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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:49 am 
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I am building up a photography portfolio to apply for a photography course next year.

I was planning on putting in a mixture of things (landscape, macro, night photography, street photography, portrait and wedding). But i have read on-line that it is best to stick to one category. I think if i include a range of subjects, it will show that i am capable of taking shots of anything?


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:35 am 
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There's an attitude in both photography and academia that specialization is the key to "success." whether or not this is true, or always true, it is best to follow admission guidelines as closely as you can.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:31 am 
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I think if you can see your style across a range of images then go with a mixture. But if you are stronger in one category than another, show your best work in one category. Do you know anyone else that has been accepted into the program or graduated? Asking those already there might give you a good indication what gets you into the school.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:41 pm 
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Having helped 2 students get into photographic courses (Ryerson and OCAD) I can say with certainty that is better to divide your portfolio into a few themes/topics where the photographs within each theme are tied together with a consistent style. Think of your portfolio as being a series of projects or picture stories rather then a scattered collection of all your work. A half dozen strong photographs in each section works better than piling on a lot of photographs and hoping the viewer might be interested in some of them.


Last edited by Metrix on Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:50 pm 
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I don't know how hard it is to get into a photography course, if it is, I'd be quite surprised, not to mention people get into photography classes to learn about photography, if they had a great portfolio why would they bother?

Anyway, pick what you consider your best work and send it to them. If you want portfolio advice search on youtube for great tips.

P.S. be weary of people who're too keen to be your mentor. Nothing is more expensive than free stuff.................


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:26 pm 
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Be weary of people offering advice that starts out with: "I don't know ..." especially if it ends with telling you to search You Tube :roll:


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 2:29 pm 
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Metrix wrote:
Be weary of people offering advice that starts out with: "I don't know ..." especially if it ends with telling you to search You Tube :roll:

:lol:


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:10 pm 
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Metrix wrote:
Having helped 2 students get into photographic courses (Ryerson and OCAD) I can say with certainty that is better to divide your portfolio into a few themes/topics where the photographs within each theme are tied together with a consistent style. Think as your portfolio as being a a series of projects or picture stories rather then a scattered collection of all your work. A half dozen strong photographs in each section works better than piling on a lot of photographs and hoping the viewer might be interested in some of them.


Excellent advise.


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:05 am 
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utsc2006 wrote:
Metrix wrote:
Having helped 2 students get into photographic courses (Ryerson and OCAD) I can say with certainty that is better to divide your portfolio into a few themes/topics where the photographs within each theme are tied together with a consistent style. Think as your portfolio as being a a series of projects or picture stories rather then a scattered collection of all your work. A half dozen strong photographs in each section works better than piling on a lot of photographs and hoping the viewer might be interested in some of them.


Excellent advise.


It is. I did a portfolio review a few years ago with a Pulitzer winning Photo Editor. I brought in a simple collection of technically very good quality images. They were diverse, a bit creative, technically proficient at a number of diciplines, etc.

He said... "What is in this portfolio that makes you stand out? This is a very competent collection of images. Any skilled professional shooter I've worked with could produce most of these on command, given an hour and a model. So find something that makes yours a bit different and go with it, don't show someone a collection of good pictures, but try to make them think a bit."

It may not be perfect advice for an application for schools, but when competing with dozens of others for a job or a contract, that's the best advice I've ever seen.

Just remember, every GOOD pro I know has a competent "sitting portrait" using both soft and hard light (and a few high key thrown in to mix with the beauty dish shots), a huge pile of decent sunset and cityscape photos, a pretty good edgy black and white of some grimy sidewalk or building somewhere that's dripping wet, a small collection of competent sports shots, a good selection of decent landscape and "flowers in the park" shots and a few reasonably well produced HDR images.

If a pro can't shoot each one of those without much thought, they're probably not very experienced. Find something interesting. :-)

On the other hand....

Quote:
whether or not this is true, or always true, it is best to follow admission guidelines as closely as you can.


Be sure to do this, above all else. Admissions people are lazy and unless you can absolutely stun them, it better be by the books (and even then, sometimes).

I'm curious if we could see your portfolio?


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:46 pm 
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Just to revive this topic I found this blog on the subject. Watch at least some of the video as it is an effective use of Google Hangouts.
http://www.photigy.com/how-to-build-a-c ... -talkshow/


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:31 pm 
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Eric wrote:
I'm curious if we could see your portfolio?


Unlikely. This was actually spam. I edited the spammy part out of the post and left it as it is because it's a topical question. I would not expect the poster to be back or to actually have any interest in the question. :)


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 7:02 pm 
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Metrix wrote:
Just to revive this topic I found this blog on the subject. Watch at least some of the video as it is an effective use of Google Hangouts.
http://www.photigy.com/how-to-build-a-c ... -talkshow/


It was a good summary. I like the advice about having only a few "wow" photos that are very topical to the target audience. Offering 50 "pretty good" images of a variety of types is not going to convince people.


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