Portfolio Review

How's your website looking? When's the last time you updated your portfolio??? 

Often times the issue with a portfolio isn’t that you don’t have enough photos in your portfolio, it’s that there are too many. These are the questions I ask when I help others narrow their images down in their portfolio:

1. is this a strong image? (no? get rid of it!)

2. do you like their outfit? (no? get rid of it!)

3. do you like the background? (no? get rid of it!)

4. do you like the horse? (no? get rid of it!)

5. do you want to photograph more people of this [specific demographic, such as age or location]? (no? get rid of it!)

6. was their horse’s grooming up to your standards? (no? get rid of it!)

7. do you like their tack? (no? get rid of it)

8. was their hair and makeup up to your standards? (no? get rid of it!)

9. do you like the lighting? (yes? okay good, but do you like the location, their outfit, their tack, their hair and makeup? if no to any those, get rid of it. And vise versa! If you love everything about the photo except for the light, get rid of it!)

10. do you have other photos from this same session? (yes? get rid of the weaker images)

11. do you have other photos where the horse & rider are posed the same? (yes? get rid of the weaker images)

Hopefully you’re left with at least a few images… maybe you need to add some new ones in. Here’s what I think about when adding photos:

1. do you have enough variety of photos? 

• close ups

• far away

• landscapes

• portraits

• details

• riding

• on the ground

• different poses

• b&w vs color

2. do you have enough diversity, not only in race but also:

• weight

• gender

• age

• horse breeds

• horse colors

• riding disciplines

• locations

• seasons

Key Reminder- always always always remember what you share is what you will book more of. If you want to photograph more couples, include more couples in your portfolio. If you want to photograph more reiners in action, include a few different action shots from a few different sessions into your portfolio. And don’t forget to not show what you don’t want to book! The opposite idea is the same: don't show as much of what you don't want to photograph again!

Interested in learning more with me? Learn more here!