Six Top Tips For a Portfolio That Attracts Your Ideal Couples

By Whitney W.

As you start your career as an artistic wedding professional, there’s one thing that you’ll notice rather quickly: the more weddings you do, the better you get.  And the better you get, the more important your portfolio will be.

After all, you don’t want weddings from five years ago to be in your portfolio, do you?  Probably not.  You want it updated with your best photos.

Here’s a quick look at six must-follow tips for building the best photo portfolio.

Learn more creative tips for wedding photography marketing here.

#1 – Always edit your work.

To expand your clients base, you must show why you are worth doing business with.  This means you’ll need to convince potential clients to let you take their photos.

A portfolio is like your sales pitch.  It’s how you present your talent.  These photos should be edited and reflect your best work.  If you think a photo doesn’t look right, don’t include it.

#2 – Organize the pictures by theme.

Even if you specialize in a certain type of event–like weddings–you still need to organize your photos by theme.

Examples of wedding categories include:

• Indoor weddings
• Outdoor weddings
• Beach weddings

When your photos are organized, this enhances your professionalism, which helps expand your client base.  One of the biggest image mistakes wedding pros make on their websites is a confusing gallery that’s frustrating for brides and grooms to navigate.

Organizing your pictures also helps couples figure out what they want for the wedding.  If they can turn to a category of photos in your portfolio and say, “This is what I want,” then you have a greater understanding of how to meet the couple’s needs.

#3 – Consider all photos.

You might find it difficult to create a portfolio because you don’t know which photos to include.  Truth is, though, these photos can come from anytime and anywhere as long as they show how talented you are.

Just because you took a picture on your smartphone doesn’t mean you can’t include it.  Portfolio photos don’t have to come from a scheduled session.

#4 – Build several portfolios.

You’ll likely want to create several portfolios, one to cater to each of your main client styles.  This way when a client says they want a whimsical wedding, or a rock and roll wedding, you can provide a portfolio of this type to prove you have the talent to meet their needs.

Building several portfolios is especially advantageous if you specialize in radically different styles, such as edgey, romantic or vintage.

#5 – Include lots of photos.

Some photographers say that a portfolio should have only eight to 10 photos.  In all honesty, though, wouldn’t you want more than eight to 10 pictures to look if you were hiring a wedding pro?

Of course you would, and this is why you should present customers with portfolios that have anywhere from 15 to 25 photos.  Best of all, if you build several portfolios, you can have 15 to 25 in each of them, which provides you with ample opportunity to show off lots of your best work.

#6 – Put your portfolios online.

You should display your portfolios online, preferably on your own website.  When customers ask about your fee schedule and any photos they can look at, you can simply direct them to your site.

Just make sure that gallery is as impressive as your photos!  It should be modern and easy to use.

The Takeaway

With a great portfolio comes an expansion in your client base.  There are many online tools you can use to create your portfolio, and if needed, there are even built-it-yourself website options that will help you create your own site and portfolio all at the same time.

How do you use your portfolio for booking weddings?

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