Back to the Portfolio Adventure

I am, once again, considering working on the "portfolio" album. I am torn because I do not believe that I will actually show it to anyone after it is done, but then again who knows. There is one requirement for the album that is causing some difficulty. I have decided that the album must be square and preferably at least 12" x 12" print size. That is a minimum. For the self publish books that I have found that will do a 12x12, none have a template that will allow me to center a photograph and retain the same size image for the horizontals and verticals. That I think is plain stupid. Besides, doing a self publish book really locks you into a one time layout.

The alternative is a loose leaf album but again finding a 12x12 is not easy. Kolo makes a post bound 12x12 that is perfect. Being post bound means that I would not have to shift the position of the centered image to account for either a left or right page. It also means that by being centered the individual images could be removed for individual framing if needed. And of course the big advantage is that the images could be rearranged, possibly removed if needed or even added to; all real advantages over a self publish book. The only problem is that Kolo is showing some colors of the 12x12 to be out of stock and some to be in short supply which leads me to believe that they might be discontinuing that size. I have run into a problem using different self publishing houses in the books not looking consistant and I don't want to lock into an album, especially one as expensive as the 12x12 and then not be able to match it in the future.

I received an email from Mpix that has given me a hard push toward the post binder. They have a 25% discount on square photographs through the end of March. So I am preparing the photographs to be printed and will order the Kolo album and hope for the best. Truthfully, I may never do another portfolio so maybe I shouldn't worry and even if I do they would probably not be shown at the same time.

The images that I will be using will be the abstract photographs of walls and sidewalks. I am thinking along the lines of Walls and Walks for a title. However, the wall photographs have seemed to separate into three divisions: Walls: Texture/Randomness; Walls: Graphic/Design and Walls: Painted Over Graffiti. They are all related but seem to me to be different enough to be a separate collection.

Then on the walks, originally they were done as monochrome and more recently as color. They, to me, work either way but I am really partial to the monochrome. I don't think they should be mixed. I would like to do either four or five separate portfolios, one for each division on the walls and one each of color and monochrome on the walks. But at fifty bucks each for the binders that is $250 without the expense of additional pages and the cost of the prints even at a discount would be very expensive. So I am considering one binder, four or five divisions. Because as I say, I probably will never show the portfolio to anyone other than a few friends.

Then I have to make decisions on how tightly to edit. Do I included similar images that I feel would work together as a group or do I severely edit down to what I feel is only the best image of the series.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Old people shouldn't have to make decisions.

Fortunately, Jan Ward has loaned me a book on assembling portfolios which I am pouring through and I have Paul Saltzman as a valued and experienced adviser so maybe I will actually get through the process this time.

Anyway, that is where the portfolio project stands at the moment.