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Portfolios that Sell

March 31st, 2008 by brett
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Portfolios that Sell by Selina OppenheimI just picked up Portfolios that Sell, by Selina Oppenheim up from Amazon the other day, and have read it several times since. This is a book that should be on every serious photographers bookshelf. I have said on this blog before that it seems that for most photographers, their blogs start out as a way to extend their hobbies, and then it becomes something that most of us would like to make a little money from. If that’s the situation you find yourself in, do yourself a favour and pickup this book now!

One of the most interesting points that I took from the book, was the fact that Selina mentions several times about the importance of specialization to today’s photographers! I think that most of us still shoot everything and anything in hopes of being a “jack of all trades” - I am guilty of this (see Behind the Lens for proof), but nowadays we should all be specializing in a niche!

Make sure that you check out Selina’s company Port Authority.

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2 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Damien Franco Apr 20, 2008 at 12:51 am

    I understand the need to specialize for the sake of a portfolio that stands out. I do think that every serious photographer has to look into what style sets them apart, but why not have an everyday photoblog and also have a seperate website gallery. I’ve always believed that, as artists, we grow stronger by practicing skills and techniques outside of our niche.

  • 2 Thomas Folke Andersen Apr 21, 2008 at 5:56 am

    I can see both points of view here. I agree that a seriously edited portfolio is essential for any serious photographer (amateur or pro) and lots of photographers could learn from this. I’m only just learning this myself as I’m building my body of work and in the process a ’speciality’ is slowly emerging, but I’m just starting to put some portfolios together.

    On the other hand I also agree that a photo blog can be an avenue to show off work that you might not show in your seriously edited portfolios. As such this could also mean shots that are no’t ‘usually’ your speciality. That said I still think you need to keep the quality of your content up to keep viewers interested.

    Thanks for sharing this book link. Looks like a cool blog, will add it to my feeds!

    All the best,
    Thomas