iPad as a Portfolio Review

[Piewacket]

My take on the iPad just went up on my blog today. I have been a commercial photographer for over twenty years and gone through many portfolio formats. I think this has a ton of promotional potential. Would love to hear any feedback, especially from other photographers who have shown clients their work on it. I have yet to actual do this and will post a follow up after i do.

 

[furcafe]

Nice post. I've only recently begun to explore using the iPad as a portfolio, though that was 1 of the main reasons I got one (along w/using it as a media player for long trips). I've also been looking for a good customizable portfolio app (perhaps 1 that could also be used for web design) & am intrigued by the possibilities for magazines, too.

My take on the iPad just went up on my blog today. I have been a commercial photographer for over twenty years and gone through many portfolio formats. I think this has a ton of promotional potential. Would love to hear any feedback, especially from other photographers who have shown clients their work on it. I have yet to actual do this and will post a follow up after i do.

 

[johannielscom]

I ain't ever gonna use any digital screen to present a portfolio.

How are you gonna compensate for wear to the screen, diminishing or increasing brightness when using the iPad for a longer period, etc?

Very often you only get one chance to present your portfolio and to have it ruined by muddy darks or blown out highlights because the iPad screen or battery is inconsistent, I would not risk it.

I have taken time to get my portfolio out, just to chat people up on my choice to bring a portfolio on paper. Nobody ever questions that once I have them, trick is to introduce it as 'the professionals choice' 😀

 

[Jamie123]

I ain't ever gonna use any digital screen to present a portfolio.

How are you gonna compensate for wear to the screen, diminishing or increasing brightness when using the iPad for a longer period, etc?

Very often you only get one chance to present your portfolio and to have it ruined by muddy darks or blown out highlights because the iPad screen or battery is inconsistent, I would not risk it.

I have taken time to get my portfolio out, just to chat people up on my choice to bring a portfolio on paper. Nobody ever questions that once I have them, trick is to introduce it as 'the professionals choice' 😀

I don't think it would be advisable for any pro to fully rely on an iPad as a portfolio but I think it could be nice to show some recent work that's not in the printed portfolio yet. Like 'look, here are some shots from my most recent shoot'. Or maybe also to show some production stills when discussing how you would go about completing a job.

 

[Fujitsu]

I think this has a ton of promotional potential.

You cant (or wont) send it in like a printed portfolio.

And yes, its battery dependent. (One more d*** cable and charger to carry around...)

 

[furcafe]

I think this is a bit of a canard. How do you compensate for the different ambient lighting temperatures when showing your print portfolio?

No one is really suggesting using the iPad as a complete substitute for a print portfolio, just as an additional tool, like a web site. Like a web site, the display technology has shortcomings, but has its uses. And as print media dies, it only makes sense to experiment w/displaying your work in the manner in which it will actually be consumed.

I ain't ever gonna use any digital screen to present a portfolio.

How are you gonna compensate for wear to the screen, diminishing or increasing brightness when using the iPad for a longer period, etc?

Very often you only get one chance to present your portfolio and to have it ruined by muddy darks or blown out highlights because the iPad screen or battery is inconsistent, I would not risk it.

 

[Piewacket]

I agree with Jamie and Fur, it is more as a supplement to a printed book. Also a great tool for meeting with potential reps who may want to see more than what is in your book. At this point I do only plan to use it for face meetings. However I would consider a second for drop off purposes. I do know at least one phot doing this and has had very good results. I would clear it with the art director/buyer first and I am pretty sure you could be sure it is seen.

 

[dazedgonebye]

Drop box is a handy program for syncing your images to your ipad.

I'm still looking for a good presentation program.

 

[johannielscom]

... How do you compensate for the different ambient lighting temperatures when showing your print portfolio?...

Different lighting temperatures will not affect the tonality of the print, only the visibility of the print. Just walk over to a window, switch on the light, another one, until you have good lighting to view the print. How are you gonna do that with the iPad, calibrate the screen before letting the client have a peek?

When a client wonders about visibility and accuracy of tones, I tell them about the light and let them move around, even go outside. What are you gonna say when a client questions tonality or color on the iPad, 'I think it is accurate'? Or, 'I'll calibrate it for you, but we gotta wait until the screen is warm'?

I agree the iPad could be an addition, but never a substitute.

 

[furcafe]

Different ambient lighting temperatures will also affect the perceived colors in a print. As you noted, "[v]ery often you only get one chance to present your portfolio," & if you happen to be in a restaurant, train, or whatever, moving around or going outside may not be an option, so you're stuck w/whatever's ambient & that may be very much less than ideal. I totally agree that the technology of print portfolios is much more predictable & settled. But you can never control all the variables in a visual presentation, no matter what the media (a paper print has to be calibrated, too), & electronic displays like the iPad offer presentation possibilities that simply aren't available w/a static print portfolio.

Different lighting temperatures will not affect the tonality of the print, only the visibility of the print. Just walk over to a window, switch on the light, another one, until you have good lighting to view the print. How are you gonna do that with the iPad, calibrate the screen before letting the client have a peek?

When a client wonders about visibility and accuracy of tones, I tell them about the light and let them move around, even go outside. What are you gonna say when a client questions tonality or color on the iPad, 'I think it is accurate'? Or, 'I'll calibrate it for you, but we gotta wait until the screen is warm'?

I agree the iPad could be an addition, but never a substitute.

 

[Jamie123]

When a client wonders about visibility and accuracy of tones, I tell them about the light and let them move around, even go outside. What are you gonna say when a client questions tonality or color on the iPad, 'I think it is accurate'? Or, 'I'll calibrate it for you, but we gotta wait until the screen is warm'?

I really can't imagine a photographer in a meeting with a photo editor or an art director at an ad agency telling them to 'move around or go outside for better light'. Certainly no photographer or photographer's agent I know would do that.

 

[back alley]

i show my 'portfolio' to friends and some of the subjects in my images.
so far, they have been 'knocked out' by the ipad display.

for an amateur it's the best thing going.

some of us have no illusion to fame or glory or professional work.

 

[bigeye]

I'd say it 'depends on the client'. Dress like Jobs (black trou, mock turtle neck), be arrogant and just have the pad in your hands. Get some architectural eyeglasses.

There's a lot of buzz now with the iPad, that may diminish in time. Do it now.

When I take mine out, people's knees knock, their hands clasp and their pupils dilate. It's like I shot them with a tranquilizer dart.

Why, I don't know - it's a little pathetic. I'm beginning to think Apple is a cult (I won it in one of those vendor biz card bowls at a trade show).

- Charlie

PS - Not having Flash (flickr, etc.) is significant.

 

[emraphoto]

before investing in an ipad for photography portfolio reasons i would suggest visiting the submissions guidelines of the people you wish to target first.

i send a lot of portfolio's. working on one right now and it seems to be all i do these days. not one, in the past 6 months, could have been submitted on an ipad.

 

[Oh Two]

Digital Portfolio?

Digital Portfolio?

What century is this?
I haven't presented a printed portfolio in 20 years!!!

After I bought Photoshop 2 and a Mac I haven't stepped into a darkroom (and I shoot film 90% of the time). Praise be to God!

No more smelly chemicals standing in the dark for hours on a nice spring day. Are you kidding? Believe me, I've done my YEARS in hell!

It's funny how my collection of Leitz glass looks just as old on a monitor as it does printed on paper.

Photography happens at the 'click', the rest is arm waving!

 

[emraphoto]

What century is this?
I haven't presented a printed portfolio in 20 years!!!

After I bought Photoshop 2 and a Mac I haven't stepped into a darkroom (and I shoot film 90% of the time). Praise be to God!

No more smelly chemicals standing in the dark for hours on a nice spring day. Are you kidding? Believe me, I've done my YEARS in hell!

It's funny how my collection of Leitz glass looks just as old on a monitor as it does printed on paper.

Photography happens at the 'click', the rest is arm waving!

the most common method of submissions i have encountered in the past year is either CD with jpeg's or prints.

Photographs happen at the 'click'. all the in between stuff including finding the dough to be there and 'click' in the first place involves a lot of "arm waving". specifically if one is of the portfolio submission type.

 

[emraphoto]

I have seen FTP offered in a few programs. I have even seen FTP as the ONLY method. Everyone seems to want the descriptors and captions on a seperate piece these days but I embed the info out of habit.

Some folks want no mention of name, agency or anything along those lines. Just images with supporting material kept seperate. Keep it square I suppose.

The disclaimer part would be that this is for grants, awards, gallery and agency submissions. I suspect for commercial/wedding shooters interacting with clients the ipad will be popular.

Wish her good luck for me!

 

[HoodedOne]

It's all in the eye of the beholder.

I think the iPad is the perfect device for showing your portfolio.
I a blink of an eye, you can show your pictures in stunning colors. And if the client is looking for something special, you have the possibility to change a picture with one of the editing-apps that are available. No printed portfolio is giving that kind of flexibility.

I think color is the least of your problems when showing a portfolio (printed or otherwise). A printed picture is a totally subjective representation of it, by the photographer. The client may even perceive colors totally different than you (maybe he's partially color-blind). Portable devices like the iPad, have the possibility to show the client what is possible. So even if the screen might not be 100% accurate (but apple normally uses very good screen in their products), I think, that its the overall quality of a body of work that decides a client to hire you. They are smart enough to know that colors can change, and can be changed.

 

[Piewacket]

I think that is very well put, Hoodedone. The truth is, it does not matter what we think it is what the clients think. I am booked for 95% of my work from my website. I rarely am asked to submit a portfolio anymore and when I have they have wanted to see very specific work. So I have had to throw together a book in a rush.

I would not have a problem dropping my iPad off if it were requested for a project. As long as the AD was comfortable with it. Ideally I would want a second one for just this. I have read on a Mac forum that you can jail break it and remove apps that are set in, like the mail app. Or you can just activate them and hide them on a second screen as I mentioned in my review.

 

[rover]

the slide show function, on flickr, does not work on the ipad.

why would that be?