Looking for cool portfolio-making tips!

boarini2003 · 07-26-2006

I'm gonna have a meeting with an even and studio photographer, possibly for a job. He asked to see my work. I'm looking for a way to present my shots that must be cheap, good looking and portable (as in air travel.) Any cool ideas out there? Any tips would be great!

Ash · 07-26-2006

a Portfolio folder!

Go to your local art shop, get an A3 black portfolio folder, sleeves with the black insert, mount some photo's to it.

That's possibly the only way to do it cheap. If you got the cash, then print your photo's in a book - Print/Publish On Demand.

boarini2003 · 07-26-2006

I thought about the portfolio folder, the thing is... I live in Guatemala, and ridiculous as it is, many little things that are so easy in other places you can't find here. Maybe I can just paste my 8x10's in a normal photo album.

lubitel · 07-26-2006

what about getting some kind of black presentation board or nice black cardboard. you can paste your photos on them and just present them one by one.

Finder · 07-26-2006

In Japan we have clear files which are a binder with clear plastic pocket pages. 8x10s fit them well. They are not expensive.

Another way is to mat them and place the matted photos in a nice carrying box.

Ash · 07-26-2006

Finder, we have the same things here, but to be honest they aren't as impressive as a full portfolio.

BJ Bignell · 07-26-2006

If you're having trouble finding a portfolio folder, Finder's suggestion to mat them and put them in a nice box sounds really good.

kaiyen · 07-26-2006

I think a set of matted prints in a box looks _nicer_ than a portfolio album, myself.

allan

ed1k · 07-26-2006

Quote:

Maybe I can just paste my 8x10's in a normal photo album.

Yeah you could surprise them. I think people nowadays think of a normal photo album as a plastic sleeves binded in a folder. Actually, it's very dependable. Personally, I wouldn't care much how pictures are presented but what's presented: aesthetic and technical aspects of photos; unless I'm looking for someone to mount my pictures in frames. The only advise I can give - it should be easy to switch from picture to picture. So, just cardboards with pasted photos collected in a nice box or folder would be sufficient in my opinion. For album it should be easy to turn over the pages. Cardboards should have the same size, photos on them could have different size.

Good luck!
Eduard.

Oh Two · 07-26-2006

This may sound odd, but I put my portfolio on CD with the same size jpegs I have at my web site, the URL for which is printed on same. The sleeve clearly says 'open in your favorite internet browser'. The CD mails in a small manilla envelope just as easily as Netflix distributes their DVDs. I haven't presented slides or prints in years.
I also carry a jump drive in my pocket with the jpegs installed.

pcfranchina · 07-26-2006

The CD this is a good idea. Not sure if there is any quality degrigation but Microsoft has a free tool called Photo Story. Makes slideshows out of all images set to any music. Creates an .avi I think. Set the CD to autoload.

....and there ya go.

ed1k · 07-26-2006

CD? Oh yeah, it year 2006 around... Sounds interesting though it may be inappropriate for studio photographer if talk is about possible job for their studio. Only you may decide if CD would be appropriate for situation. Actually, it would be good for many occasions and normally doesn't require traveling - just send CD by mail. Since this talk about job may be very important for you, don't be in a blue funk, be yourself and don't do nonsense no matter what. You've survived till now, so you're not going to die if these guys turn jerks.

Eduard.

Ash · 07-27-2006

well you can whip up a slideshow in powerpoint (to be old school) or use any number of tools on the internet. You could even load up a copy of simpleviewer to a few html files for viewing.

Do both though. Don't limit yourself to a CD and then get there and be told they don't have a computer present (it could happen). I'd take my iBook in those situations, but thats cos its got all my photo's on it already

Go for the mounted photo's on thick black mountboard, in a presentation box, with the top board having a cd holder with all the pictures as slides.

Best of both worlds?

vrgard · 07-27-2006

Also, Picaso software (free from Google) has a create slideshow feature followed by a burn to CD for self-play feature. Makes creating a CD-based slideshow presentation extremely easy. No music (that I can recall) but fairly professional and incredibly easy to use.

-Randy

boarini2003 · 07-27-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaiyen

I think a set of matted prints in a box looks _nicer_ than a portfolio album, myself.

allan

that really sound like a good idea. My problem is that I want to present about 15 or twenty shots, and that would mean just as many pieces of cardboard to take on an airplane. Maybe I could present 4x6's instead of 8x10's, maybe two per board? that could work...

pcfranchina · 07-28-2006

Id do 5x7s on 8x10 boards.