Pick A Portfolio

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About Pick A Portfolio

A service-orientated group where the top shots in streams can be juried and selected to create a portfolio for the individual.

Portfolio #1: awfulsara's portraits. Click here for a slideshow.

Portfolio #2: Paul Watson.

Portfolio #3: murn.

Portfolio #4: pdcawley

Portfolio #:5 coffebreak.

Portfolio #6: toyfoto.

Portfolio #7: sesame ellis
So what will I end up with if I want to jump in?

A portfolio of 10-15 images (or less, if desired) of your best work in a specific genre, for a specific target audience (art galleries, portrait clients, moms & dads, stock houses, etc). A few of the PaP members of your choosing will go through your work and choose what they feel best represents your top work, and our diverse group of photographers, editors, designers, hobbyists, and blazing amateurs will narrow it down further into a cohesive, quality, portfolio representative of your style and showing only your very best. We hope to get most portfolios wrapped up in about two weeks, some faster.

So how does it work?

1) Who's up? The new victim (ahem, lucky devil) is chosen by the previous portfolioee at random from among those interested and eligible. Who's eligible? Anyone who has actively participated in previous portfolios, so don't be shy! You must have enough work in your chosen genre from which to make a choice. For example, if you only have 20 travel images posted, do ya really need the group to whittle it down by 5?

2) Get started. Start a thread for your new portfolio. Be sure to clearly state the desired purpose of the portfolio, who will see it, what you hope to gain from it, what genre(s) it should cover, anything you specifically want or don't want it to contain, and where we can find those images. If you have a huuuge photostream, help us not have to wade through stuff that doesn't apply by pointing us to relevant sets or making a new one for the candidate images. Be prepared to answer questions clarifying the purpose, we like to talk.

3) Choose your jury. Choose 4-5 people from among the group. It is your responsibility to choose your jury, and try not to take ages to do it (attention spans being short and schedules changing rapidly for many of us). People respond well to personal emails often faster than posts in the group. If someone wants to be on your jury, they can let you know as well. If there is a Flickreenie or two you would love to be involved in the process, don't hesitate to contact them, invite them to the group, and woo them. Worked fer me. ;)

Catherine mentioned, "It is very important that at least a portion of the jurists are *able* to help select a portfolio: eg: have some professional experience, preferably on the buying end of things - or at the very least have done professional work themselves..." and she's got a good point. Choose your jury wisely, lest it be the blind leading the blind. But also keep in mind that those whose work you really admire, consistently, clearly have a good eye for such things, and lack of experience does not necessarily mean lack of knowledge. Moving on...

4) Fill the pool. You are now in the hands of the jury. Each jury member selects 5-10 photos for the elimination round and posts them to the original thread with a brief critique/rationalization. The person who is having their portfolio done is responsible to get all these shots into the pool, tag them appropriately (port2, port3, etc), and change links to images where necessary so the thread serves as a clear discussion with the images imbedded. Now anyone can comment, recommend removals, discuss the current portfolio, and make suggestions in your thread.

5) Elimination round. Immediately cull the pool for any you don't want used for any reason. Be sure to tell us why. (For example, awfulsara's portfolio is intended for print. Two of the images chosen aren't as sharp as necessary - they look good onscreen, but weren't suitable for a print portfolio.) As images are recommended for removal by group members, if you agree with the choices being made, remove them from the pool (and any set you might have created) so it is an ongoing reflection of the status of the portfolio. Delete the tag as well so your slideshow is accurate. The discussion in this group is key, how we learn why things were chosen or why they were rejected. You are expected to be an active participant in this process so the group does this with you, not for you.

6) Wrap-up After the pool has been whittled down to the desired number and you are happy with the portfolio as it stands, or after 2 weeks, the portfolio is considered completed. Indicate that you have chosen the final portfolio and share it with us. Post a link to your portfolio in the group description, remove all your photos from the group pool, and choose the next person!

And onward we go :) Jump on in!