I’ve been reading a lot lately about the importance for photographers/creatives of putting together a portfolio photobook of your work. It is important mainly as a way for you to think about your work and maybe see what it is about your favorite shots that makes them your favorites (and hopefully the favorites of others/potential buyers).

Another issue to consider, at least for me, is how many portfolios do I need. If I were a wedding photographer this would be a no-brainer; I would just do one book with my very best wedding work and use that to attract potential clients. But I’m not a wedding photographer. In fact I am currently in the process of figuring out what kind of label to put on my work: landscape, travel, nature, bird, or wildlife. I take photos of all those things so do I put together one portfolio for each, or one large portfolio and include some images from all my areas of interest? It’s a real dilemma and I’m still not sure how to proceed.

I have been told that to really succeed in the photography business one needs to decide on a niche and put everything you have into improving your skill set in that area. And I can see the wisdom in doing that. If I chose to be a bird photographer, I could spend all my photography time taking pictures of birds, read only articles/books/blogs on bird photography, take classes only on birds photography, and invest in the best equipment for getting great shots of birds. That would undoubtedly improve my bird photography skills faster than if I only spent one-fourth of my available photography time working on my bird photography skills.

But I have decided I don’t want to specialize. I used to spend almost all my time taking landscapes, mostly sunrises and sunsets. Then I discovered birds, and then butterflies, and then I went on a photo safari to South Africa and decided I needed a long lens (I bought a Nikon 200-500mm). Since then my long lens is by far my most used lens, and I only take out my wide angle lens when there’s not enough light left to capture the birds.

I should also mention that I do not rely on my photography to make a living. It is a hobby that I pursue for my own personal fulfillment. I am a creative at heart who spent a career doing economic analysis and report writing, so I’m making up for lost time with my photography. That is to say, I’m mainly interested in making a portfolio for my own benefit and not as something that I would be looking to hand out to prospective clients or buyers of my work, although I would hope to occasionally do that.

So I finally decided to do a single portfolio (at least for now) of my favorite landscapes. And to help with the selection process, I am going to focus on desert landscapes. Since moving to San Antonio, Texas six years ago, I have fallen in love with the desert southwest. The eerie magic of west Texas, including Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and Fort Davis, along with my two trips so far to New Mexico have totally captivated my photographic passions. I am also including photos from a 2019 trip to Death Valley National Park, which gave me enough material for several portfolios alone. Such a magical place!

My next step is to put it all together and get it published and then in my next blog post I will share how I went about doing it, what photobook maker I used, and lessons learned from the whole process. So please let me know if this resonates with anyone out there. This is my first blog post so I could definitely use lots of help.