Digital Age Portfolios

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|| SportsShooter.com: News Item: Posted 2003-02-02

Digital Age Portfolios
'What's the best way to prepare my portfolio?'

By Jim McNay, Brooks Institute of Photography

Your portfolio case doesn't need to be covered with fine Corinthian leather...unless your name is Ricardo Montalban.

The Eternal Question in photojournalism might be: "What's the best way to prepare my portfolio?"

In the digital age, the question comes up all the time.

So first, from the pre-digital era, let's say prints and clips are fine. The portfolio is, after all, all about the pictures. As long as the presentation looks professional, organized, "clean" a professional will look at student work.

All this means two things: The work in print or clip (tear sheet) form need not be in a large leather portfolio with the photographers name hand-tooled on it. We do not need Corinthian leather.

At the end other end of the spectrum, the work should not be loose individual items in a recycled FedEx box.

If a student can only afford a three-ring binder and some plastic sleeves from the university bookstore, that presentation will suffice for the first 6-12 months of a photography major's life. A visit to a good art supply store to see what a professional portfolio case looks like might be in order soon after that.

Pictures shown in print form need not be larger than 8x10, since most editors rarely use pictures on the page larger than that.

However printed work is shown, it enhances the presentation if there are captions on or with the pictures. And it almost goes without saying the captions should be spellchecked and perhaps reviewed by a friend for grammatical accuracy.

When it comes to digital portfolios, more and more organizations are set up to look at work presented in this form. For best results, call or e-mail ahead to see if the person you plan to see prefers to look at CD-ROMs, Zip disks, or perhaps even a website.

Also it helps to ask if their computers are Macs or Windows based. That can save a lot of embarrassment.

How ever the student plans to show the work, and whatever the computer platform, students will be wise to test their portfolio on a couple of computers-other than their own-before visiting a pro in their publication's newsroom. It's embarrassing to make a long journey, only to see a disk unable to be opened once at the editor's desk.

One rule of thumb for digital work: Small files, usually JPEGs, that open quickly are your-and the editor's-special friend. Professionals have little time-some time, perhaps, but limited time-to devote to student work. Most of them have one or two deadlines to meet during a workday. Files that take a long time to open might just be abandoned out of frustration-and the need to move on to other duties. Shoot and save the large files for yourself. Make smaller ones when making the portfolio to show others.

A portfolio on a CD-ROM can be cool if done properly.

If there is room on a CD-ROM or Zip disk for a Mac and a Windows configured portfolio, you're good for either system. If you need to make a disk for each, do that and send both to the professional you are having look at your work.

One suggestion: If students use a slide show program (like Quickshow or others) that automatically runs when the disk is opened, photographers may want to put buttons on each screen allowing reviewers to either hold an image on the screen for longer reflection or to click through the slides one at a time. Editors often like control. These options allow them to move through the portfolio at their pace. A stop or hold feature also allows them to call someone over to the computer screen to see a particularly interesting image.

Finally, if the student photographer must put music on electronic portfolio, just in case an editor's musical tastes differ slightly, put a "music off" button prominently on the opening page, if not every page. Again, the aim here is to have professionals work all the way through the portfolio, and not hit the quit button until the end. Don't give then an excuse to bail out early.

Bottom line: Think about your audience and make that portfolio user friendly.

***

Photographers, particularly those in school or seeking to break into the photojournalism, are welcome to send ideas for future columns to Jim McNay at jmcnay@brooks.edu.

Questions about getting started in photojournalism that might be answered in future columns are also welcome.

Related Links:

Jim McNay's Member Page

Brooks Institute of Photography

Related Email Addresses:

Jim McNay: jmcnay@brooks.edu