I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “they asked me to present my photos.” In what context? If you’re doing a slide show on the computer for a small group of friends, I would think any audio you want to add is fine. If you’re presenting it to a publisher, art director, or anybody else in a professional context, I would not include an audio track.

Jonathan

have a great week!

My definition of a professional photographer is somebody who takes beautiful pictures and makes money doing so. While schools teach you the technical and artistic side of that, I don’t think their photography curricula have a focus on the latter half of my definition.

At the most basic level, everybody sells their work through effective marketing. You said that most of your work is acquired through word of mouth; that is a fantastic form of marketing and many people make their livings entirely from work obtained that way.

If you feel that you need a boost with your marketing efforts, I first recommend that you seek out other photographers and ask them for advice and information; that’s precisely what you did by commenting on this post, actually! Next, go even beyond that group and ask every small business owner you meet – no matter what type of business they own – for ideas. People love talking about themselves and their businesses and concepts, so be prepared to listen carefully and learn from all of the free advice that will come your way.

If you’re still blocked after chatting with all of these people, then consider talking to marketing firms about how they could help you out. As long as you’re armed with knowledge of how people have found you in the past and the effectiveness of your various campaigns and ideas, these experts will have some great concepts to present. They will also have a price tag to match their experience.

As for your second question regarding setting up meetings, I feel that what you should say when you approach people completely depends on what you would like to accomplish by meeting them. Keep your goals in mind when you make initial contact, and be completely upfront, honest, and respectful throughout the entire professional relationship – even if it’s limited to a quick phone call. Also, consider that your phrasing may make a huge difference in their initial impression of you. Which of the following sounds better?

Can we meet up so I can share my portfolio?

-or-

I’m interested in photographing for your magazine, and I’d like to schedule a meeting so I can learn more about your processes and show you my work.

Above all, don’t get discouraged! Not every contact you make will be a success, so keep mental notes of what works and what does not; learn from this and you’ll get better at contacting and meeting people. Also, remember that even professionals who critically comment on your work are just stating their opinions. Though they may express things as absolute truths when critiquing your portfolio, your work may just not work for them and in their environments.

If I didn’t answer your questions adequately or if you’d like to discuss this further, please write back!

Jonathan

I’d love to hear what others have to say about this topic, and I encourage all readers to please contribute to the conversation!

thank you very much for this article… and for your responses to the other questions. they have all been very beneficial to me. i am trying to be more of a professional photographer – i studied photography. but what they dont teach you here in south africa, im not sure if they do in the states or anywhere else, is how to sell your work. most of the work that i get is through word of mouth but i would like to create those opportunities myself and not wait around for someone to give me a call. what do people say to each other at meetings about their work? there seems to be an assumption that everyone knows how to sell themselves but i find it extremely difficult to do this and as a result i have a fear of setting up these meetings… im not sure if you can help me or not… can anyone?

There is no objectively “better” way to present your portfolio. I’m happy to share my thoughts, though.

Who are your clients, and what are you selling? I believe that the presentation of your portfolio should be indicative of your style and the kind of photography you’re doing. If you plan on showing your portfolio to prospective clients and your work is entirely in the digital realm, it may make sense to bring a laptop and to give out a disc with low-resolution images. If you’re selling handmade albums, why not bring one to show off all of your hard work? You could always use a service like Blurb to make a nice photo book to bring along or display at a coffee shop (if that’s how you’re marketing). Opt for a combination of marketing materials and methods to find what works best for you, but keep in mind that the more collateral you have, the more updating and refreshing you will have as well.

Now, onto your printing woes. The problems you are having are very common, actually, and are typically a result of a workflow that has some color management issues. Make sure that every device you have for input and output (i.e. scanners, cameras, printers) has a color management profile and has been calibrated. It looks like there’s a Color Management 101 lesson here on DPS, and that might be a good starting point. I’ll warn you that color management is a very complex and convoluted subject with a lot of misinformation along the way!

Happy shooting,

Jonathan

I just wanted to know, what would be better? To present your portfolio online – as in make your own homepage and post your best photos online or to print them out, place them in a formal book (a photo book, or a folio type of book?) and send them out instead? I’ve been having a bit of trouble deciding what to do… It’s really hard to find a formal book to put my photos in. I’m not so keep on the folders with the rings… it looks so high school!

This is a bit off the topic but has this ever happened to you: on your computer screen, your photo looks perfect. It’s nice and bright, the colours are correct. But when you print it, it turns out way, way darker than you expected… dark enough to say “it’s definitely not because of your monitor setting” I don’t know whether i’m doing anything wrong with my photos This is the photo i’m talking to you about: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jocelyn-photography/3098887671/in/set-72157608856792183/

Thanks so much for everything!
Jocelyn