today looking at portfolios and websites, both online and offline. She brought in her own physical printed portfolio for us to discuss. She also gave us some questions to think about whilst we were researching:

Does the template provide links to social media, and is that important?

What do you want to do with your website, or what do you want it to do? (Interactive, front page, lots of thumbnails, text based, moving image based)

Have you looked at your website on your phone, tablet, netbook, computer, etc?

Do you want Flash?

Can you search archives, or just current work?

Do you want thumbnails that enlarge to full sized images?

RESEARCH (Online Portfolios)

Jamie Simonds used Indexhibit, although his site is pretty basic and is focused upon the photographs that he has taken rather than the website design. He has no links to social media, or any external links apart from the Indexhibit website, which could mean he hasn't paid for the template. I was not impressed with his contact page, the text is so small that you could miss his contact details if you glanced. I then decided to research more into the Indexhibit website, which is also horribly laid out, the colours are really bad on the eyes and the layout is harsh and difficult to follow.

Rankin's website has an opening page, with separate links to different parts of his website, such as his photography portfolio, his film portfolio, his magazine page and his creative content agency founded by himself. His photography portfolio has a link for a mailing list, whilst having a rolling series of images of different projects he has undertaken recently.

Tom Hoops has a simple website designed on Wordpress, that has a rolling scroll of images under each title, such as recent, ladies, gents and editorial. I had a website like this last year, but decided to change it as the format was not suited well to people viewing on a windows computer as the scrolling was difficult on the mouse. He has external links to Facebook, his personal blog and his Twitter feed but a small contact page with a form and email address.

Morgan Norman's website is a similar style to the type of website I am designing now. His layout is in a collage format, and the photographs act as thumbnails to link to external pages. Under each image, it will be assigned to a section category such as news, editorial, celebrity and advertising, and some of the series will be under numerous categories as they relate to the same topic. There are no links to external social media apart from a contact page which consists of his Instagram name and his Pinterest boards.

Anna White's website is quite long, and her website was smaller on a laptop format. However, her website is formatted to mobile phones so it is easier to view. Her website was created using Cargo Collective. Upon researching, you have to apply for an account and get accepted for a free website hosting page, where you can have a limited number of megabytes and project space.

Is it free, or is there a cost? What are you paying for?

Wix do offers for £50 for a years subscription, and their templates are super professional and easy to edit and make personal. They are who I have my website with at the moment, as I have moved from Format. Their website is easy to create templates, but their are no free options. Some portfolio hosting websites, including Wix, offer free hosting, but you have to advertise their name underneath or on your page, as well as having their name after your domain, e.g. www.laurajaneparkinson.wix.com.

What is the advantage of having a website, rather than a blog?

The advantage of having a website rather than a blog as people see you as more professional, and will automatically see you as a professional photographer rather than an amateur. It also is good to have a collection of your work online, as if people type in your name into Google and your website comes up, they can see all your work in one place, with good formatting. I was given to option to have a blog link on my page, but learning from the past, I always forget to update my blog so people might get the impression I do not care about photography or do not participate in lots of different project to excel myself. I then looked at my website on my phone and found that it is automatically formatted to be shown on a tablet/phone. This is a really good, time saving way to have as part of my website package, as it means I do not have to format my website for each individual screen resolution. 

Do you want links to social media and external sources?

I personally love having external links to social media and other pages I am active on. My website is updated every two weeks, whereas my Instagram is updated every day. I have a big following on Instagram, of 1,100+ followers, whereas my website is rarely viewed unless I give out a business card or someone tries to find me. I also have links to my Facebook page, which has 900+ likes, as people can see the history of my projects that were produced before my website was built.

Do you want a biography?

We had a biography writing workshop, and since then I have developed it and published it to my new website, I think it is a good thing to have on my website as it gives the viewer an insight into my style and interests before they view my work. I also think it gives a face to the name, rather than the viewer imaging what someone could be like. I have also added my selected commissions and exhibitions to my page so people can see what I have been up to recently. I am also planning to include a PDF link to my CV.

PHYSICAL PORTFOLIOS

Moira then showed us her physical portfolios from her BA degree and her current professional practice. Her BA portfolio consisted of a folder with high quality sleeves with her work in a chronological format. She also had a sleeve at the back, which consisted of her press clippings from exhibitions, slides that she presented in her first solo exhibition. She then showed us her A4 box portfolio, where she places all her work, from landscapes to documentary, in poly pockets so she can mix and match for different interviews. In the past I have used a massive A2 carry along portfolio to print my images and place in. Now I realise that the presentation of this is not satisfactory, and a smaller portfolio is definitely better. She recommended the London Graphic Centre, Sliverprint, Plastic Sandwich and Cowling & Wilcox for classic portfolios, especially leather bound portfolios. Moira recommended a maximum of 15-20 images in our printed portfolio, as we have not yet had enough opportunities to showcase. As we grow as professional photographers, we can extend this maximum image count.

This was a really helpful workshop, I feel like now I can start thinking about printing my portfolio for submission to Professional Frameworks as I know more about what styles are available and how they look in real life. I also can develop my new website now, having looked at alternative examples of other professional photographers. I plan to buy my porfolio box or book this evening and start planning for my final submission.

Business Plan/Invoices

Invoices and business plans are important for freelance photographers who are wanting to take on work and gain payment from their clients. I have had experience sending invoices to Sportsfive, and the University helped me compile this together in a professional way. I have also had to send invoices to clients for weddings and photo shoots in the past.

I have presented here a mock up invoice showing how my invoice template is presented, and price breakdown of services provided and expenses covered. I decided to use a type font for my invoice, as it is easy to read and professional looking, with my logo in the left hand corner.

UPDATE: PDP, Photography Interests and Current Practice

Over the Christmas break, my work has shifted from being fashion and portrait based, to documentary and still life. I have been visiting the town of Blackpool a lot, and after reading a book looking into iconic Blackpool hotels, I decided to develop a photographic series looking into the history of the buildings and where they are now. I was shocked to find that 90% of the iconic hotels were closed down, either for the season or forever. A lot of the buildings toward the Central Pier were under demolition, due to the roof collapsing in what seemed to be high winds, and they did not have the money to repair. It seems sad for me that something that represents a town so iconically, is being taken over by the "monsters" of the hotel industry such as Travelodge, Premier Inn and Ibis. I have been documenting this shift in hotels using my 35mm Canon film camera, and colour film, as the feel and look of film suits the towns meaning much better than digital. Therefore, I have developed my PDP to fit with this, and decided to develop and refine my film photography, and research more into the downfall of the local hotel industry. I have also expanded my PDP to cover alternative areas, or to expand on the ones previously included in my older PDP.

I still am interested in fashion and portraiture photography, but at the moment I am concentrating on my new passion of film photography, as well as my volunteering and teaching roles and my final major project. I plan to get these film photographs of Blackpool exhibited in either a group exhibition or a solo exhibition, hopefully by the end of 2015.