I am currently applying to study photography when I get back to the UK. In order to get on a course I have to make a portfolio. Do you have any advice on what to include etc. I think I should include about 20 images, any suggestions on what I should or shouldn't include? Thank you!!
Can you get a copy of the magazine, "Successful Photography?" It's done by the folks who publish "Photography Markets." The current issue (april) has a section on putting together a portfolio.
In my experience with portfolios you usually know what type of job or theme before you send it. Such as commercial, abstract, portrait, etc. So before hand I would put my portfolio together according to that. If you don't have that type of info, I would go with a book that displays all your skills and talents. If the course you are going into is for general photography I would go with the broad range of work. Including everything from technical shots to expressive shots. That's my two bits.
I'd go with what cmrk74 suggests (incidentally, I really wish I'd chosen my own name for my username instead of my usual shorthand thing - how can you think of someone as 'cmrk74'? Or 'e301'? Anyway ...)
I'd include pairs of images if you can - it helps the belief that things aren't an accident. I mean pairs in the sense of using similar techniques, or subjects, or stuff. Brain not working due to having been up for sunrise this morning.
There was a book I found helpful called 'Building the Perfect Portfolio' by Henrietta Beckman. It has tips on grouping, pacing, packaging, etc. I found it used for like $4. See if you can find it and if not, let me know and I'll try to distill a few tips from it.
i haven't done a portfolio for a job or interview recently. but this time last year, i got a bunch of wedding photos together and picked my best. i tried to show what i can take picture wise and what i can do digitally (B&W, sepia, soften, blur, B&W with color, etc.). it went well and got me some work.
know i'm about to apply to the eddie adams workshop and need to get a perfect portfolio together. a peer who attended the workshop in the past gave me the following advice. submit your best work! be really critical of you shots. but responses will vary from judge to judge or interviewer to inteviewer. he said most of the time, they could care less about the subject. they want to see that you have a good eye, compostition, tell a story, etc. but that also depends on what type of job you are applying for (i'm mostly in photojournalism).
