How to choose images for a portfolio from a spaz.

Well, I suppose your parents could be art directors for national magazines or something making it tougher ... In general, I would think there's nothing inappropriate about a mix of subjects unless you're trying to land a job working with specific subject matter or land a show in a gallery that specializes in only certain topics.
Maybe looking over your body of work, you could come up with some groupings of two or three of similar things in each group?

I guess my range isn't terribly broad, but I've hardly even thought about mixing some landscapes and abstracts in a single collection (the abstracts were of natural or structural items but too close in to really identify the object).

My 1 1/3 ¢ (2¢ after taxes)

DaveT

 

Well, you learn something new every day!

In particular - that 'spaz' is not considered offensive in the US...


(Not a dig at you darinwc - I gather that it genuinely doesn't have offensive connotations over there; it does on this side of the pond, and I was going to have a moan and then thought to Google first!)

 

I have no idea what a "spaz" is, and wish that we could avoid slang.

 

'spaz' in the US vernacular refers to being 'a bit hyper or goofy' rather than the english version of 'spaz' being a derogatory term for being a spastic or disabled person.

 

How about a portfolio of what you consider your best images.

Jerry

 

For your parents, I think it would be okay.

 

just make a collection of image you think are your best..
it doesn't matter if they are all a theme or (portraits, landscapes, cityscapes &C)
sometimes when you make a group of things ( 10-20 ) that seem erratic and different
you realize they aren't as erratic and different as you at first thought.
it could be a barely visible string that pulls everything together, or not.

i guess i am echoing what jerry b said so much more eloquently

 

If you have a body of work that is large enough to include 50 images, then you probably have enough to put together something reasonably focused. If for nothing other than the purposes of an exercise, start with a really broad category, like color or black-and-white. Throw down EVERYTHING you've printed under that heading, then start organizing. I'm sure you can come up with some micro-groups, say 3-5 images per topic (landscapes, abstracts, automobiles, kids, whatever). When you start thinking about groupings, you'll see a tremendous fluidity between them, but also an amazing continuity as well. That's probably how you can best pull together a portfolio. I think you'll find inspiration for your future shooting from this exercise, as it will give you a bit of direction. You'll be able to look at your work and say, "Hey, I really like this image/group, I want to explore that more and expand on that idea". So, even if your existing work doesn't gel and give you a 20 image portfolio, the process of figuring that out will help you get there.

Also, if you are looking for a portfolio as a gift/representation to your parents of your work, who says you have to have 20 images? Ten to fifteen would make a more than adequate grouping.

 

I believe it's a shortened version of "spastic".

How about breaking down your main subjects and then grouping them together, and then stuff that still doesn't fit those few basic categories, then put them together at the end.

Start traditional, and then spaz out at the end once you get them hooked.