Paul Simon said there were Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover. Well, I am sharing how I have been building my portfolio in 7 steps. That leaves 43 more for other articles.

Article Link: http://www.nwpphotoforum.com/ubbthr...reating-a-portfolio-in-7-steps#Post44023

The Process of Creating a Photographic Portfolio in 7 Steps:

Step 1 – Define Your Market (I have a market???)

2026 is the year I treat my nature photography as both art and business. I have worked very hard to define who it is that will be interested in my work. These are people who value scarcity and authenticity. They are not tourists buying décor or price sensitive shoppers. They see art as part of an aesthetic, part identity and part asset. Typically, these are people who have purchased art in the past and understand editioning. To this end, each image will be limited to ten prints. No soft limits. No “limited by demand.” Ten. If the first buyer wants exclusive rights, that option is available (but only if the purchase the first image of an edition). Scarcity must be real, or it’s meaningless. They’re not just buying a photograph. They’re buying a story, a constraint, and a level of execution that I’ve obsessed over. I’ve spent years behaving like a starving artist. I think that ends when you decide that your work has value.




Step 2 – Help Define YOU.

OK. I got this from like every book I have ever read on business. It sounds a lot like BS. I guess it boils down to what makes your art different? Before you figure out what images you want to curate, you must articulate what distinguishes your work in a saturated landscape (pardon the pun). The Tetons are endlessly photographed. Why should someone even consider MY images? What makes them so good? I like to think that my work is a bit of a throwback. The first is I tend towards the hyperfocal. They generally have great depth. When I work in the field, my goal is to get as much as possible onto the digital file. When I post process an image later, I try to do as little as possible - not only because I don't enjoy post processing, but because I want to be as true to what I originally saw as possible. This means I want my images to have great tonality but also preserving things like shadow and dramatic light. Even though I use digital as a medium, they are done the old fashioned way. Most of the images I take are done in ONE frame. Authenticity of what I saw is integral. I don't employ methods like "high dynamic range" that emphasizes color but unfortunately destroys shadow. My image are dramatic, but they are not a spectacle, so to speak. My work prioritizes atmosphere over drama and structure over saturation. I am less interested in overwhelming the viewer than in drawing them in slowly with strong foreground elements that lead to the main event. That might be hubris - but that is what my goal is.





Step 3 – Curate Ruthlessly

I have already said this, but it is very important to keep in mind. The Tetons are one of the most photographed landscapes in America. “Pretty” is everywhere. Pretty doesn’t sell at the gallery level. This is the part that kind of kills the soul a bit. I have tried very hard to eliminate technically strong but emotionally neutral images. I kept only the photographs that hold attention beyond a glance. How do I do that? It is kind of simple. First, I proof at 12x18 and then I cycle through each of my prints repeatedly. Prints are sometimes sitting there for days or even weeks as I periodically go through them. The images that survive multiple passes stay. Everything else gets tossed back into the dust bin. I cannot underscore this - but don't settle for just what you see on the computer screen. The screen lies (i.e. differences in calibration....differences in how long the monitor has been on, etc)....prints though, that is what you actually have. If when you print something it does not look like what is on your screen, then that means your screen is not properly calibrated.





Step 4 – Seek 2nd and 3rd Opinions...

For folks who I am connected with on Social Media, you know that I asked for feedback about which images YOU think are the best. It has been really helpful to me (so thank you). I was honestly blown away at times that some of the images that I thought were my strongest were not favorites at all. This is a learning process - and not everyone sees art the same way. I am drawn by the technical - but that is not always the most emotional. Or...perhaps my taste is just very different from my friends on Facebook. In the end though, you need to have the confidence to make the decision yourself. Just for giggles, I am including the images that I think are some of my strongest below in this section. They are all images that were almost universally "unliked and unloved," on Facebook. They will be part of my collection regardless as I think they are that strong.














Step 5 – Consider the Print as THE Object

Gallery work is inherently a physical thing. Paper, scale, framing, finish — these things all communicate intent. My preferred images are all printed big (24x36 or larger). Presence matters. Go big or go home. I mean it, lol. Every print is produced by me on a commercial printer to ensure color consistency, tonal control, and cohesion. Nothing is casual. Nothing is accidental. For larger images (think 40x60), I have to sub those out, but they come to me first for me to inspect. When I sell a print (which I have lots of experience doing through the dog world), nothing goes out to a consumer without having been hand inspected by me. Quality control has gone to be everything. I try very hard to have the actual print looking even better than what I showed at the show.




Step 6 –Pricing

Let's talk about money...and honestly, I am not quite there yet, but I am planning on getting there. At some point, I will need to finally start putting a price tag on my images. I realize that pricing is not really a component for figuring out which of my images are strongest - but it IS important because it has a lot to do with what ultimately sells and what does not. i.e. this is a business and you need to sell what sells. This is why I started shopping out my catalog to everyone on Facebook- because it told me if what I think I see is actually what other people see. To my surprise, in many cases, it wasn't. Anyway, at some point, I need to put a price tag on it all. Pricing is as much about signaling as it is anything else. If you ask too little then your work will be seen as 'decorative.' You may find that you are getting Ikea shoppers, not people who value scarcity. If you ask too much, without having a track record, then your work will seem inflated. Value is weird. It isn’t inherent. It’s assigned — usually by reputation. How does the fact that Tom Mangelson took something actually make it better? Even if the work is inferior? It is wild, right? The photographers on Cache Street in Jackson Hole get outrageous amounts of money for runs that seem endless (i.e they really lack exclusivity) because people know who they are. I am no one. For the record, I am not saying my work is better than Tom Mangelson's, lol. That would be hubris. I am just using him as an example. At the same time, I have learned in my portrait photography business that there are definite tiers and price points that your work is expected to sell for. To this end, edition size, print scale and price must all be aligned with the market we are seeking. LOL, let's put a pin on this point. I am curious how the chips fall in the 12 months after I get the website completely updated. I always think about that Burma Shave commercial, "I waited and waited, and when no message came, I knew it was from you."




Step 7 – Refine and Revisit

A portfolio is never finished. As your eye sharpens, your edit must as well. I’ve reprocessed these files countless times, chasing fidelity rather than effect. The truth is also that I have learned a lot about how I like an image to look and a lot of my original work might have been compositionally good, but I am not sure what I was doing in the post processing. What once felt restrained later felt excessive. Too big. Too bright. Too saturated. My rule is simple: look at the greens. Green reflects light the least in nature. If the greens are right, the image usually is too. This was one of the boons of the Pandemic. It was in 2020 that I really had a chance to look back at my former work because there was no where for me to go.

So...what next? I am going to try to do this with all of my images from each major location I have been to. More to come.




All images (c) James Morrissey

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Creating a Photography Portfolio