Building a Commercial Photography Portfolio

If you would like to become a commercial photographer, the key is being able to take the pictures that the customer wants to purchase. If you do this on assignment, the customer is the one directing what the photos are about. If you are freelancing, then you need to take enough pictures of a variety of subjects in hopes to have an image that someone wants to buy. Either way, you will need to have a good commercial photography portfolio to show off your abilities.

Think About the Market

When building your portfolio it's critical to understand what your potential customer wants. You might want to include a wide variety of photographs that will show off your skills, especially if you are not sure what niche you want to work in. This will also help increase your odds of a buyer seeing an image they like. Don't forget that any pictures with people in them will need to have signed releases letting you sell the images so it may be easier to focus on non-people pictures when you first start out.

Get Online

The internet can be one of your most powerful tools in building a commercial photo portfolio. The first is that it allows you to search through the portfolios of thousands of working commercial photographers and see what sorts of images sell the best. The second is that it provides you with a low-cost way to get your portfolio to as many people as possible. Get yourself a personal domain name and upload your portfolio, and then anytime you contact a potential buyer you can easily sent them a link.

Fake it Till You Make It

When you first start, you're not going to have assignments right away, so practice with "fake" assignments to demonstrate your skills. One thing you can do if you are interested in ad campaigns, for example, would be to make up a couple of ad campaigns and photograph them as if you were being paid to do so. Then post them on your portfolio with explanations about how they interact with the campaign and why you thought they were the strongest images to use. Art directors love a photographer that can think "in theme."

Choose a Niche

A great way to become a successful photographer is to become the master of your niche. Some photographers have enjoyed monetary success in finding one type of image that they enjoy and get really good at shooting, such as pets, food, cars, etc. If you have something that you really enjoy shooting, then find some publications that address that subject and build a portfolio of photos that you could sell to that particular client.

Start Local

When you're first getting started it can be difficult to get on with a major publication so start off focusing locally. If you are willing to work without pay, you can volunteer to "shoot" for local publications or websites. Sacrificing a little bit of money at the beginning might help you to get not only good experience, but it will give you a strong client base that you can count on for references as you are working your way towards better assignments.

Commercial photography can be tricky market to get into but with a positive mindset and a eye for spotting local needs it may be easier than you first thought. If you can challenge yourself each time you shoot, and learn to deal with a variety of businesses and people, you will quickly build for yourself a strong and impressive portfolio.

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