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Little Rock, Arkansas-based photographer Karen E. Segrave has a lot to be excited about these days. She contacted the Wonderful Machine team to create a new print portfolio, and we were more than happy to help her out.
I had been wanting a print portfolio for a few years now, but I knew it would be a hefty investment so I had to wait and save my pennies. Since my portfolio lives at Wonderful Machine (most of the time) and they are the ones taking it out when they visit agencies and creatives, I felt they would best know what aspects of my work and which images would represent me, my brand, and help me get my work in front of the right people.
Karen initially wanted a print portfolio focusing just on her food photography. However, she didn’t want to lose sight of her home & garden, industrial, and healthcare photography. Those specialties work well together on a website because you can separate them into their own galleries. But in a printed portfolio, where the photos have to form a single narrative, you have to narrow your focus (somehow, people just don’t want to see a beautiful plate of food next to an operating room shot!) We found that we could segue naturally from Karen’s food photos to her interiors, so that became one portfolio. Then we combined her industrial photos with healthcare and that was a natural fit. Not only do the food/interiors and industrial/healthcare photos work together stylistically, but the clients who want to see those specialties also tend to separate along those lines as well.
Karen wanted to use Wonderful Machine’s in-house printing service, and we had the print-edits ready for both portfolios. Knowing a screwpost would allow her to swap images without having to create an entirely new book, she just needed the right jacket to hold her prints. We suggested she work with UK based bookmakers Hartnack & Company, who produce beautiful and highly customizable books at a reasonable price.
The books were ordered in her signature orange, completed with her logo debossed on the cover. It was time to start printing. Between both edits, I printed ninety individual pages.
Luckily, we have plenty of printing space and not one but two Epson P800 printers. We set to work on the first side of Karen’s food and interiors book, checking each print for imperfections before placing it on the rack to dry. We debated printing the first side of her industrial and healthcare collection as well but ultimately decided to finish one book before starting the other. That way, she would be ready if a sudden portfolio event came up.
It was time to print the other side. This task takes a practiced hand — there’s a risk that a page will scuff or hit the print rollers. And if the paper is ever skewed or jammed, you’ll need to start from scratch.
It was a smooth printing job, and Karen’s bright orange covers stand out even on our wall of stored portfolios. The photos are just as playful and energetic, ultimately making these books a dynamic duo that would catch any art director’s eye.
Just a few months later, Karen proved us right — she asked us to send the books to Arkansas, where she had scheduled a meeting with a major ad agency.
Two of the art directors looked over both books in great detail and were very complimentary on not only the images themselves, but were also quick to comment on the print quality and clarity. They continued in saying they love looking at printed portfolios versus a digital one, because you often lose image quality and crispness on the web.
At the end of the meeting, Karen was asked to submit a bid for an upcoming project. One successful session under her belt and many more to come!
I am on hold for a shoot in Dallas in late May so I am hoping to land a meeting with an agency while I am in town. I am still awaiting word on whether I was awarded the job with the Arkansas-based agency, but even if I’m not, I was able to get a two hour meeting with the largest agency in Arkansas, so I consider it a win!
Need help with your print portfolio? Reach out!