A great photography portfolio can open doors for you as a professional photographer, but how exactly should you go about putting one together? Don’t worry—we’ve compiled some of the top tips for creating a job-winning photography portfolio. We’ll walk you through the best ways to plan out your portfolio, choose your photos, and assemble everything digitally to best represent your stunning work.

1

Set a goal for your portfolio.

  1. Decide what you want your portfolio to do and who you want it to reach. Are you just starting out as a freelance photographer, or are you applying for an official photography job? It’s super important to figure out who your ideal client is so you can organize your portfolio in the most effective, eye-catching way possible.[1]
    • For instance, the portfolio of a freelance real estate photographer will look a lot different from a portfolio of a photographer applying at a portrait studio.
    • Your portfolio represents who you are as a photographer and what you can offer clients, so it’s really important to decide what your portfolio will be accomplishing.
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2

Pick photos that represent your niche.

  1. A collection of photos without a defined theme won't paint a clear picture for your client. Imagine that you’re hiring someone to take photos of your pets. You go to the pet photographer’s portfolio website, only to find pictures of outdoor landscapes. Without any pet photos on their site, you wouldn’t feel that comfortable hiring them as your photographer, right? The same logic applies when you’re planning out your portfolio—your content has to fit the niche you’re advertising yourself for.[2]
    • If you’re a portrait photographer, you’d include high-quality portraits you’ve taken of kids, adults, and seniors, so clients get a sense of your range.
    • If you’re a wildlife photographer, your portfolio could include a variety of wild animals in different outdoor settings.
6

Settle on a simple website theme.

  1. Your theme needs to present your pics in a stylish but accessible way. Don’t pick out a theme with a distracting background—after all, your photos need to be the star of the show! Instead, pick a theme that meshes well with the aesthetic and purpose of your photography portfolio.[6] Here are a few examples for different photography niches:
    • Wedding: A dark background and white font offset with bright, colorful wedding pictures
    • Portrait: A high-quality portrait used as the main backdrop for your site
    • Documentary: A plain, white background to complement the photo’s complex colors and subject matter
9

Structure your pics so they horizontally scroll.

10

Organize your photos intuitively.

  1. Each photo needs to have something stylistic in common with the next one. This doesn’t mean that your photos all have to come from the same set or series (though they can if you want!). Instead, make sure all of your neighboring pictures have a similar color palette. Depending on your portfolio niche, you can even organize your photos by mood to create a narrative for the viewer.[12]
    • Some photographers like organizing their photos by composition. In a wedding photo portfolio, you might take a zoomed-in shot of the bride followed by a zoomed-out shot of the bride and groom together.
11

Label each photo with captions and alt text.

  1. Captions and alt text help with your website’s search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is all about boosting your portfolio site’s ranking on search engine result pages (SERP). Image captions and alt text not only make your site more accessible, but they also give search engines more helpful information about your site—this helps it rank higher on the SERP. Make sure to include captions and alt text for each photo on your portfolio site so it’s more likely to show up in Google searches.[13]
    • Alt text is a short description embedded into a photo that’s automatically read out loud to visually-impaired users.[14] Most website builders have built-in features that let you easily add it to photos.
    • A portfolio picture of an open beach might have alt text that reads “New Jersey beach at sunrise.”
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12

Describe yourself on an “about” page.

  1. Let potential clients know what makes you special as a photographer. Include a professional headshot on the page, and explain what photography means to you. If you’d like, give a little background on how you started as a photographer, and explain how you have the experience and skill to bring their vision to life.[15] You might write:
    • “I graduated from Brigham Young University in 2017 with a BFA in Photography, but my passion for capturing the world around me started much earlier on.”
    • “To me, photography isn’t about freezing a moment in time—it’s about capturing a story on film for years to come. I want to help bring your story to life.”

Community Q&A

  • Question
    Can you put videos into a portfolio?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Definitely, as long as that's something you specialize in! Most website builders let you embed both pictures and videos on your portfolio website.
  • Question
    Is there a specific website or software that I can use to create a portfolio digitally?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    I use PhotoSmasher, but there are many other host sites available, unless you wish to buy and create a website yourself.
  • Question
    How big should the photos be in a portfolio?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It all depends on the size of the book. You want to try to fill each page with one photo. You should probably not to go any bigger than A4.
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Warnings

  • Keep your portfolio website as sleek, polished, and minimalistic as possible. Extra features like a music player will only slow down for your potential clients.[21]
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
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About This Article

Cory Ryan
Co-authored by:
Professional Photographer
This article was co-authored by Cory Ryan and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Cory Ryan is a Professional Wedding Photographer who runs Cory Ryan Photography based in Austin, Texas. She has over 15 years of photography experience and specializes in weddings and events. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Knot, Style Me Pretty, and Junebug Weddings. She received a BA in Media Production and Broadcast Journalism from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. This article has been viewed 200,010 times.
3 votes - 100%
Co-authors: 24
Updated: February 21, 2022
Views: 200,010
Article SummaryX

To create a photography portfolio, choose 10-20 photographs that showcase your best work. Try to tailor your portfolio to your audience or potential employers. For example, if you want to be a wildlife photographer, you should choose photos of animals. Once you've settled on your photographs, you can either upload them to a digital portfolio using websites like Zenfolio or Smugmug, or you can make a physical portfolio. If you make a physical portfolio, mount your photographs onto backing paper or store them in plastic sleeves so they look professional. To learn how to choose the best photos for your portfolio, keep reading!

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