Boy thats a difficult question to answer. I haven't thought about a portfolio in years. The last time I really put one together for a job was about 8 years ago. I think then it was a little more clear. I entered clip contests and could figure out portfolio pictures based on what won awards. I would always supplement it with others I liked a lot and thought could've won awards, but didn't.
Now-a-days I don't enter contests other than the year end Pennsylvania Newspaper Association one.
I look at my daily assignments as my chance to make the best pictures I can and I feel I am the best photographer I have ever been, but I seldom say, 'oh wow, I'll put that in my portfolio.'
Each year I create a favorites slideshow and when I look back at those I think that those are my portfolio. And for awhile I kept a daily blog of my newspaper photographs.
http://richardsayermeadvilletribune.weebly.com/index.html
At the time we really didn't have a good place on our paper's website for pictures and this was a way I could showcase my work and spread it around to the community while given myself a chance to evaluate myself--which is very important. I haven't kept it up on the website because our newspaper has gotten a better visual website and created a Facebook page where I share more photos now.
Recently I was thinking about my portfolio again and went to the old blog to look at my daily takes. Flipping through them I thought, 'that is what shows what kind of photographer I am right there. What do I do during a day to create pictures.'
If I am ever to be considered for another job I think that is where I would show my worth. What do I do each day.
A portfolio is generally a collection of your best 20 or 30 photographs. I have been doing this for a long time and I would hope I would have a pretty strong 20-30 photographs, but i would hope everyone who has done this for 30 plus years would have 20 or 30 solid images.
So I guess the answer is show your best work. If I am honest I think my best work is now, my desire is strongest now and i dedicate everyday to making my work better. That should be what I show.
Since I was looking at my old portfolio I figured I'd share some of this pictures with you here. Above is a lead picture for a picture story I did way back when I began at the paper in 1997. Below is a collection of screen grabs from an old portfolio website I started years ago. I wonder if I were to construct my best 20 images if any of these would still make the cut, maybe a couple.
Now-a-days I don't enter contests other than the year end Pennsylvania Newspaper Association one.
I look at my daily assignments as my chance to make the best pictures I can and I feel I am the best photographer I have ever been, but I seldom say, 'oh wow, I'll put that in my portfolio.'
Each year I create a favorites slideshow and when I look back at those I think that those are my portfolio. And for awhile I kept a daily blog of my newspaper photographs.
http://richardsayermeadvilletribune.weebly.com/index.html
At the time we really didn't have a good place on our paper's website for pictures and this was a way I could showcase my work and spread it around to the community while given myself a chance to evaluate myself--which is very important. I haven't kept it up on the website because our newspaper has gotten a better visual website and created a Facebook page where I share more photos now.
Recently I was thinking about my portfolio again and went to the old blog to look at my daily takes. Flipping through them I thought, 'that is what shows what kind of photographer I am right there. What do I do during a day to create pictures.'
If I am ever to be considered for another job I think that is where I would show my worth. What do I do each day.
A portfolio is generally a collection of your best 20 or 30 photographs. I have been doing this for a long time and I would hope I would have a pretty strong 20-30 photographs, but i would hope everyone who has done this for 30 plus years would have 20 or 30 solid images.
So I guess the answer is show your best work. If I am honest I think my best work is now, my desire is strongest now and i dedicate everyday to making my work better. That should be what I show.
Since I was looking at my old portfolio I figured I'd share some of this pictures with you here. Above is a lead picture for a picture story I did way back when I began at the paper in 1997. Below is a collection of screen grabs from an old portfolio website I started years ago. I wonder if I were to construct my best 20 images if any of these would still make the cut, maybe a couple.