Jason Row writes about the must-have images in every photographer’s portfolio.
If you make sure you have a collection of images showcasing these certain techniques, you can be sure your portfolio is interesting and versatile. But it also a good idea to break the rules sometimes, so remember to add at least one image that is out of the ordinary (as long as it’s a good one!)
Basic Techniques You Must Try To Master
A cornerstone of great photography and sometimes overlooked due to the increasing sophistication of cameras that deceive to flatter us. Items that fall under basic technique are exposure, white balance and focusing.
Every image in your portfolio should show that you fully understand these techniques. There should be no noise in shadows or unrecoverable highlights, the focus should be pin sharp on the subject and white balance should demonstrate that you understand how different color temperatures affect the way your subject looks.
There are many ways to express your imagination and you should consider including one or two highly imaginative images in your portfolio.
Try Using Your Imagination When Composing Images
You can demonstrate your imagination and creativity in several ways. Preconceived shots show the ability of your artistic side to see shots long before you take them, whilst taking imaginative shots on the fly demonstrates that you can still think creatively under pressure.
Understanding The Light You Have
Whilst controlling the light could be regarded as a technical aspect of photography, understanding how to control it is a creative task. In the studio, this might be setting up the lighting to give a highly creative, beyond the ordinary, look to the subject.
Outside it might be the use of filters or creative exposure to mould the light into the way we want it to look.
Higher Level Techniques For Your Portfolio
To really showcase your abilities, you’ll need to demonstrate your ability to understand some of the higher level photographic techniques. These might include:
- Shallow depth of field and bokeh,
- Control of shutter speed to show motion blur or freezing a subject,
- An understanding of how to use perspective in your shots by changing position
- And focal length.
You can demonstrate using exposure to control the way you want the light to look, knowledge of flash and fill-in flash, an understanding of backlit and silhouettes. There are many higher level techniques available, you don’t need to show all of them but certainly demonstrating three or four in your portfolio will give any seasoned viewer an understanding of your photographic ability.
Read the full article over at Light Stalking.
Source: Light Stalking
