a question from mario

hey oranges,

mario asked a great question the other day. it is one i have been meaning to make a post on. thanks for the reminder mario!!!

here is what he asked.....

"I would like to get some information on the portfolio that we can show for portfolio reviews. What kind of portfolio should we prepare?"

and my reply.....

"show the work you are passionate about. forget about formulas, forget about trying to show stuff you think editors want to see, and just show the stuff you love. as far as how to show it. whatever is easiest. a print book, computer slideshow, an ipad. that is your choice. just make it look good and have it say something about who you are as a photographer. "

mario then went on to ask....

"...is it okay to show unfinished stories? I am working on several projects/stories that I am passionate about but I think I will not be able to finsh them by the time of the workshop. I still plan to show the stories with the images I already have. I am planning to use a laptop with a website like presentation to show my work."

and i replied....

"yeah. just tell people it's a work in progress. editors see that kind of stuff all the time."

i know when i was a student at the workshop i was freaking out about how to show my work and what work to show. having been through that experience before i can tell you that the most important thing is to show work that says something about YOU. like i told mario don't show editors, especially at the workshop, what you think they want to see. now if you were to go into the espn offices you wouldn't show them your work that you did covering a natural disaster, but at the workshop there will be editors from every walk of life so show them stuff that you truly love and don't worry about the content as much.

as far as how to show the work that will be up to you. as i told mario show it however you want. a print book, on an ipad, on a computer, or just loose prints. it really doesn't matter. just make sure it looks as professional as possible and is easy to use. during the 11:30 club (that's what we call the portfolio reviews since they tend to start at 11:30 pm) the editors will try to meet with at least 3 students each. most tend to meet with many more. they are there late and get as little sleep as you guys will be. the last thing you want to show them a portfolio that is hard to use and is very clunky when they are tired. that being said all of the editors know you are just starting out or are still in school. they aren't expecting you to spend hundreds of dollars on an amazing presentation. if you can spend that much and want to, by all means go for it. if you can't, then don't. either way is fine.

if anyone has any questions about programs that you can use to make a slick presentation leave comment here and i will help you out as much as i can. to that end if anyone knows of any great way to display work for editors to view by all means share it.

GO ORANGE !!!!!