Portfolio help

<p>I have been taking pictures for about a year just as a hobby, nothing professional or paid (except for a wedding last weekend). The other day I called the local newspaper asking about a freelance photography position and the guy I spoke to ask me to get a portfolio ready. I havent ever made a photography portfolio so I was wondering if I could get some help/suggestions/links or anything really. He told me to print out some pictures so should I do like an 8x10 or smaller? How do I need to arrange the photos, like should I just put them in a folder or matte them or what? Thanks for any help!</p>

<p>Do you have any photojournalism/documentary experience? You might sneak in a good portrait or two into your book to show that you can light a portrait if need be to illustrate a story. If all you have under your belt is a wedding, I very much doubt that you have enough to show to get you assignments.<br /><br />To answer your questions: choose around 10 images, clean them up, print them at 8x10 at a high quality lab. Don't put them in mats, but do get a nice presentation portfolio to display your prints in.<br /><br />Also, carefully read their contract to check that they're not turning you into a day laborer, or worse, having you work on spec.</p>

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<p>"...check that they're not turning you into a day laborer, or worse, having you work on spec."</p>

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<p>That's pretty much the definition of non-staff newspaper work and has been for many years. There aren't many staff positions left. For stringers there never have been any guarantees other than a fee based on column inch or other usage based fees. If they can't use the material, you don't get paid. Nothing unusual about it, no exploitation, just the way it's been done for many years. It won't get any easier with cutbacks in most newspapers.</p>

<p>The content of the portfolio will be more important than the presentation. A lot of freelance work is feature oriented, so use this holiday weekend to beef up your portfolio. Emphasize people, not things. For example, photos of local people enjoying fireworks displays and festivities is usually more interesting than yet another generic photo of a fireworks burst.</p>

<p>For news coverage, don't plan on just sitting by the phone waiting for them to call you with an assignment. Drum up your own ideas and propose them. If you hear of a newsworthy event that may not be covered by their staff photographers (if they even have staff photographers), propose the story or shoot it on spec. I doubt there are many editors interested in freelancers who just passively wait by the phone for instructions.</p>

<p>"That's pretty much the definition of non-staff newspaper work and has been for many years. There aren't many staff positions left. For stringers there never have been any guarantees other than a fee based on column inch or other usage based fees. If they can't use the material, you don't get paid. Nothing unusual about it, no exploitation, just the way it's been done for many years. It won't get any easier with cutbacks in most newspapers."<br /><br />I realize that, but some publications are more egregious than others, offering assignment fees than barely cover your expenses, while at the same time, demanding too many rights, or worse, forgoing that meager guarantee against usage all together and paying only when an image sells. My one-line warning was meant to encourage the OP to do more research, because I don't think he fully knows what he's getting into.</p>

<p>Thanks for the help guys. To be honest I have no idea what I am getting into. I have never done any freelance photography or anythin like that for a newspaper or any publication. The newspaper is for a town that is about 175,000 people so there most likely isnt going to be anything really crazy that I will need to photograph. I don't really care about the money, or lack thereof, I just want the expierence. The university I attend doesnt offer any photography courses so I found out about this oppurtunity and decided to go for it. Sometime within the next couple of days I am going to meet with the photography editor and he is going to explain everything to me.</p>