Evan Joseph contacted me in a bit of a bind. He had a chance to send his portfolio with us to our meeting at Ritz Carlton, but didn’t have a book that he was ready to share, or the time to make one. He called me up looking for an idea, and together we did a bit of brainstorming. Print new pages for his existing binding? He didn’t especially care for the book in the first place. Print a new book from an on-demand printer? Not enough time! Make an iPad portfolio for us? NO TIME! Evan was leaving the country in just two days, so whatever we were going to make was going to be on me to produce. I suggested that he just send me his iPad, as is, and I would take care of the rest. Evan wasn’t too keen on parting ways with his iPad before a long trip, but he was happy to send me a new one to turn into his portfolio.
The next day, I had a brand new iPad in my hands and a folder of Evan’s recent work sent via Dropbox. It was time to get a move on. Editing for an iPad is a hybrid approach between a book and a website. Like a website, you’re able to create navigation and categories, but like a book, you have to focus on keeping your number of images small and assume that the movement will be mostly forward and backward, even if you’ve got thumbnails set up. No matter what you’re editing for, it’s key to be targeted in your approach. Ritz was good enough to tell us exactly what they look for in a photographer: someone who can work seamlessly with mixed, available light as well as strobes. They also added that they’ve been focusing more on strong architecture shots and less lifestyle imagery lately. Obviously, the Ritz is a brand associated with luxury, so in selecting the work I leaned towards the images that emphasized hospitality, luxury, and perfect light. This may sound like a no-brainer, but Evan is a busy guy, with a broad range and a huge body of work. Even with such a clear direction in mind, the edit took a lot of consideration, but I was able to put together what I believe to be a strong portfolio. Just in the nick of time!
With the edit done, it was time to learn some new tricks. While I have long been recommending iPads and portfolio apps, I had never set one up myself from start to finish. Kayleen Kauffman, my DC cohort, recommended an app that I hadn’t looked into in any depth before: Foliobook. I wanted something that I could learn how to use and set up quickly, so I watched several tutorial videos on their website and decided it was worth a try. One of the best things about a portfolio app, if you don’t like it, you’re only out a few bucks, so why not play around with a few? Foliobook proved very easy to use, and I had the whole thing set up in not much more than an hour.
So, with Evan’s new iPad in hand, we made the trip down to DC. The Ritz brand marketing coordinator we met with was very impressed with Evan’s work. Moving through the portfolio, she stopped and said, “This is exactly what we look for in a photographer.” Doesn’t get much better than that, huh? If you find yourself with a meeting coming up, and more iPads than time, please feel free to reach out. I’m happy to take care of everything!
View more of Evan’s work at evanjoseph.com.
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