You could set up a folder containing matt/glossy printed images, a book containing a specific group of images or several large images that could be printed and framed as A1/2 size or printed to that size canvas so people can view the quality of them once they have been made larger. These types of portfolios are not cheap and can take some time to either make yourself or have made for you. They are also bulky and awkward to carry around with you to meet potential customers. I like to see images printed and would like to make a printed portfolio for those who prefer to see images in that form.
There is also the digital portfolio which can be carried around with you in the form of a computer/laptop, memory card, USB flash drive, CD/DVD or on the internet.
Having a portfolio on a computer/memory card/flash drive/hard-drive is great as it means you don't need to go anywhere specific that has wifi or data. You can show people on their own pc's or on your own. Another great thing you can do is to purchase a portable projector and project the images onto a blank wall or onto a portable screen.
The internet is a great way to advertise you as a photographer and to acquire new customers. There are many websites you can sign up to where you can show your work through them so people can search a topic and your work will show up. This is a great way to get yourself out into the big wide world. The beauty of these types of sharing websites is that you can see how many people have viewed your work and people have chance to like and/or share your work. The main websites for doing this on are: Facebook, Instagram, Behance, Flickr and Twitter. There are more but they seem to be the most popular at the moment.
The other type of online portfolio is setting up a website. There are several ways of doing this. For example, there are ones where all you need is to sign up, choose a layout, add your information and images, then press create and it does the rest for you. There are then those where you can have more control and edit the presets or start one from a basic layout to make how you require it. Finally you can pay to have a professional to create and maintain one for you. All you have to do is decide which is the best option for you.
It is about catering for your customer and their preferences. If you do that you are more likely to get their custom and their good references. It also helps as it is them who will come back times repeating to hire your business and recommend you to others.
I have been researching the best places to show my work as a portfolio and have decided that I would benefit from putting my creative work on Behance as it is more of a creative website. I have also decided to show my work on Instagram, Flickr and share links on Twitter so really push my name and work out there. I will also be setting up a professional website over the next few weeks (well, starting to set one up). I think that will be the best way forward for me as I can promote my website through the other social media accounts I have already got set up.
I have been researching and looking at other photographers websites within the field I would like to find work within sometime in the near future. I have also been researching the different websites and their costs, ease of use etc.
Firstly I am going to write some reviews and opinions of the other photographers websites I have viewed. I will be adding a screen shot of the first page shown on the website as well as adding a link to it. I will be commenting on the layout, orders, ease of use, how it works, what is on there, available links, quality of the work shown, contact details, prices etc.
Simon Kennedy - London Architectural Photographer
This is the page you see when you first click on the link to his website
http://www.simonkennedy.net/
This website is very easy to navigate around. You can clearly see where to click to look at his projects, information, blog and fine art site. The projects are very easy to navigate round as when you open the page you see a page full of images from different projects. When you click on them they tell you the project name, when they were taken and a little about the project. Across the bottom of the page is a list of different types of photography so you can see all of his work relevant to the title. He has put a selection of images onto the front page to rotate round. The information he has written about himself is short but to the point and I have always been told its not how much you write, its the quality of it that matters. There is a contact telephone number as well as an email address for Simon to contact him personally. Simon also has a link to a blog that looks like he updates after every job he does. There is also a search bar for anything in particular that you might what to search. I think it is a good idea as it saves time if you are looking for anything in particular.
I like a lot of the images, I think they have been framed very well and I like the lighting, especially when the images have been taken as the sun is rising/setting.
It is also good that Simon has separated his fine art work from his professional architectural work.
Anthony Weller
http://www.archimage.co.uk/index.html
I quite like this website. It is very easy to navigate and you can find everything across the top bar. Anthony also have a link to a more create website he has set up to keep his professional and creative separate. The only downside is that it doesn't show any prices so if you want a quote you have to email or ring him. There are also links to his Facebook page as well. This photographer may have paid google to show his company on the first search page which will help boost the numbers of people visiting his site and getting in touch with him.
Dug Wilders
http://dugwilders.co.uk
I am not overly keen on this website. I think the images are good but personally I wouldn't have that layout of website. I think Dug could do with adding more images to his Portfolio and maybe putting them into structured folders instead of all being on one page. It doesn't state prices but he has put links to a blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+. Another thing I have noticed on all of these places and not just his website is that Dug swaps between 3rd person and 1st person a lot. I think you should keep to one or the other and not both.
Graham Lucas Commons
http://www.grahamlucascommons.com
I have a look through this website and to be honest I like the layout and the ease of access to everything but I don't like the photographers work. I think a lot of his images are too bright and its blowing the highlights so he has lost a lot of detail which would benefit those images. This photographer has a blog and a link to Twitter. I think he could do with looking at his editing skills or camera settings.
Stuart Brown
http://www.stuartbrownphotographic.com/architectural-photography/?keyword=architecture%20photographer&gclid=Cj0KEQjwmpW6BRCf5sXp59_U_ssBEiQAGCV9GtxAyuKQfiWm-4f28AGBs7MhDGSJFKPH_bW4T5y65NAaAmCh8P8HAQ
I think it is fair to say I do not like the look of this website at all. The layout is a bit of a mess. You click on one tab and it brings up a page has been moved error and another tab to direct you elsewhere. I think this could do with a complete remodel or just start again to be honest. It is not easy to navigate around and I don't think he will get much interest from this. He has links to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well as having a blog.
Steve Mayes
http://www.stevemayesphotography.co.uk
I think I can say I really like this website. It is very easy to navigate round and is simple yet effective. I am surprised at how much this photographer has achieved in his 14 years as a professional photographer. I find his images aesthetically pleasing to the eye and they have been edited very well.He has won many awards and has created something which I haven't heard anyone else do. He has created something called Brick This...
This photographer has got links to a Facebook page, Twitter account and Linkedin. He also has a blog and a few examples of before and after editing shots. I think this is a good thing to include as it helps people to see how it looked before and shows them how much an image can be improved by just removing a grey sky and some litter or odd leaves off the floor.
Jill Tate
http://www.jilltate.com/-/galleries/home/-/medias/49184168-703d-11e1-b0d0-bbbdf0cb7789-flow-newcastle-upon-tyne-client-modular
I quite like this website design and layout but I'm not overly keen with the images or how the images have been grouped together. The photographer has mixed professional with typical landscape images which include pictures of teas and fields. I think they should be kept separate and her front opening page to her website should show her strongest images and not a bunch thrown together. I like a few of her images but I can also see the ones which I think she could improve a little. She has links to Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin. The website is easy to navigate round which is good.
Matthew Weinreb
http://www.thearchitecturalphotographer.com
This website is a little different to what I have seen so far but I like it. It is easy to get round. Only difference with this one is that you don't see any previews on the list of subpages or a page with previews. Its a list of subpage titles. This photographer has links to Linkedin, Facebook and where you can sign up for classes taught by him. His images are good but I think a couple of them have been over edited as they have slight vignettes in one or two of the corders of the image and it makes the rest of the images appear too dark.
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