Paper or digital portfolio

I was wondering what people's thoughts were on digital vs. paper portfolios.

Currently I use my website and laptop as my "portfolio" and have no images

printed to show clients. Do you think that it's necessary in this digital era

to bother with a paper portfolio if one has a laptop?

I should imagine that as a potential client, there would exist some sort of 'confirmation' , as it were, that what they see on the screen is what the client will eventually have in their hands at the end of the day. It may be too much of a stretch for some to make that leap from what they see on the screen to what they will receive.

 

When you go to buy a car, would you be completely satisfied at looking at a brochure, or would you like to have experienced the 'real thing'? I think this analogy illustrates my opinion; have a printed portfolio...it's what they will receive at the end of the day and will be a reassurance for the customer.

 

Troy

Presentation is everything. I agree with Troy 100% - a customer needs to get physical "proof" that your work prints as well as it displays on a computer screen. Even the albums you present the product in will have an effect (positive or negative) on the client.

 

Lots of luck.

Many potential clients prefer a tangible product either in the form of prints or albums when considering a photographer. A wedsite is a good starting point to assess your work, but they also want to confirm that what they will get as a deliverable matched the quality that they see on a computer monitor. Also, they would like to see that they can indeed get large prints and maintain image quality. This is hard to demonstrate with a laptop.

You need both

I say that paper is much more important than digital. people like to see big prints. the experience is visual and tactile and ever aural - turning pages makes a sound. a nice big print can keep me interested for much longer than a big digital display.

 

that said, I think that it is a good idea to match your print portfolio with a notebook computer that you update frequently with your most recent work...

Both! With the ability to create self published books (mypublisher, Asukabook, Blurb), you can create interesting ways to present your work. I created a coffee table book of my images of Paris and sold a few prints from showing the book. I also agree with others here about having actual prints so clients can see the quality.

I've found that clients buying decisions are influenced by what they see and other factors

as well. If you show them only 10/10 wedding albums that's what sells. If you show them

only small sized prints then that's what will sell.

 

I've got several 30/40 framed prints in my studio and when they ask about the smaller

prints, I will tell them those are 16/20 prints. I suggest 11/14 prints as piano prints and

8/10 as album prints.

 

At any rate, I find that what you don't show doesn't sell. Maybe it's like, "out of sight out

of mind."

 

Just my thoughts to help.

I use both. Folks can visit my digital portfolio at my website at their leisure. When we meet in person I have a photo portfolio full of 8"x10" to 12"x18" prints. People like to see the big prints.

>>> Do you think that it's necessary in this digital era to bother with a paper portfolio if one has a laptop? <<<

 

Absolutely: and a several 30 x 40`s framed and mounted on the studio wall too.

 

WW

My clients have always preferred "paper" proofs for viewing portfolios. I've even had a few tell me that they were not happy with looking at other portfolios that were only in digital form.

 

Russ

Both.

 

Eventual clients would "discover" you through your website.

 

At the first interview/meeting make them sign the contract showing them some quality/impressive prints or albums

Depends on what you're selling. I suggest having 'real' samples is even more important if you're selling albums...especially magazine-style albums.

You need both. I use an HP 17" widescreen laptop with self-running slideshows on the desktop. Just double-click and go. Website too. I keep my website stored on the desktop in a folder in case I want to show it but have no wi-fi at that time. Anyway, the slideshows fade from pic to pic, which has a certain visual quality that walks the client through a sample wedding and in a minute or two, they know the story. Often it's a venue they've chosen, and they love seeing how other couples did their wedding at that location.

 

Then I have proof books of various types of weddings. I don't carry them all, I just pull out the ones that I think that bride will be interested in. They're full weddings printed 4 images per page double-sided, and they like to flip through and see how extensive my coverage is.

 

Then you need prints. Loose prints are fine, mounted on bainbridge board is also nice. Various sizes, black and white, sepia, and color examples. Even metallic paper is a nice thing to show, because often folks haven't seen that yet.

 

Albums are great too, especially if you're offering the design work on them too.

IMO, digital viewing is the great equalizer ... a part of the dumbing down of photography

to it's most convenient and immediate need form of viewing ... which caters to the

commodity mentality that is homogenizing the industry and turning it into a loaf of

Wonder Bread ... soft, white, and with almost no visual nutrition.

 

The primary excuse for this sad state of affairs is that the clients don't know the

difference ... which is akin to the "focus Group" mentality used by corporate America to

justify rampant mediocrity in all areas of products & services.

 

I also wow clients with dueling 23" screen presentations, featuring music and movement

approaching what videographers produce.

 

This just serves to mask what still photography really has to offer ... split second slices of

reality that freeze time in a way nothing else can. IMO, prints force that aspect to be

viewed and soaked up. Subtleties of lighting, a fleeting expression, time stopped so it can

be absorbed visually.

 

Large prints have become my number one closer. Nothing on screen, even a 30" cinema

monitor, even comes close. I don't leave it up to the client, I show them the difference ...

even if they will never buy something this large, it's a demo of what they are paying for. A tangible thing beyond the everyday experiences they have with computer imagery.

 

The image below looks okay on screen, but a 17X22 print reveals incredible detail and a

sense of being there. This one print sold the largest package I've landed for next year ... I

know this because the client told me so ... it helped them understand what they were

paying for.<div></div>

It's all digital here... I had one bride ask to see prints. I had just done a wedding two days before I met with her I showed up with 10 prints then broke out the laptop and worked on a few shots right in front of her.

 

That sold her... from now on I do the same presentation i brake out the Laptop open lightroom to my last wedding show the B&G a slide show then zero out a few shots and go to work processing them while the couple looks on.

 

I'm sure many of you would never do this but I think the B&G like the insite into how there photos are done given it's the digital age and every tom Dick and Harry has Photoshop.

Well, Marc, you certainly have a marvelous command of the English language. Nice photo, too. However, your ideas are a bit idealistic, and, dare I say, elitist. It almost sounds like you're admonishing those of us (yourself included) who use computer slideshows. While I'm sure there's a lot of truth in what you're saying, there is practicality in computer slideshows. First, I don't operate a studio. I typically meet my clients in their homes or other local meeting places. That size print is a little large to cart around, I never know when I'll get a call to meet someone, and I don't like to leave mounted print artworks sitting in a hot car. A commercial space or studio would solve that, and of course, I'd have large prints to show if I had one. I'd also have a lot of overhead to pay for.

 

As I said, the laptop is only one of my tools. It keeps me from having to cart around stacks of proof books and printed media. A 30 to 50 slide presentation makes it easy to communicate the way I shoot to my clients, and I can call up any local venue on the spot. Sure, they don't show all the breathtaking detail that our expensive high-end equipment is capable of reproducing (don't forget to credit your camera and lens maker when you credit yourself), but they facilitate communication. I design visual presentations for a living, in addition to photography. I know what it takes to communicate effectively. One picture is worth a thousand words; a series of well-selected images tells a whole story.

 

I really don't think you and I are on opposite sides here. My post above simply states that we can use all of these tools and methods to market ourselves. Along with our wit, charm, professionalism, and good looks!

Both.

 

~Yet, the item they most love is the tactile sense of holding a quality photo in their hands that is printed on quality paper. There's just "something" about it that can't be substituted for in my opinion.

 

If you watch their fingers you will see them actually caress the photo and "hold it" with care and affection.

 

~Paper over digital if forced to make the choice but it's digital, via the website, that brings them in for the paper.

Idealism and a passion for the art end of things is always tagged with the notion of elitism

Steve. This is America where "dumbing down" in the name of practicality is an art form

unto itself : -)

 

I most certainly am not a Troglodyte when it comes to the use of technology, however it

does seem someone should speak up with a counter point on behalf of those poor

photons being represented by the lowest common denominator.

You're certainly right, Marc! Long live the photons! And the electrons too! May their glowing beauty on our monitors be surpassed only by their printed loveliness!

 

Thanks for the good-natured back and forth. All my best!

: - )