work, and you get the call asking you to send in your print
book, as a job is pending.
You choke as you realize that you have no print book to send.
This scenario has happened more times than I care to think
about. In fact I’d be close to retiring if I had a dollar for each call
that started with: “Hi Selina, I need your help. Today I got a call
from a client who saw my photos on my site and they wanted to
see my print book. I lost the opportunity because I never created
a print book, so I had nothing to send them.”
It’s time to wake up and realize that the relevance of print
books did not die with the onset of Web sites.
I like to compare the print versus Web site conundrum to
the TV versus radio scare years ago. When TV came along,
many folks in the ad world were convinced that radio was dead.
However, they were wrong: Radio did not die when TV came
along. Its use just shifted.
Over time, the popularity of radio ads waned a bit, but the
interest in radio programming is strong and the audience today
is bigger than ever. The message is clear: Portfolios are not
dead, they are still needed, and if you have not invested in
building a print portfolio, do so now.Portfolios: The Three Main
MessagesBuilding a print book usually happens at the start of a
photographer’s career or when an experienced photographer
realizes that in order to compete, a complete overhaul is needed
and a new body of work must be created. As you begin to con-
sider developing a new print book, know that it should not be just
a well-edited collection of your best hits. It will need to be a com-
prehensive body of work that you develop over time.
I have worked side by side with hundreds of clients as we
crafted their portfolios. In the beginning of my book build rela-
tionship with a client I continually hear similar questions: What
do I put in? How many images should I include? Is this image
too old? I don’t want to shoot this, but do I need to show it
anyway? What if I like it and no one else does? What type of for-
mat should I use? What will the book look like?CHAPTER18 / BUILDING APRINTBOOK TOENVYChapter 18.qxd 6/27/07 9:05 PM Page 111