Portfolio Question - Actual, physical, portfolio product?

I asked this in that other thread, that had loads of pages, but seemed to be more aimed at what college students or people looking to get into a college should put in their portfolio, so I only got one reply, and would like to see if anyone has any great ideas before I end up spending a fortune down the line.


What do people do for a portfolio? I currently have an 11x14" black leather album. It really looks the part, comes in a nice looking box that it goes in, and the pages have no slip-in slots or anything, so i can stick in 6x4s or 10x12 as I go along, depending on what i want to display or how much i like an image.


Thing is, once it's filled, that's it done with. If i tear a page in it or such, it's fecked. I can't tailor it to any person's particular needs, and I can't change out photos if i change my mind on anything.


I was in Kodak Express in Drogheda recently, and they have a black leather-ish style album. Doesn't look too bad. Bit wide. I'd say it's max image size would be 8x10 (which is a shame, as I love 10x12s and 8x12s). Anyway, the thing about this photo album, is that the pages are all self-adhesive and have a plastic sleeve covering them.

Upside is that your photo won't get damaged easily, and you can put one, or multiple, different sized photos on the page. Downside is that it'd be glossy no matter what paper you use, and it'd be a pain in the ass putting prints in in the first place.


However, the unique thing here, is that the pages are binded with two screws. This means you can unscrew the 'hinges', and all the pages will fall out (so you can take some out, add some in, change the order, etc.). It has 20 pages, so if i bought another one, and I had 40 pages (each double sided), i could have 10 pages for landscape, 10 for portrait, etc. and swap them out as I go along.


This is ideal! But the plastic cover of the pages is a bit crap, and the overall feel is cheap. I'd really like a high-end version of this, where I can preferably buy pages seperately to add-on at a later date.


I'm not too fond of loose prints, mounted/backed and in a box (which is what was suggested to me). It looks nice, and obviously is the most versatile as you just swap out prints as you go, but it seems a bit messy and could prove to be very, very expensive.



Just wondering what do others use?

Borderfox

Never used them but their stuff looks nice http://www.plasticsandwich.co.uk/

What about an Ipad?

Fajitas!

Don't get an iPad for the purpose of your portfolio - They have to be the most impersonal things choice of portfolio ever - Portfolios can be full of extra touches that really make you stand out from the crowd, whether that's the book, the paper or the presentation style. iPads are just bought, and strapped into a leather cover, they're a gadget, they can be a great tool, but a portfolio, they're not. In addition to this, one may have to leave ones portfolio overnight/over a weekend, you don't really want to be out of an iPad, do you...?

I currently have an 11x14" black leather album.

When you say 'album', do you mean a photo album?

so i can stick in 6x4s or 10x12 as I go along

Fill the page, don't put in small prints/different sized prints on one sheet - aim to have each page as a seperate print.

Thing is, once it's filled, that's it done with. If i tear a page in it or such, it's fecked.

Once a book is done, it generally is done, most books shouldn't even last you the year, you'll want to be chopping and changing so much.

I can't tailor it to any person's particular needs

Tbh, you need to have several different books, I know a photographer with 10+ books, covering different aspects of his work, which is still very niche. Different clients get shown different books. It's all commercial work, no weddings, no media work, no naff. You have to aim your portfolios at exactly where you want to go - There's no point in throwing in a bit of this and a bit of that and hope it looks right. If you're a wedding photographer, your book is wedding photography. If you're a commercial photographer, your book contains commercial work. If you're a *insert very niche genre here* photographer, that's what your book should show.

If you want to show 'other' work or projects, have them on your site, have them someplace else, not your portfolio.

I was in Kodak Express in Drogheda recently, and they have a black leather-ish style album. Doesn't look too bad. Bit wide. I'd say it's max image size would be 8x10 (which is a shame, as I love 10x12s and 8x12s). Anyway, the thing about this photo album, is that the pages are all self-adhesive and have a plastic sleeve covering them.

Upside is that your photo won't get damaged easily, and you can put one, or multiple, different sized photos on the page. Downside is that it'd be glossy no matter what paper you use, and it'd be a pain in the ass putting prints in in the first place.


However, the unique thing here, is that the pages are binded with two screws. This means you can unscrew the 'hinges', and all the pages will fall out (so you can take some out, add some in, change the order, etc.). It has 20 pages, so if i bought another one, and I had 40 pages (each double sided), i could have 10 pages for landscape, 10 for portrait, etc. and swap them out as I go along.


This is ideal! But the plastic cover of the pages is a bit crap, and the overall feel is cheap. I'd really like a high-end version of this, where I can preferably buy pages seperately to add-on at a later date.

No offence, but that sounds absolutely horrible. As silly as it sounds, there's a massive difference in a portfolio book and a photo album - I've bought my portfolios here in the past www.portfoliosplus.com (http://www.portfolio-store.co.uk/acatalog/info.html is another slightly cheaper option, though I've not used them) - I don't think I've spent under £150, and I've either gotten Steve at 360-dpi to print the images, or I've done it myself on the best suited paper I could find. There's loads of other places to find portfolios, there's loads of ways of putting them together so they look fantastic, it's up to you to find yours. Remember that quality shows through, as does presentation skills. Little touches make the portfolio memorable.

I'm not too fond of loose prints, mounted/backed and in a box (which is what was suggested to me). It looks nice, and obviously is the most versatile as you just swap out prints as you go, but it seems a bit messy and could prove to be very, very expensive.

Tbh, you'd be better showing something like this than showing in an album. Don't mount the prints, use thick, heavy paper, with frosted paper between. I do think this approach suits certain styles of photography best, but it's still a million miles better than putting into an album.


YMMV

Not interested in an iPad, as I'd rather not go the digital route with a portfolio.


The black leather album I have at the moment is nice in my opinion. It is just a photo album, yeah. Here's some quick snapshots of it;









Personally, I think it looks good. It's not really a proper portfolio as such. It's just a mish-mash of anything and everything. It's pretty much everything I've done up to this point. I don't really have enough experience in any one kind of photography to tailor make an entire portfolio to it. My portfolio is probably never gonna be asked for by anyone, but if it ever is, I want something that looks the part.

I don't want to pay for a load of books, when one book with interchangeable pages could do the same job for much less money.

For example, this just seems to be an overpriced A4 display book;

http://www.portfoliosplus.com/detail.aspx?productid=3764#

Am I missing something there?

stcstc

there is a company in the uk portfoliosplus

a good few of my clients bought stuff from them

some of the ones i have seen are very very good

Cameraman

I have one from http://www.plasticsandwich.co.uk/ which I bought via Damien Lovegrove at a UK photo fair last year.

These are another option (but beware the minimum order for outside the UK)

http://www.silverprint.co.uk/Catalogue.asp?PrGrp=7

stcstc

i have done prints for a few people for portfolios

Some of them are stunning, the one eas has for example is a really nice soft leather job

most of the people i have done them for have used the plastic sleeves, means when they want to update they just get new prints from me and put them in

stcstc

stcstc wrote: »

i have done prints for a few people for portfolios

Some of them are stunning, the one eas has for example is a really nice soft leather job

most of the people i have done them for have used the plastic sleeves, means when they want to update they just get new prints from me and put them in

I assume that when they went the plastic sleeve route, they had the prints backed on something? Did they get them mounted or something?

(I assume prints alone in a sleeve would be flopping all over the place)

stcstc

generally they did 2 prints back to back, which is enough for the pages not to be floppy but also not to stiff

Fajitas!

The prints are backed by another print on the other side, with good enough paper, it's not too much of an issue.

See.. I'm almost thinking of just buying a leather A4 ring binder or something and then filling it myself.

That seems to be what most portfolio sites are offering as a product where you can change out prints (except they're really charging you for it!).

sineadw

Entirely up to you (obviously), but the way I see it, if I cheap out on my presentation it suggests to whomever's looking at the work that I give *it* equal cheap value.

Depends on who's looking at it, but anyone I'd be showing it to at present (in my case, for masters applications) would know the difference. Depends on your audience I guess.

I see what you're saying, Sinead, but at the same time, the only thing I've really seen online that's taken my fancy is this;

http://www.portfolios-and-art-cases.com/alv-pcl1114.html


But it's really just a leather binder.

I'm not making money from photography at the moment, so I don't plan to be buying loads of different books for each type of photography or such. I really want something where I can switch out shots as I go (for when a time comes that I come to dislike any of my shots or i generally improve etc and want to update it).