Photo by ssh.

Time wasn’t too long ago when the term “photographer’s portfolio” referred to a leather case filled with prints of your very best work.

Those cases are still around, and they’re a worthwhile investment if you’re planning to show your work to local art directors and editors. But, like any other creative field, photography has gone global. You may be based in Houston while you work with clients in Dusseldorf or Singapore.

So, some sort of Internet presence is essential. This article will survey three options for displaying your photography.

Sharing Photos via Online Communities

When it comes to online photo sharing, Yahoo’s Flickr has earned that coveted “top of mind” status. And it’s hard to argue with nearly 6,000 image uploads a minute. Basic Flickr accounts are free and they enable you to:

1. Upload images from your desktop computer or camera phone, or send them via e-mail.
2. Do basic photo editing.
3. Organize your photos.
4. Use groups and privacy controls to share your work and critique the work of others. Many photographers find this sharing and critiquing process to be quite helpful. And some Flickr groups have borrowed a page from Meetup.com’s playbook by having regular in-person meetings.
5. Use maps to pinpoint where your photos were taken, and see photos taken near yours.
6. Make cards, books, and framed prints.
7. Get updates from family and friends.

Whew! That’s a lot to get at no charge. Whatís not to like?

Quite a bit, say professional photographers like Jim Goldstein.

In a July 7, 2008 post on his blog, Goldstein noted that “There have been many stories over the past few years about copyright infringement on Flickr. To date most have been about individuals maliciously downloading the work of others to resell it as their own or companies using photographs commercially violating either the licensing restrictions of the photo or ignoring the need for a model release. What most remain unaware of is that Flickr fosters copyright infringement through their API [Application Programming Interface]. The most egregious part of this is that Flickr knows it.”

Goldstein’s post went on to report two instances involving unauthorized use of his photos. Like the rest of his photos, these two had the “All Rights Reserved” license designation. One photo was published on a website without his permission. It was removed after Goldstein contacted the site’s administrator.

The other photo was being sold as cell phone wallpaper on a ringtones website, and, no, Goldstein wasn’t getting a share of the revenue. After receiving numerous complaints from Flickr users, the ringtones site disabled their Flickr integration.

So, what’s a photographer to do?

First and foremost, recognize that free photo sharing communities like Flickr (and its fixable API) have their drawbacks, especially when it comes to copyright infringement. Lest you think that the infringement problem is confined to Flickr, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are notorious for having rights-grabbing terms and conditions.

In other words, your Facebook and MySpace photos become available for use by others who donít have to pay you. Which leads creative marketing experts like Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua to warn against posting any of your work on these sites. She recommends that you keep your photos on your own site.

Second, understand that if you really want to do online photo sharing, youíll need to spend some money. SmugMug has a reputation for being much more respectful of photographers’ copyrights than Flickr or the social networking sites. SmugMug’s annual fees range from US $39.95/year to $149.95/year.

Get Your Own Site!

Even in these days of social networking pages (and their convoluted URLs), there’s still some cachet to having your own domain-named site. Especially when you’re trying to tell potential clients where it is.

Photographer sites seem to fall into two categories: Blog-based sites and portfolio-based sites. Let’s start by taking a look at two outstanding photoblogsÖ

1. IShootShows.comSt. Louis-based Todd Owyoung specializes in live music coverage. His IShootShows blog talks about who heís been photographing and how he does each shoot. In addition to the blog, IShootShows offers Web pages covering Owyoungís concert credits, equipment recommendations, and FAQ-based suggestions for the beginning concert photographer. So, this isnít just a photoblog, itís an expert content site.
2. Patrick Smith, Photojournalist Continuing in the photoblog-and-then-some vein, we have Patrick Smith, who’s a student at Towson University near Baltimore, Maryland. Heís also working as a photo intern at the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Smith’s blog posts reveal a great deal about the thought process behind his assignments. And it isn’t always pretty. Here’s an example:

   “Not long ago, I was trying to recall all the times I’ve been to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, for assignments.

   “To this date, I’ve still yet to shoot any images I actually like from any event. Be it college baseball, Navy football or basketball, Blue Angel, and anything in or surrounding the U.S. Naval Academy.

   OK, what I should clarify is not that I don’t not like my images, I just haven’t gotten anything that particularly stands out. I can recall almost every assignment I’ve had down there, but none of my images say, ‘Hey, that was a great shot or I loved that one for personal reason.’”

Both Owyoung and Smith are using blog themes that have been customized. This is a good route to follow if you want your blog-based site to stand out from all those other Blogger and WordPress themes. Plan on spending a few hundred (or even thousands) of dollars to have your theme customized by a good programmer.

Before we bid the blog topic farewell, one final point: In order for your photoblog to be an effective promotional tool, it must be updated frequently. As in, at least once a week. So, get out there with that camera and start writing those posts.

Portfolio-Based Sites

If you’ve spent any time looking at photographer websites, one thing will jump out at you: A lot of them need design help.

Writing in her Burns Auto Parts blog, Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua says, “Your website is your most important marketing tool in many ways and if it so much as gives off a whiff of cheap or passÈ or poorly designed, it will hurt you more than I think many of you realize.”

Strong words. And Burns-Dell’Acqua doesn’t stop there. “I would rather see someone allocate more funds to making a great site, even if it means, say, not having print promos for a year. It’s that important.”

So there you have it.

The good news is that a thriving industry has grown up around the need for good looking photo portfolio sites without an HTML crash course. BIG Folio, LiveBooks, and PhotoShelter are considered to be the leaders. All three companies offer turnkey websites that you can build and manage with your Web browser. Each company offers design and hosting packages with annual fees of under US $1,000. If youíd like to do e-commerce, BIG Folio and PhotoShelter can set you up with print sales and image licensing.

However, there’s a problem. The popularity of these companies’ offerings has led to a plethora of template-y, lookalike websites. Yes, you can pay extra to have some customization added to your site. But you may be thinking, “If I’m going to pay extra for some customization, why don’t I just have a site that’s completely customized?”

Enter the custom website option. Be forewarned ñ like custom homebuilding, this is the most expensive way to go. Plan on spending at least US $5,000 to get a well-designed portfolio site. The advantage is that you get the look that you want, not someone else’s theme or template.

I recommend that you work with a Web studio that knows its way around Content Management Systems (CMS). A CMS will enable you to manage your own site. You won’t need to call the Web studio e-v-e-r-y time you need to change something. In case you’re wondering, the BIG Folio, LiveBooks, and PhotoShelter turnkey sites are based on the CMS model.

To summarize, we’ve looked at three website options for photographers:

1. Photo sharing communities
2. Blog-based sites
3. Portfolio-based sites

Whatever you choose, keep these two points in mind:

1. Your online presence will never be finished. Youíll always be adding or subtracting images, posting to your blog, and enhancing the design.
2. Itís not enough to have a photography website. You need to promote it. Not just now and then, but continuously.

Three Helpful Resources for Photographers

1. Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua’s Burns Auto Parts creative marketing website. Be sure to sign up for her Creative Lube podcast and pick up a copy of her book, Business Basics for the Successful Commercial Photographer. The book’s page count is low ñ only 114 ñ but the nutrient density is high.
2. Dan Heller’s Web-based Photography Business tutorial.
3. Michael Ray’s search engine optimization tutorial.

Martha Retallick

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