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How Many Pics is TOO Many Pics??
I've just visited a fellow photographers little corner of MM here, and they've clearly taken the 'Upgrade' option.. In their 'port was 100 pics.. I like Mayhem, because I'm limited to 20 pics. It means I have to be critical about what I put up, as it's my shop window. I believe I can sell myself with those 20 slots. (As it happens, I have a few spare..) I feel a model should only need 20 pics as a maximum to show their ability, and really, so should a photographer. Shouldn't a portfolio be 20 kickass, blow-you-away, WOW!!! images?? Does it really need the other 80?? If there's not something there within the first 10 images (max) to draw the viewer in, can we really expect a potential client to trawl through 100 pics on the off chance they discover you can do / sell what they want?? I'm not a fan of a huge port, because I'll just get bored and move to the next one that has (hopefully) less, but better images. Should we really sacrifice Quality for Quantity?? What do you think? May 09 06 07:15 am Link I agree.. when a model goes in for a job they don't have 100 images in their port, so why should a photographer? I was scrounging to get the ones I have because I'm just starting out in this modeling world. I plan to remove most of them once I start getting models. May 09 06 07:17 am Link You don't always give up quality with quanity. And it's a good way to see which of your images draw the most attention. I'm putting together a 40 year retrospective of my Photography. And when I did commercial work I certainly had over 100 images printed and ready to put in my book. One day it was a Lingerie client, the next day bathing suits. then Products, fashion ..you name it. And my book had a core of 10 images I rarely changed and the other 20 or so were right on traget for the client. Mike May 09 06 07:24 am Link SimonL wrote: The idea is to have 10 photos so good that someone will want to see 90 more. May 09 06 07:27 am Link I don't think i'll ever bother checking 5 pages of a person's pictures. Maybe 2 of them if it's exceptionally good.  But I usually only look at the first 2 or 3 rows on the first page. I think more than 40 is too much... I would never use more than 25. It's better to be more selective. May 09 06 08:48 am Link If I ever urgrade, I will have 20 pics that are kick ass, than I will have 10 pics from my newest sessions. If we ever get albums I will have 20 fantasy, 20 fashion, and 20 commercial headshot pictures up, and 20 of my newest work. However I shoot at least once a week, so I have a great volume of images at all times. If you check the upload dates on my images 12 have been put up in the last 13 weeks, 15 in the last 6 months or so. That is a fairly large amount of "new" images. I use MM as a testing ground of what goes in my physical book. If no one responds on MM than there is no point on leaving it in my book, Star May 09 06 09:03 am Link I just keep it simple. I think I have like 8 images up. The chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, I would rather post one great pic as opposed to a bajillion of mixed quality. its about quality... not quantity. Because people are going to judge you based on your weakest image. May 09 06 11:09 am Link I rarely look past the first page of images. Usually only to see if UdoR has any nudes of himself like he keeps telling us he does  In my printed books I use only 9 slots maybe 10. I now have an art figure book and a glamour fetish book. If I start to work in other genres Iâll get more books to keep them separate to show separate clients. The same for photography I'll have a book created for a client for a job no use in showing the client who want to hire me to take photos of his toy car collection images of b& W nudes or the women who wants shots for her husband macro flower shots. May 09 06 12:33 pm Link There are photographers in the whirled that if you give them 20 lights, they will use 20 lights (poorly). There are photographers whose work I admire who only use one â and some of them, none. The same holds true for pictures. One hundred pictures? Aw, C'mon! Twenty are for promotion and the rest are nothing more than the "I Love Me" collection. What do you want to say? What are you trying to show? Did you ever think of rotating things in and out to keep things looking fresh? Last week I ran across a photographer's Web site that was JAM packed with images. There were more than a hundred. In this ONE instance what was nice was: They were ALL nice images and to me, they showed a consistancy of style. I don't think you can illustrate that the way that he did when you are here at M². Be concise. Don't dilute your work. Tony May 09 06 12:45 pm Link Why not have 100? If someone is using MM as their only site, I don't see a problem. Look at Howard Schatz's site, he has what? 500 images there? Greg Gorman? 500 or more. Mark Seliger? 100 at least. And you don't have to go past the initial 20 if you don't want. Different strokes for different folks. May 09 06 12:57 pm Link Let's see, the last Ansel Adams retrospective I saw had - less than 80 prints. Did anyone count how many was in the Avadon show? Some sites show an entire body of work - as an archive or to showcase the entire breath of what's been accomplished in a life time. Portfolios are for showing what you can do. To sell youself as a product, a prospective client doesn't want to see 100 prints. For an entire life time (or span of working career) yes, that's possible - but not likely. 100 greate pictures? I think I can come up with.... maybe 10 of my own. Different books for different purposes - mine on MM is mainly for new models to look at. It's not targeted at clients or other photographers at all. When I see a new client the portfolio is changed to reflect their interests. Like what was said in another post - some people just think EVERYTHING they do is great, or simply can't decide. May 09 06 02:49 pm Link MMDesign wrote: You're right. If anyone is as good as the people you mention, or has their talent or experience, or success, go ahead and show 100 images. Otherwise, less is more. May 09 06 03:01 pm Link I've actually never used all 20 of my slots as of yet. Most I have had at one time I believe was 15. I agree with the limit of slots making one be more critical of their work they choose to post. May 09 06 03:06 pm Link Olaf S wrote: The problem is, you're assuming everyone here is a working professional that uses the site for that purpose. If I had to guess, I'd say less than a third make a living shooting models (and that's probably being generous). I set up an account here so my friends and family in other states, etc., could see what I was doing until I get my own site up and running. I mainly shoot food and beverage and have just started shooting people/headshots and like to get feedback from them regardless whether they're great or not. May 09 06 03:18 pm Link MMDesign wrote: No, I was not making that assumption. I think that most people on here are trying to "get ahead" in the industry, whether they are "working professionals" or not, and as such are trying to make the best possible impression on anyone looking at their work. May 09 06 03:28 pm Link I agree that less is more. Not to mention that when the site is running a little slow I do not want to click through 5 pages of pictures. I should get a feel for the work from the first page. May 09 06 03:30 pm Link One thing that we can all agree on -- with 100 picture slots on MM now and no way to organize them, people who use more than one page of images will either have to laboriously upload in the perfect order, or we're all going to have to learn to live with a somewhat random presentation when more than one page of images is used. Here's hoping we get the ability to reorganize our ports, and soon! Regards, Paul May 09 06 03:38 pm Link Dyer McLoughlin Photo wrote: I also have an issue with models who don't edit their portfolios. I see minor variations from the same shoot, or a colour and B&W of the same image. May 09 06 05:56 pm Link The number of images depends on how diverse you want your portfolio to look, from a number of angles. I could have diversity in color to show people that I am very capable of shooting a variety of women. Add to that, diversity of type. Between fashion, glamour, swimsuit, editorial, nudes, and head shots, you have another set there. Lastly, if you shoot more than just models, you may want to add those pics to your portfolio, as well. As I shoot a lot of sports and marching bands, I can have a book of at LEAST 20 great images from that alone. If you only shoot one area of model, and one type of model, THEN having 100 images could be a bit much. As you branch out and start shooting more things, you will see how 20 images ain't gonna cut it. It's no different than a multi-page resume'. The more you experience, the more you have to share with others. May 09 06 07:14 pm Link Hmmm, I've been at modelling a long time and I have images posted on here that I don't post anywhere else. Excellent images, but they are older and I don't have them in my offline portfolio however, since I have 75 slots I am able to show my old favorites along with my more recent work. Alot of people have 20 bad pictures, but I think at least a decent percentage of my images are good and I love that I can post them here. May 09 06 07:49 pm Link Please keep in mind that there is a difference in a web portfolio and a printed book you show to clients. I may have many images in this profile here on MM but my printed book that I show off to clients only contains 20 of my strongest images. I even have multiple books showing off my artistic works separate from my glamour and headshots. The web is just a convenient place to deposit many styles in one place in my opinion... May 09 06 07:54 pm Link Rich Mohr wrote: I agree with you and Susi to a degree, but I stand by what I'm saying, which is that if you are treating your MM page as your portfolio (few people have a real book these days), 20 images is enough....unless you're Howard Schatz, Mark Seliger etc... May 09 06 08:03 pm Link Olaf S wrote: No, I don't post images that show anything more or less than I am now. Truth be told, i haven't changed much over the years...same hair, same look...although half my pictures I'm wearing wigs and have a makeup artists so I'd be hard pressed to say which ones look most like me. But I can say, I've never shown up and had anyone complain for tfp or paying gigs...so I guess that means I'm representing myself just fine...lol. May 09 06 08:19 pm Link A few months ago I put together a collection of photos of some of the best Models I've worked with and brought it to a small photo club lecture given by Stan Malenowski. My goal was not to have him ask me to help him shoot the next Harpers' Cover or Playboy but to highlight some of the Models and maybe get them noticed. He quickly flipped through the 50 or so images and commented: "80% to many". No he didn't ask about ANY of the Models either. As an aside; I invited a number of these Models to attend the lecture, a chance to meet this great photographer. Maybe learn something and maybe drop a comp card. Guess how many attended? NONE NADA ZIP. None of them had the time or wanted to make the max 45 minute drive. Sorry ladies you just have to be content to shoot with me. May 09 06 10:00 pm Link i limit what i put here becuase its so easy to lift it. its not my best - but its stuff that doesnt show nudity and face in the same shot.. stuff i dont too much mind being lifted! May 12 06 04:43 pm Link How Many Pics is TOO Many Pics?? One more than your very best. May 16 06 07:10 am Link i have my best photos up. However, it's nice to have five or so photos of my most recent model. And if I had 100 photos I could have more than enough space for my best photography, my best fine art (oil, acrylic & watercolor), and a few to spare! May 16 06 07:37 am Link I personally like looking at portfolios with more pictures in them. If the first page looks good, I will go to the next pages. If not, I go to someone else's portfolio. I am also running Road Runner so speed is not an issue, I could see where it could be to people still using dial up. But I do wish that MM would have a way to group them like OMP does. May 16 06 07:39 am Link 25 Unless u are putting out a book... then you would need more than 25 to fill out some pages =P. May 16 06 07:40 am Link Brian Diaz wrote: I agree that 20 can be better than 100. May 16 06 07:41 am Link Agree - more than 20 is too many as I check out the first 10 or so and I'm on to the next candidate... May 16 06 08:19 am Link i was just considering making this same thread. while there are times i wish i didn't have to delete a beloved picture to make room for another, i think 5 pages of pictures is just too much. especially because in a lot of cases, the user had one page of quality work (pre-upgrade) that has now become buried at page 5, and has stuffed the other 80 pictures with, to be honest, filler. filler that any viewer now has to sift through to get to anything worthwhile. May 17 06 01:58 am Link |
