I have taught students how to format photos and put together portfolios of their work for several years, and one thing that has always gotten me about the way the industry views the work is the weird lack of creativity that comes with production photo exhibition. You have your portfolio with your name, and all that stuff, your resume, some photos, and maybe some references. Right?
I think that the advent of things like the iPad and web-based apps is changing the way that students will be able to display their portfolios. You also have to understand that there will always be those sticklers who will literally just toss out portfolios that come on DVDs, CDs, or other media just because they don’t follow “the standard.” I’m here right now to call BS on “the standard.”
I got bored this weekend (which is amazing with the amount of work on my plate right now) and I wanted to write about this very subject, so I put together this quick little minute-plus video of some Alive Lighting production shots in a little video. I just tried to show an alternative method of displaying the work. Quite frankly, I want to see someone show some creativity when displaying their work – remember, the production photos don’t talk. If you can do anything to help enhance the display of the work, you’re doing yourself a favor.
Just remember – and this is important – do not alter your work in Photoshop! Don’t change colors, adjust intensities, or generally alter the capture of the work. None of these photos were altered beyond size adjustments. That’s just not cool! If you didn’t light it right the first time, don’t lie! All you have to do is get caught doing that once, and you’re done.
Check out this quick little video – I did block out the logo of the client in this video to meet non-disclosure:
Production Photos Don’t Have To Be Just Photos! from Jim Hutchison on Vimeo.
