Tips for portfolios

[ckeatinge]

Hello,

I work in an advertising agency at the minute, but I'd like to move into freelance retouching (I have about 5 years experience in photography and beauty retouching).

My question is: when you're putting together your portfolio, do you show before/afters, or do you just show finished images, or a combination of the two?

Thanks in advance!

C

[shift studio]

I think you should show the before/afters. Its much more dramatic when you see the differences after you worked on it, especially when the 'after' is laid overtop the 'before' - like a rollover.

thats what I think - anyone else agree or disagree?

--Shift Studio.

[mistermonday]

I agree with shift studio. Only showing the final result of your work without the original does not necessarily represent your skills as a retoucher. Roll-overs or side by side images work well.
Regards, Murray

[paulafrog]

I agree -- before and after

[Mike Needham]

I would not show before and afters personally, most photographers and models don't appreciate it, it does provide an easy visual reference, but your job is making an image all it can be not showing what you have done.

My tuppence worth.

[shift studio]

Originally Posted by Mike Needham

I would not show before and afters personally, most photographers and models don't appreciate it, it does provide an easy visual reference, but your job is making an image all it can be not showing what you have done.

My tuppence worth.

True - you need to ask the photographer first. IMO you don't need to ask a model unless the shot was meant specifically to promote the model.
Now, if you are more of a retoucher/illustrator who focuses on the creative-photo-illustration, there should be no issue - it's known to be artificial. If you don't show the before, the person who is viewing may have no idea just how much you made the shot better or how many elements needed to be combined.

Also consider your audience here - the general public will never see your site. Most models will never see your site either. Mostly only people who are interested in your retouching work, like art-directors, photographers, designers, other retouchers etc. and they already know nearly every image seen in magazines, advertising etc is processed to some extent. So don't be afraid to show what you can do!

just my two cents.
--shift studio.

[twopoint0]

Before and afters are 100% absolutely essential in a retouching book. You're trying to demonstrate what you are capable of, and the more dramatic the difference from start to finish, the better. It's also good to have a little story about each image in mind as you show your portfolio.
Photographers on the other hand, should only show final images. So what do you show if you're a photographer AND a retoucher?

[shift studio]

Originally Posted by twopoint0

Photographers on the other hand, should only show final images. So what do you show if you're a photographer AND a retoucher?

I *think* most photographer/retouchers are photographers first, retouchers second. Retouching for them is probably just a necessary step to get images where they originally envisioned. So... end product would be what they would show in their portfolio.

--Shift Studio.

[twopoint0]

You're right. A photographer can't very well say, "hey, look at this crappy image I started with!".

[ckeatinge]

Thanks guys. Very helpful. I've done a simple 1, 2 before-after setup on my website. If you're interested, please let me know what you think.

http://www.christopherkeatinge.com

Could do with a bit of streamlining. Am trying to figure out how to do rollovers.

Actually, funnily enough I also have a little section on my photography, but I'm thinking of removing it for the time being.

Cheers all,

Christopher

[eraanexact]

You could do a sort of compromise, wherein your online portfolio only shows finished works, with the option of showing befores/afters to serious inquirers via a password protected page. That way, you're not pissing any clients off by showing unretouched images for the whole world to see.

I think for a printed book, befores and afters are preferred.

[Quantum3]

¡I agree with Shift Studio!

¡Shift Studio!
¡Shift Studio!
¡Shift Studio!

¡¡¡Huuuurrrraaaaayyy!!!

[ekuna]

Nice work, Christopher!

[abenormal]

I've been in quite a few sessions reviewing books and online portfolios alongside our retouching manager and studio director and I think showing before and after images is essential. If showing a before is problematic due to the photographer relationship, then a clear description of what you did to the image is necessary. We've looked at books or online portfolios that were just full of finished ads, and the studio director was saying, "what did this guy do? Is he a retoucher? Designer? Or a pre-press guy?"

I looked at eraanexact's book when he first got to NY and it was outstanding. His befores showed all of the composited shots roughly cut out and placed in position. The corresponding after image was on the other side of the spread. It was clear and easy to see what had been done. We see a lot more bad books than we do good ones and if I hadn't seen that eraanexact landed a job already we would have called him in for freelance sooner or later.

Some things to avoid:

1. Bad retouching! Skin that looks blurred or plastic. Repeats in cloned areas. Liquified areas that look liquified, like patterns in fabric that are warped next to an arm that was slimmed. Hair masks that are either too hard or too soft. Note that there is no rule that says you can't go back and continue retouching something AFTER it was delivered "finished" to the client, for your own book.

2. Disorganized books and/or presentation. We had one guy who showed all of his afters in one book, and then had two other different books with the befores in them, all of them at different sizes and printed on different stocks. When making your book print out befores and afters at the same size, on the same paper. If you want to include tear sheets to show finished printed pieces include them as a "third page" along with the before and after.

3. Online or PDF books that show the images too small to see any detail. Books showing image after image of the same thing. Books full of what appear to be just overall color moves. 200 MB PDFs that are full of everything the guy ever did - edit it down to just your best work! Remember you are trying to advertise your abilities to other retouchers... we're not going to be impressed by an S-curve and a hue change, or by simple compositing. Show details of work you're proud of and speak to the challenges of an image and how you resolved them. Mention difficulties, like how you had to illustrate reflections by hand, or whatever. Something I'd personally be stoked to see in a digital book would be screenshots of your working methods - tight masks, neatly organized and named layers. Not for every image, but maybe a few shots at the end along with a brief description of your working philosophies and habits.

Look at building a book or a website as if you are creating an ad, not just tossing a bunch of pictures together. Think about what you would need to see if you were investing substantial time, effort, and money into hiring someone.

[twopoint0]

abenormal- good post! Actual useful information. Doug should put this in an archive somewhere.

[Quantum3]

Abenormal also punished me with a 9 points whip when he saw my very old portfolio, about 2 years ago or so, when I used Picassa to show all my stuff haha But he did it too hard. I thought I wouldn't been able to do anything good about beauty but finally, I did it Thanks to him and also, to Shift (who also punished me a lot) and to Alan, who helped me with my bio. All these 3 guys gave me the kick I was needing in order to start and since then, I'm pretty busy with jobs

Thanks a lot you guys!

Ø3

[abenormal]

Abenormal also punished me with a 9 points whip when he saw my very old portfolio, about 2 years ago or so, when I used Picassa to show all my stuff haha But he did it too hard.

I'm sorry if I came across too harsh. It's not easy to be gentle over email! Also I have many years of critiques under my belt and am used to hearing negativity about my work, until it doesn't bother me at all anymore. Usually it is just a matter of trying to be sure that communication is clear and that I understand the direction the client or art director wants to go in so I don't waste time. So, when I was trying to give you feedback, I didn't want to waste your time with sugar coatings and went straight to what I thought needed improvement.

[Quantum3]

Originally Posted by abenormal

I'm sorry if I came across too harsh. It's not easy to be gentle over email! Also I have many years of critiques under my belt and am used to hearing negativity about my work, until it doesn't bother me at all anymore. Usually it is just a matter of trying to be sure that communication is clear and that I understand the direction the client or art director wants to go in so I don't waste time. So, when I was trying to give you feedback, I didn't want to waste your time with sugar coatings and went straight to what I thought needed improvement.

I know, pal. Your critiques were straight to the point, like very accurate and sharp stabs and they did a very good job! Thanks to you, Shift and Alan I wouldn't ever evolve to where I'm now

[shift studio]

Originally Posted by Quantum3

Abenormal also punished me with a 9 points whip when he saw my very old portfolio, about 2 years ago or so, when I used Picassa to show all my stuff haha But he did it too hard. I thought I wouldn't been able to do anything good about beauty but finally, I did it Thanks to him and also, to Shift (who also punished me a lot) and to Alan, who helped me with my bio. All these 3 guys gave me the kick I was needing in order to start and since then, I'm pretty busy with jobs

Thanks a lot you guys!

Ø3

Welcome back Quantum!
I'm pretty sure I also gave you some encouragement too?
----
Abenormal's advice seems very informed - if anyone takes advice from this thread, his seems to be valuable.

--shift studio.

[Mike Needham]

It's amazing what a good dose of reality check can do, I'm now thinking of including a small selection of before/after in my portfolio. I only now have to make an online version - should be easy

[Quantum3]

Of course you did, Shift, you told me more or less the same things than Abenormal, also Alan. I was looking for the e-mails in order to post a the essentials of what you all told me, but cannot find the e-mail. At that period of time I used Windows, so those emails weren't loaded into Mail, making impossible for me to find them But yeah, I remember how useful was all that data and reviews

[Janko]

Thanks for the tips Abe, definitely useful info. I'm working on putting together a printed book (finally!) and I'm playing around with different ideas on how to layout the before and afters, how things flow, how to present composites vs. beauty shots, etc. I'd be interested on hearing how others deal with this sort of thing.

one thing I would add when putting together a portfolio, would be to put a lot of thought into what type/caliber of image you use, may seem like an obvious thing, but i see it all the time when people get really focused on showing off technique and lose sight of the actual content of the image.

don't show anything that wouldn't be potentially usable in an ad campaign or whatever. I know that's easier said than done, but just as an example putting in an HDR industrial landscape no matter how awesome the HDR looks it wouldnt be a good thing to put into a portfolio because it just isn't commercially viable.

Just by association to the photographer/client its going to make you as a retoucher look good, so the thought process of the portfolio viewer would be something like-- 'the before and after difference may not be all that dramatic but if an amazing photographer/client hires this retoucher to work on his stuff, then he must be good enough for me to hire him'

dont get me wrong showing technique is super important and the bigger the difference in the before and after the better, im just saying its important to balance these things out.

[eraanexact]

Thanks Abe! And thank you again for taking the time to have me in the office back then.
Hope all is well with you.

[TopiToo]

hi.

I am in process of putting together a portfolio myself,
barring paying for a flash templates or going the freebee
route with ads has anybody managed to create a portfolio
site using just html?

[Quantum3]

And what happened with MarkZebra... Lots of time without having any news about him...

[tsvirik]

You guys sound reasonable, but...

The best retouching agencies never post "before" in internet, they coul have the "before" exhamples in their printed books, but noi in the web.

One retoucher, who is a head of a small, but good retouching agence told me that to put "before" in you port is a "professional suicide", without any comments... )

[abenormal]

You guys sound reasonable, but...

The best retouching agencies never post "before" in internet, they coul have the "before" exhamples in their printed books, but noi in the web.

One retoucher, who is a head of a small, but good retouching agence told me that to put "before" in you port is a "professional suicide", without any comments... )

I'm pretty sure this is covered in the comments if you read the whole thread, but just to clarify: Yes, the photographer who made the base image (who may also be your potential client) is NOT going to like seeing his work published, unretouched, without permission.

I am not a big fan of online portfolios, for lots of reasons...

The images are almost always too small to see detail, and detail is what separates good retouching from bad.

Color is unpredictable from screen to screen. When I see a printed proof I can assume that the retoucher looked at and approved the proof, and if the colors look bad then I know it is their eye or judgement at fault.

I don't post my own work online because I don't like seeing it turn up in unscrupulous people's portfolios. That might seem like No Big Deal, but imagine the scenario where someone else shows my work right before I show it. The person doing the hiring doesn't know who the thief is and may as well just exclude us both from consideration. Now, I know that these days a link to work online or an email may be requested, in which case I create a custom site that isn't top-domain nor linked (easily found by search engines) or email a password-protected PDF. I would also be very careful about what I include in these - I would only use works based on stock images or ones that I photographed, or that I obtained the photographer's permission to use. I wouldn't publish works online that used hired photographers even though the agency I work for owns the rights to those images. I would use those images in my printed book.

[tsvirik]

Thanks abenormal! Your posts are great!

So, to sum up: you just need to be carefull with what you are uploading.
I use the on-line portfolio just like a teaser and alwas offer to send hi reses and before-afters personally by e-mail.
Printed book is cruicial if you work with local client which is hurdly happening in my case.

[Nasturtium]

I've found if I don't include before images beside the finished ones I always get asked 'what did you do?' If you're finished work is exquisite then no one can tell how you've improved the on the original without a side by side comparison.

I like the idea of a custom site, they're so easy to put together these days. It's like tayloring your resume for every job you've applied to.

- Nancy

[2mittsphotog]

I hate to start a new thread on this same issue, so i figured I would just chime in with additional questions. Hope this is ok.

I'm looking to put together my first print portfolio as well, and looking at some binding options the question of "landscape vs. portrait" came to mind. I have good work in both ratios so now I'm not sure what to do! Do most people just stick to one, or is it acceptable to do half the book portrait half landscape? Guidance is appreciated!